Risa's Review Shop

•REVIEW 35: KIARA FLAMES•

Genre: fantasy
Author: 99problemstosolve
Chapters read: five
Trigger warnings: mature content

A mini review
Star rating: 🌟🌟🌟

°🌼°

Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Risa's summary: Kiara has just two options: serve or serve.
Acknowledging her gift would mean serving the Flame and becoming a slave to the city of Coldmore and its people. Ignoring her gift would mean serving the men of the city, remaining a slave to their desires. Soon enough, though, opportunity knocks.
Now, Kiara's a step closer to the freedom she craves.
But first, she must play its game of hide and seek.

I sat like a baby, and this author fed me with their lovely descriptions. Every morsel was tasty.

However, if all the books I've ever read taught me one thing, it's this: to start your book, nothing beats action. Amazing descriptions might be impressive, but really, nothing beats a good action. That said, I wasn't particularly drawn in.

The part where she 'discovered' her gift could have been built into something more gripping and action-y but it felt somewhat out of place, like the author had simply shoved it in, hoping it'll pass off as intrigue, or maybe, even action. In my opinion, if it had been properly developed or structured, it could have.

I loved how the author added images between texts; I found it to be an engaging touch to the story.

Talking about her gift, it seemed she discovered her gift in the first chapter. There, she also used the famous line: what is happening to me? Assuring me she was just as clueless as I was. So, I was utterly confused when I read to the third chapter - she was at the parade, a few minutes or hours after the discovery - and got the impression that she already knew quite a lot about her gift.

I also found it unnatural that the thought of what happened didn't seem to cross her mind again until she got to the parade; if fire magically sprouts from my fingers, I'd be dumbfounded for about a week, maybe, for the rest of my life.

Grammatical errors were sprinkled throughout the book, good editing should fix them. In one of the end notes, the author had said English wasn't their first language, so, I'm particularly impressed by the efforts made.

The book's cover was eye-catching, it clearly conveyed the main idea, and the book's summary (not considering the excerpt) was interesting.

Kiara Flames is an enjoyable book with refreshing themes of freedom and love. I'd recommend this to anyone who'd enjoy a delightful and original read.

🌼 Risa Quill 🖋️

99problemstosolve, please let me know what you think of this mini review.