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Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova is the beginning of the Hollow Crown Duology and the May 2020 Owlcrate book!
I am Renata Convida.
I have lived a hundred stolen lives.Now I live my own.
Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King's Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata's ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King's Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.
Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred--or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned "hollow" during her time in the palace.
When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez's top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.
But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom--and end the war that has cost her everything.
My May 2020 OwlCrate book and... 😍 4.5 out of 5.
This is probably one of the best YA books I've read in a while. I will admit, I didn't feel that way during the first, I dunno, quarter, but after that... I was just hooked. I was trying to get a chance to read it very frequently and excitedly.
I won't say the concept of this is original at all. Persecuted magical people, rebellion group, having a member sneak into the enemy territory, blurring lines of the enemy, that kind of book. It's a very popular concept in YA Fantasy. I sometimes got very strong An Ember In The Ashes vibes because it is basically the same basic plot. But, the execution of this general plot... Again 😍
So, there are these people called Moria, a group of magical people who can use abilities such as: read minds, manipulate emotions, create illusions, and the most rare of stealing memories. Their country as well as many others have been taken over by Puerto Leones, whose king is basically a jerk face tyrant with a son with just as horrible a reputation.
The Moria themselves, although not original, are very fun to read about. Their abilities are interesting, they have their own drawbacks, and the origins of them -- whether true or just myths -- is really cool, and then it ties into metals enhancing their magic in a really cool way.
The characters are all really enjoyable. Renata and her interaction with her past is just so enjoyable to read, and the struggle she faces with her memory-stealing magics and how it was used by the evil kingdom years ago... It makes the inner writer in me just squeal with jealousy and joy.
I really enjoyed all of the other characters, even the ones I wanted to strangle. Getting too much into any of them though leads to spoiler territory, but I like how nothing is ever really as it seems. No real black and white with characters. Always something deeper.
I will make one complaint about the characters though: I am not complaining there was a gay character, but I just kind of really want an effeminate guy who isn't gay? Like, why can't a dude be into theater and really good with fashion and make up and be straight in fiction? Okay, maybe Cinna from Hunger Games counts. I'm not sure. Leo is a great character. I adore him. I knew there was a gay character in this book. I just hoped it wasn't him because some part of me wanted a gay character who wasn't obviously gay (obviously in the sense that he was introduced doing "feminine" things).
Okay. Tangent over. I did really enjoy the book.
The returning-to-castle aspect of Renata's story made this book really stand out, because you really got to explore the trauma of being a child weapon. The times when she met her once-father-figure were so squirmy in a realistic way that just made me want to hug Renata continually.
It's really hard to get into much more without spoiling, but this definitely took twists and turns that I had a feeling may happen, but were done in a way that had me eating through the book at a faster pace than I have in a while.
The first quarter was slow in a way I actually appreciated. It took time to develop characters and relations in a way a lot of books skip over because they don't consider the "before" the infiltration as important. But it was very important, and it made the rest of the book and emotional moments carry much more weight. Renata's troubles and cares were easier to understand and care for.
OwlCrate has definitely been showing more diverse inspired worlds, and I adored the Spanish inspiration in this book just as much as I've loved the other inspirations in other books I've read recently.
Would strongly recommend this book, and I cannot say I would never reread this to see how my new knowledge makes things read differently. I am way too eager for the sequel because my gosh, the ending left so many things changed, and I am so desperate to see some more from some characters. One of which I cannot flipping expand upon because I write my reviews without spoilers ;-;
