If she were on her own, without the safe presence of her best friend Luca shadowing her every move, Elara Osiris would be completely vulnerable to the whims of anyone she crossed paths with, anyone harbouring even a shred of ill intent.

Internalising the cruel, derogatory words thrown her way by gifted Powerfuls in no way served her other than to tear down her image of herself, reinforcing her sense of helplessness; she was Powerless, unremarkable, ordinary, undesirable, destined to toil away at her parent’s sewing shop, performing a function devoid of any true passion.

Finding herself in harm’s way may have been the best thing to have happened to her. In the midst of a terror attack in a neighbouring sector, the strings of fate are tugged at ever so slightly, steering the course of Elara’s life away from the drab, pointing her towards something remarkable.

Spoiler-Free Plot

Her body acts independently from all thought to protect a stranger—a boy—from the certain death that would’ve befallen him had he found himself caught under the crushing weight of the debris of what was a statued monument of Pruburn’s esteemed leader, President Fig, only moments earlier.

She shouldn’t have come away from the attack unscathed. Luca, a Powerful, had been injured in the commotion, and the silver haired boy whose life Elara had helped avoid the worst outcome was in need of serious attention to save the use of his leg, crushed and pinned beneath a rogue mass of rock.

Only an indent remained as evidence of Elara’s presence in the Gifsin town square. It was impossible. Others left behind spattering of blood, their very souls surrendered right there. She had no explanation why, and her own pressing questions about that fateful day. While the reasons behind the attack and her own instincts nagged at her, her main concern was the silver-haired boy—who he was, the extent of his injuries and his recovery, and if she would ever see his elegant form and striking features again.

My Take on A War of Hearts and Fire

Readers need not wait too long for the action; the very first chapter tosses you headfirst into the dynamic storytelling pace set by the author. New revelations are layered on chapter by chapter, regularly partitioned by brief yet necessary pauses where both characters and readers alike can recoup and contemplate the events to come before quickly wading right back into the thick of it.

While the speed of plot advancement serves the purpose of maintaining the charged energy required by the type of storytelling that the author hopes to achieve, it does come with a flipside which has unfortunately peeked through.

Getting tripped up by the more technical aspects of writing can loose frustration from the readers as they’re discordantly extracted from the immersive experience by a miscalculated fault on the page. Be it the awkwardness of a phrase when spoken by their inner reading voice or even aloud, the inappropriate use of a word when an alternative one would’ve fit in a little bit smoother or the inclusion of an event introduced in a rushed manner as if its correct position along the sequence of events has been misplaced, the core of the story—the plot—suffers for it.

None of this stems from a lack of skill as the author is beyond capable of crafting captivating pieces of writing, with the body of evidence lying in this very book. Pages 226 to 228 (to list the most notably satisfying run of pages based on my own personal tastes of writing techniques). The revelations of certain characters’ identities or motivations, the welding together of a variety of sought after YA tropes, show the author’s literary skill, creativity and thoughtfulness. Fortunately, the slipups are minor and amendable.

Speaking with the opinion of a former YA devotee, I could’ve seen this being passed around my teenaged friend group back in the day, each one patiently waiting their turn to receive, then demolish this read in a day or three before passing it along.

Age Rating

14 years and above

Content Warnings

Death, Violence.

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