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Fireborne

(The Aurelian Cycle #1)

Rosaria Munda (Goodreads Author)

4.16 · Rating details · 1,092 ratings · 437 reviews

Game of Thrones meets Red Rising in a debut young adult fantasy that's full of rivalry, romance... and dragons.

Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone—even the lowborn—a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.

Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more ...more

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Hardcover, 448 pages

Published October 15th 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

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The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

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· 1,092 ratings · 437 reviews

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Sep 21, 2018 Anja H. marked it as to-read

Shelves: books-i-own

"Inspired by Plato’s Republic and told from a dual point of view, the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons."

I have no idea what that even means, but I gotta say I'm intrigued lol.

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Dec 17, 2017 Cindy ✩☽ Savage Queen ♔ rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, arc, netgalley

"There was greatness in them. But with that greatness came arrogance, and with that arrogance corruption, and with that corruption downfall."

A tale of friendship, understanding, suffering, atonement, dragons, and revolution.

A brutal revolution changed the lives of all its citizens. Gone were the dragonlords of past, and in their place a new system. A self-proclaimed better system was put into place. But nothing is ever as black and white as it seems.

Lee & Annie
Only children when they were ...more

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Dec 11, 2018 Mary S. R. marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, politics, dragons, fantasy, young-adult

[15 March 2019]

There's a cover! I love the red, and that dragon can slay me :)) #CoverLove

Also, can I just say that the comparison to Seraphina and Red Rising just undid me? I mean, when Rachel Hartman praises a book, I'm in—that woman has always impressed with the philosophy in her books...

• • • • • • •

[Initial review]

Inspired by Plato’s Republic...

Wow. That should be interesting for sure!

...the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, set in the aftermath of a ...more

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Dec 11, 2018 Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd) marked it as to-read

Shelves: owned-to-read, my-books, anticipated-of-2019

"pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, set in the aftermath of a bloody revolution"

what does this like....... mean, though?

flag 38 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2019 ☽ TheBibliotheque rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-almostperfect-youngadult, read-arc, 2019-faves

“And as with gods the world quaked, to see them fireborne.”

Holy mother of dragons. What a freaking ride.

Alright folks, if you - like me - belong to the group of I-will-read-anything-with-dragons readers, then you are in for a treat. Because Fireborne is *your* book.

This book has everything to keep you glued to it. A complex fantasy world and political system, layered characters that are a treat to delve into and all the dragon action. Trust me, this was an impressive fantasy debut and it ...more

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Feb 10, 2018 Alexa marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2019-publication

“[...] was inspired by Plato’s Republic. Told from a dual point of view, the story is pitched as Aegon Targaryen and Hermione Granger with dragons, [...]”

This is the most OUTRAGEOUS sentence I have ever read.

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Sep 26, 2019 Bre *B.B. Lynn Reads* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star, all-time-favorite, action, kick-ass-heroine, young-adult, dragon, fantasy, fav-fantasy

“And as she turned, it was revealed by her tread that she was fireborne.”

There hasn’t been a fantasy book that has captivated me so intently in a long time. This book was pretty darn perfect. And I’m not saying that because everything works out beautifully. In fact, I think the best part about this book is that everything doesn’t work out according to plan. But any book that can get you to see the beauty in the midst of the brokenness is one that I am grateful to read.

“Moments like this, it ...more

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Sep 04, 2019 Sherwood Smith added it

Shelves: fantasy

This book has gotten a lot of advanced buzz, and I have to say, I can see why.

The telepathic dragon/companion trope is pretty well worn by now, and Munda doesn't do much to add to it. But if you like that trope, you're going to be okay with the eggs, impression, shared emotional states with dragons, etc. Munda does a great job with it.

Where this book takes a left turn, I thought, was with the political situation. The story (sort of*) begins ten years after an especially bloody revolution, This book has gotten a lot of advanced buzz, and I have to say, I can see why.

The telepathic dragon/companion trope is pretty well worn by now, and Munda doesn't do much to add to it. But if you like that trope, you're going to be okay with the eggs, impression, shared emotional states with dragons, etc. Munda does a great job with it.

Where this book takes a left turn, I thought, was with the political situation. The story (sort of*) begins ten years after an especially bloody revolution, overthrowing the dragon lords who were this world's nobles. They kept the dragons to themselves, and of course they had everything. Including the leisure time for poetry. The rest of the world scrabbled to support them.

Until the revolution that overthrew them, and nearly stamped them out by killing all the dragon lords down the the smallest kid. But total annihilation is more difficult than it looks when it's hand to hand slaughter, and a few got away, or were spared--including one of our protagonists, Lee, who was born Leo, his father an important dragon lord.

I said "Sort of" above because we get snippets of the revolution, and Lee's story, along with Annie's. She is our secondary protagonist, once a serf. As a serf she would never have been permitted near a dragon, but now she and Lee are dragon riders, for the revolution made it possible for commoners to test for dragon riding.

Early on, we get a glimpse of a past event, an execution. Lee and Annie, tight friends, both misunderstood the other's reaction--and when the reader realizes it, the game alters. Nothing is predictable anymore. Moral dilemmas, with huge emotional freight attached, lie like landmines everywhere. There are no easy choices in this world.

I suspect Munda is a visual writer, as she paints in the complexities of character emotions through subtle observation of body language. That was a real pleasure to read--she avoids the easy but overused LED lights in eyes for emotional conveyance (his eyes gleamed/smoldered/flashed/shot flames, fire, ice, and daggers, blah de blah). That and the difficult choices, plus the twists in the backstory that you think you know, add up to a real page turner.

Tne climax is breathtaking, excruciating, exhilarating by turns. There is an exquisite balance between resolution and hints of what is to come to really make me eager to see what's next.

Wow!

Copy provided by NetGalley
...more

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Oct 17, 2018 Kristen Ciccarelli rated it it was amazing

It's been a long time since a book made me this happy. FIREBORNE is my new favourite dragon book.

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Oct 17, 2019 Nadine Brandes rated it it was amazing

This book was absolutely phenomenal.

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Oct 06, 2019 Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019, g-a-real-combat, rp-bookishfirst, genre-friendship, fiction-young-adult, imo-weak-plot, g-a-strong-family, g-c-morally-grey, g-r-dragons, genre-fantasy

Check out more reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

The Buzz

Many book bloggers know that I am a dragon lover!! If it has a dragon I will pretty much move heaven and earth to read the book... and its hard to hate a book with a dragon in it. I met my match in Fireborne.

The cover is okay. I wish that it gave a little more of a hint to its ancient classic underpinnings. And less feature to the dragons. I also think the original title was a little more on target... The Dragonlord's Son. It's just ...more

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Jul 31, 2019 Bitchin' Reads rated it it was amazing

Rosaria Munda's Fireborne is an upcoming fall 2019 release that I hadn't heard much about. Having spent much of my time wedding planning over the past 8 months, the following is what I knew: it's fantasy, said to be a mix of Rachel Hartman's Seraphina and Pierce Brown's Red Rising, and Munda was inspired by the Aeneid and the Republic. I'm always down for fantasy; I haven't read Seraphina, but I did read Red Rising and felt iffy about it; and I could barely get through the Aeneid and the Rosaria Munda's Fireborne is an upcoming fall 2019 release that I hadn't heard much about. Having spent much of my time wedding planning over the past 8 months, the following is what I knew: it's fantasy, said to be a mix of Rachel Hartman's Seraphina and Pierce Brown's Red Rising, and Munda was inspired by the Aeneid and the Republic. I'm always down for fantasy; I haven't read Seraphina, but I did read Red Rising and felt iffy about it; and I could barely get through the Aeneid and the Republic in college. I didn't have high hopes of enjoying Fireborne, but I kept my mind open and unassuming.

And, man, I'm glad I went in suspending hopes of any kind. Fireborne hit every need of mine when it comes to a fantasy story:

-Suspense that had me wondering what was going to happen, because I knew way more than all the characters, and the possible reveals had me on edge. Seriously, I think I was sweating a few times when the stakes were life-and-death serious. And what made it more intense was how the characters' different motivations played into what was known. I was practically skimming the pages through a couple chapters because I needed to know what happened to resolve a certain situation or two.

-Tension between characters that continuously changes and morphs as new developments emerge--especially when the tension is between the two main perspectives and there is a love and fondness between the two, but the stakes are high and they each have polarizing motivations. Not to mention, the constant romantic tension is further complicated by attractions to other people once in a while. From the very start the romantic tension had me rooting for one pair to end up together, then another, and then it got all mixed to the point I gave up and sat back to instead enjoy watching it unfold.

-Characters that crawl into your heart and feel real enough to exist. You can see the flaws of the society they inhabit, and you can see the flaws of the former regime that their current society came from, so you see where everyone stands in the grand scheme of ideologies. But--and this is a heavy 'but,' somber and realizing--it all comes down to I, the reader, understands where they all come from. It isn't black and white as to who is right and just. Their world is very gray, because every character has their reasons and those reasons make sense even as they are in opposition to one another. Not to mention, the side characters were full of life as well and I also loved them. Actually, I loved some of them right away. Overall, Munda is amazing with fleshing out all levels of characters and bringing them to life.

-The world-building, including the tensions between nations, was fantastic. I see exactly what Munda means when she says the Aeneid and the Republic inspired her. The same level of political and social exploration happens, but definitely in a manner that was more engaging for myself. And the exploration of the political and social aspects created an extra depth of reflection for myself that I feel I don't get with some other books (fantasy or not, just books in general). I'm not saying that other books don't set out with a purpose intended for the real world at large. I am, however, saying that this book had me contemplating the grayness of my own world. The world isn't black and white, and far too often people (myself included) try to filter the world into that dichotomy. This book is an enjoyable, albeit sobering, reminder that people need to look beyond themselves and from another person's perspective. (Brief digression: that might be a takeaway all my own from how the perspectives and sides of conflict are in the book, so this might not be something the author intended nor something other readers may feel the same about. I tend to analyze deeply, so this is something I saw and it resonates within me.) (Second brief digression: I just learned that Munda studied political theory and, I swear, it shows--but in an amazing way, because only someone educated in political theory could pull off the complex politics of this story and nail it like Munda does.)

-And, of course, the writing was phenomenal. Aside from the reason listed above, I would say half of the reason that I adore this book is the writing itself. It's refreshing. There is always something actively occurring, even if it is a flashback to better inform the characters' present situations. You aren't left waiting for what's next because Munda is always giving you something new right away. But she does balance it with internal reflections that accentuate and enhance, because those moments allow us to be closer to the characters and better understand their drives. She also does harken back to the Aeneid and Republic in some ways, glorifying their ancient poetry and texts that are oh so similar to the Aeneid and the Republic."

Be sure to keep tissues nearby as you venture into Fireborne. Surprisingly, there are quite a few emotional moments as you follow the characters' hardships and see how their worlds fell apart and came back together. ...more

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Oct 15, 2019 Tatiana marked it as dnf

Shelves: 3, fantasy, ppb, 2019, ya, starred-2019-done

This reads like an amalgamation of several dragon books (A Game of Thrones and Harry Potter among others), but without those books’ distinct voices and characters. There are two POVs (so far), both equally bland and stock. I expected more:(

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Jul 05, 2019 Crowinator rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ra-ya-awesome, favorites-2019, war-fiction, ya, booklist-review, 2019-reads, ha-a-to-z, arcs, ra-ya-sff, dragons

First line from my Booklist review: “What happens after a revolution, when the fire and fury of the righteous must turn from violence to governance?”

Rosaria Munda shapes a compelling story around the fraught nature of building a new regime on the ashes of the old, one that may be objectively better but is always in danger of failing its own ideals. Minor spoilers below; mostly plot- and theme-related, without giving too much away.

The story starts nine years after a bloody uprising against the First line from my Booklist review: “What happens after a revolution, when the fire and fury of the righteous must turn from violence to governance?”

Rosaria Munda shapes a compelling story around the fraught nature of building a new regime on the ashes of the old, one that may be objectively better but is always in danger of failing its own ideals. Minor spoilers below; mostly plot- and theme-related, without giving too much away.

The story starts nine years after a bloody uprising against the triarchy, the dragonborn families (i.e., royalty) that ruled by right of blood and enforced their tyranny with dragons. Now Callipolis is a fledgling meritocracy: everyone receives an education and is then tested into their class, with the most talented, skilled, and intelligent rising to the top regardless of where they started. Though some people remain poorer than others, resources are shared more fairly, so no one lacks work, food, or a home. It’s a heady idea with many inherent flaws and I think Munda does an excellent job of showing that without letting it become a political treatise. This is because she centers the story on two characters from different backgrounds and lets them discover and react to the ways in which the new regime, which they both believe in, is imperfect...but maybe worth saving.

Lee and Annie are dragonriders-in-training, and after seven years of effort, they’re now competing to be Firstrider, an important position in the dragon army. The Dragonrider-in-Chief, so to speak. Lee is a Stormscourge, one of the dragonborn families slaughtered in the revolution. He was spared as a child and smuggled out (after witnessing the torture and murder of his entire family) but this is obviously a secret. Lee grew up in an orphanage pretending to be a slum rat, which is how he met Annie. Annie also lost her whole family at a young age; they were peasants who were burned alive by dragon fire for failing to follow their lord’s orders. They are rivals, friends, and potentially more, and while Annie knows who Lee really is, and Lee knows she knows, they never speak of it. This is definitely a story about them, and their history together, and their future, and it’s so passionate and lovely and full of pathos I almost can’t stand it.

Look, if you’re into dragons, you’re not going to be disappointed by this novel. Dragons are omnipresent here; they are powerful, intelligent creatures emotionally and psychically bonded to their human riders. They serve in multiple roles: as animal companions, as loving friends/partners, and as weapons of war. They are also a symbol of the state; a point of pride and military might, one that is supposed to evoke stirring feelings of being safe and cared for by one’s government. But of course, the military is not always pointed at those outside, and this is why I love how Munda uses dragons in this novel, because they are simultaneously symbols of the old regime that oppressed people in terrible ways, and the new, trying-to-be equitable regime, that is supposed to bring fairness and opportunity to everyone.

Imagine for years and years that whenever you saw a dragon in the sky on the way to your village you knew that the rider, a dragonborn noble, will take your crops and money and dole out fiery punishment and death, and you might get an idea of how conflicted the ordinary citizens are about dragons in this fantasy novel. Who’s to say that the new regime won’t become like the old, when those in power forget their promises?

As it turns out, others from the old regime have survived and have been building their own dragon army on a nearby island. They are now ready to return and take back Callipolis. War is coming, and Lee and Annie have to examine their loyalties to family, friend, self, and city. Should Lee fight against his own relations for the leaders who subjected his family to such gruesome deaths? Even if he believes that their government is better? Should Annie trust that Lee won’t betray Callipolis and protect him from being found out, even if it puts her own future at risk? What if the noble government they are willing to fight for starts to lose its idealistic shine when threatened with war? For Annie and Lee (and, indeed, all of the other characters, but particularly the young ones), there are no easy choices, and no perfect answers, only striving to be better than what came before.

I loved everything about this book: it’s exciting, it’s philosophical; it’s hopeful; it’s dark; it’s full of dragons and politics; it’s romantic in that grand, heroic tradition, without downplaying the ugly reality of governance and revolution and war. It talks about the cost of leadership, the weight of decision-making, and the responsibility of those in power to those without it. At the same time the story works as a close, intimate tale of friends who have been through fire together and what they will do for each other.

I can't wait until this comes out and I can give it to all my library teens. ...more

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Sep 01, 2019 Elise (TheBookishActress) marked it as arcs-shelf

releases: 15 Oct 2019 This is a fantasy series opener about dragons that appears to be getting a lot of hype. Now, I am occasionally weary of the hype. But this… it sounds good? I’m excited to give this a try! ...more

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Sep 11, 2019 Dianne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley, own, 09-read, arc-read, dragons, fantasy, 1-in-series, ya-fantasy

Emotional turmoil, political intrigue, the horrors of the past and the hopes of future peace may rest on the shoulders of young dragonriders who have trained together and are now faced with heart wrenching decisions. Do they follow their hearts, the stations in life they came from or do they forge into a new future and do what is best for their world?

FIREBORNE by Rosaria Munda is a captivating read, as two young people from divergent backgrounds, their families killed, bonded in the orphanage ...more

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Aug 31, 2018 ♠️ TABI ♠️ marked it as to-read

Shelves: edelweiss

I have made the discovery that typing 'D R A G O N S' as your true reason for wanting this gets you an ARC from Edelweiss

also my coworker graciously gave me her physical ARC copy of this so now I have a cover to pet and stare at lovingly

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Nov 26, 2019 ℓуηη, ℓσкιѕℓутнєя¢ℓαω rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-releases, need-to-own-asap, trilogies, annual-tbr, fantasy-ya, debuts, favorites, dragons, first-in-series, a-z-2019

Okay I've had time to sleep on this, now to crack on with reviewing it. Hopefully I can put my jumbled thoughts into some sort of cohesive ramblings that make some sense at least. Jury's still out on that

Anyway, the rating for this lovely debut is 4.25 - 4.5 I mean there's dragons !!! Need I say more? I do? How about dragonriders

So obviously I loved this book. It was one of the books I was really excited about coming out this year and it lived up to my expectations! Yay!

I just love debuts ...more

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Sep 19, 2018 Mari rated it it was amazing

This book killed me dead.

DEAD. I'm writing to you from the grave about how good this book is.

It's a book about a group of smart, well-intentioned kids trying to deal with a world of inequality and violence. (With dragons. Can't forget the dragons).

This makes the book incredibly engaging at both an intellectual and an emotional level.

Intellectually--
You know those far-ranging late-night conversations you had in college? Where you and your friends had the world at your fingertips, and the This book killed me dead.

DEAD. I'm writing to you from the grave about how good this book is.

It's a book about a group of smart, well-intentioned kids trying to deal with a world of inequality and violence. (With dragons. Can't forget the dragons).

This makes the book incredibly engaging at both an intellectual and an emotional level.

Intellectually--
You know those far-ranging late-night conversations you had in college? Where you and your friends had the world at your fingertips, and the night seemed long, and you just talked to each other, and tried to solve the world's problems. What would you do about....philosophy, morality, governance? And every time you thought you had the 'right' answer, some friend would say, well, sure, but what about....?

This book feels like a continuation of one of those conversations. Instead of reducing issues into clear "good" and "bad" sides, it embraces their complexity. It presents its characters with circumstances that are impossible to simply overcome without causing someone somewhere harm. The characters make decisions based on their own individual backgrounds, beliefs, and capabilities. Then they deal with the consequences.

It's a fascinating book. One of the enjoyable aspects of this structure is that the ambiguity of the situations necessarily invites you in and makes you think, well, what would I do? This isn't a book you'll just read, enjoy, and move on from. You'll still be thinking about it weeks later.

Emotionally--
Emotionally, though. The intellectual stuff was engaging, but the emotional consequences are why I am now dead. You get to know these kids. They feel kind of like friends. And then you have to watch them make some hard choices and do some pretty dark things, hurting themselves and some of the people or things they love. And you understand why they do them. It's a lot of feelings.

I should emphasize that this is also just a very fun book. With dragons. It has plenty of scenes with adrenaline and excitement and sweetness, family, and friendship. If you like books that make you think, play out the consequences of hard situations, make you feel like you have a group of new friends in the characters you get to know, and also have excitement and dragons, then do yourself a favor and get this book.

Note: I read an early draft of this book. Presumably it's even MORE awesome since I read it. ...more

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Oct 13, 2019 alana ♡ marked it as to-read

Shelves: fantasy

No one was going to tell me this is pitched as Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones?
You were just going to let this one slip past me?

UNACCEPTABLE.

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Apr 24, 2019 Nadhira Satria rated it it was ok

well that was boring

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Nov 10, 2019 Phoenix2 rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: fantasy lovers YA

Shelves: fantasy

Fireborne is one of the most anticipated YA fantasy books of autumn, but, for me, it didn't keep up with the hype.
Things smelled fishy when they started marketing it by comparing it to other popular books. Though the author claims that she was inspired by the classics (something that would have been more intriguing for me to lead me to pick up this book), them suggesting that is a combination of this and that just doesn't sound original. Still it does have that big dragon on the cover.
So, what Fireborne is one of the most anticipated YA fantasy books of autumn, but, for me, it didn't keep up with the hype.
Things smelled fishy when they started marketing it by comparing it to other popular books. Though the author claims that she was inspired by the classics (something that would have been more intriguing for me to lead me to pick up this book), them suggesting that is a combination of this and that just doesn't sound original. Still it does have that big dragon on the cover.
So, what went wrong?
First of all, what I did like parts of the story. Especially towards the ending, where things got more unpredictable and exciting, I was hooked. However, most of the book is kind of leading to that big outburst, so the action and the dragonfights were few and scarce. I also enjoyed some of the character. Annie was pretty cool and she had a nice, but not smooth, character development. Lee was okay, but he was too traped into his concept and he acted mostly because of it. Duck was a sweetheart, but condemned to be the second lead. Still, I liked his parts, as he was more humane and the easiest character to identify with. Power (now I know shouldn't) but I really liked him. Sure, he was the bully and the "bad guy", but he was the only one acting rationally and thinking straight. And he had some surprising character aspects.
Now, for the things I didn't like and which ruined the book for me. First of all, the whole book felt like it was the sketch of the actual book, just the skeleton or outline if you'd like, of the story that was written as a guidline and it should have been filled with details and some action scenes, but it never was. Most of the time the actual action was happening off the page and you just end up reading the aftermath of it. In other cases, times speeds up and you find the story days or weeks ahead just by the alteration of a paragraph. Also, I felt like I was puzzling the story myslef most of the time. Terms, events, characters and such kept appearing and the book never provided sufficient explanation for them. You just had to accept that it is what it is and move on. Plus, and maybe this is me the old Eragon fan who read the books more than ten times, but I would like to have been provided with more information on the dragons and their connection to their riders. Sure, later on there is a scene that describes how the two main leads got their dragons, but other than that, we get glimpses of what is like to be a dragon rider or what the dragons can do and can't. That, along with the few dragon fights that were only briefly described, and the story that was rushing forward, leaving things unexplained, left in just a mention, or never bothering to give a description of a place, character, event and such, were my main problems of this book.
The double pov, in addition, was a good idea but it would have worked if the characters were showing the reader their take on the event. However, the actual result was that the one picked up where the other had left and they kept altering too quickly, so there was no time to get what the character was feeling or thinking. Also, the romance was just okay. You are fed to believe straight from the start that Lee loves Annie, but she has a stronger bond with other students and she thinks of him as her old childhood friend. And that trope just keeps going throughout the book, with the addition of a love square, that just complicated things only a little. In the end, I wasn't convinced by the couple.
So, either this book was not for me, as only pulled me in towards the end, for the rest, I just kept reading to see why it was so highly praised, or it just needs to be worked on a little more, because the story does have potential. ...more

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Nov 22, 2019 Carrie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

Review coming soon.

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Sep 09, 2019 ✨Brithanie Faith✨ rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

4.5/5 stars .5

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda follows Annie and Lee who were just children when a brutal revolution saw Annie's lowborn family executed by dragonfire, and Lee's aristocratic family murdered by revolutionaries. That same revolution gave everyone, including the lowborn, a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders. Fast-forward seven years later, and Annie and Lee are both rising stars in the new regime- ...more

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Oct 08, 2019 Marie rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley, 2019, arc, upcoming-books, book-boyfriend, wishlist, read-to-review

**A free copy was given to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

What is the definition of a good book?

Is it the one that makes you devour the words and flip the pages like your life depends on it? Is it the one whose characters you feel a connection with? Or is it the plot that leaves you speechless in the end?

For me, this book wasn’t one of those. And yet, I got through it and I truly cared about what happens next.

It started well. The ...more

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Aug 19, 2019 Nia •ShadesOfPaper• rated it really liked it

Shelves: arcs, 2019-releases, 2019-arcs, fantasy, young-adult, books-read-in-2019, romance, books-i-own, series-to-finish, high-fantasy

You can find this review on my blog Shades of Paper.

“In a few years I will say: May the most virtuous Guardian rule. But today, I say: Maye the best riders win.”

Ever since I heard this had an Hermione Granger-esque character with dragons, I knew I had to read it ASAP. Turns out, I was not disappointed, and ended up loving it more than I thought, so I was so happy.

I don’t know why but lately I’ve been let down by so many dragon stories, so I went into it with pretty much no expectations, ...more

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Sep 18, 2018 Bridget Tyler rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this book, so I opened it up at 9pm and thought, oh I'll read for a little while. Cut to 1am where I'm still furiously turning pages and muttering to the characters about their life choices like a crazy person.

This world is so addictively absorbing, it's hard to describe. It's beautiful. It's terrible. It's thrilling. It's way too real for comfort, but in all the best ways. It is a luscious dragon fantasy, and it is definitely Top Gun with Dragons (I'M I was lucky enough to get an early copy of this book, so I opened it up at 9pm and thought, oh I'll read for a little while. Cut to 1am where I'm still furiously turning pages and muttering to the characters about their life choices like a crazy person.

This world is so addictively absorbing, it's hard to describe. It's beautiful. It's terrible. It's thrilling. It's way too real for comfort, but in all the best ways. It is a luscious dragon fantasy, and it is definitely Top Gun with Dragons (I'M SUPER JEALOUS SOMEONE ELSE CAME UP WITH THAT BEFORE I DID), but it's a deeply thoughtful and complex story that walks straight up to traditional hero tropes and punches them in the face.

This is a two hander, and Munda uses the contrasting POVs of her two point of view characters in a truly beautiful way. She isn't just letting you see different aspects of the story -- Annie and Lee have a totally different perspective on the world and Munda twines those perspectives together to reveal not just how our experience color what we see but how a relationship evolves as two people learn to understand each other.

Munda isn't afraid to let her characters grow either. It's far too common, especially in YA, to start out with characters who are basically perfect and amazing and grow into...being perfect and amazing. But Munda doesn't pull any punches. She puts her MC's through the ringer from page one and that affects how they see the world. Lee and Annie both have a lot to learn, and they do...through more harrowing experience and, beautifully, from each other. Lee particularly begins with a pretty stilted perspective, but thanks to Annie's perspective the book never gets lost in his narrow minded beginnings. We get to see WHY he sees the world this way, and why he's wrong, and then go along on the turbulent ride as he learns to see past his prejudices and understand things he couldn't possibly have grasped as a child. Annie has her own huge arc of character growth that is just as textured as Lee's, and perhaps even more unexpected and surprising.

Fireborne moved me, it surprised me, it thrilled me, it enraged me, it made me cry, it made me think. I know my teenage self would have LOVED this, but its heady mix of fantasy, politics, philosophy, and yes, a dash of romance feels entirely fresh. This is like nothing you've read before, and trust me you want to read it...just don't start on a night when you have to get up early the next day! ...more

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Oct 20, 2019 Kathryn Speckels (Metaphors and Miscellanea) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arcs

Actual rating is more like a 4.5/5. Man, I wish Goodreads let us do half-stars...

Until I started reading this book, I had forgotten a) how much I love books with dragons, and b) how long it had been since I had read one. With a fantastic blend of politics, questions of personal allegiance, dragon fights, ethical quandaries, and a dash of romance, Fireborne ended up being everything I hoped it would be.

So, you probably don't need a summary. The blurb on Goodreads is decent.

Obviously, one of the ...more

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Oct 18, 2019 Keertana rated it liked it

Like other readers have pointed out, FIREBORNE has similarities to other notable fantasy novels. Still, I do think this series has its unique elements and will likely continue to distinguish itself from prior material. That being said, I’m not entirely certain I enjoyed it. The writing fell short for me and while I found the characters to be complex and three-dimensional, the world-building and plot style didn’t allow me to really emotionally connect with them until the end. Mainly, I think this ...more

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Apr 27, 2019 Amber (The Book Bratz) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley, arc-wishlist, fantasy, 2019debut, young-adult, reviewed, wish-list

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

*Thank you so much G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Fireborne!*

I wish I could scream from the rooftops about how much I loved this book. But I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that. So, I basically shrieked all over twitter about this book and pushed it at all my blogging friends instead. Munda did not disappoint in her thrilling and action packed emotional thrill ride that The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

*Thank you so much G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Fireborne!*

I wish I could scream from the rooftops about how much I loved this book. But I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that. So, I basically shrieked all over twitter about this book and pushed it at all my blogging friends instead. Munda did not disappoint in her thrilling and action packed emotional thrill ride that incorporates the destruction and formation of new government. Told in the point of view of Lee and Annie, it gives an interesting view of two different sides of this revolution and how it strains their friendship.

Lee and Annie were only children when a harsh and brutal revolution massacred the drangonborn who were the ruling class, changing the country. Now, people from all metal classes have the ability to test into the class of Dragon Riders. Lee, who is the son of Leon Stormscourge, survived The Palace Day murders of the three ruling families only to become a rising star in the regime. Only, no one knows his real identity. As a child Annie's family was killed by a dragon fire and she was sent to an orphanage where she grew up besides Lee. Now two best friends are pitted against each other for the top position in the dragon riding fleet. But then Lee is contacted by his cousin who survived Palace Day, with a threat of war on the horizon. The families are back and they want what is theirs. Lines are drawn, sides chosen, and a new firstrider rises.

I loved all the dragons in Fireborne. I find a lot of time that books that have dragons in them, they aren't the main point of attention. But in Fireborne, Munda makes sure that her readers get to know these dragons, their weaknesses and their connections with their riders. Each dragon is described beautifully and characterized into their species of dragon and are beautiful magnificent creatures that play an essential role in the society that The Protector is trying to build.

I found the characters to be super relateable. A lot of time in fantasy you find that the protagonist acts like they are in their 20s rather than their actual age. Lee and Annie and all of the other riders in Fireborne acted like they were teenagers, they made mistakes, they don't know how to deal with certain things and they learned through trial and error and endless hours of training as well as the ghosts of their past. They were flawed and far from perfect, but Lee and Annie both have their own unique story to tell and that story shapes who they are as characters.

I wish I could discuss the Revolution with out spoiling it, but quite honestly it's going to be hard and confusing, so I am going to leave the Revolution up to the reader to learn about. But my heart breaks for Lee and Annie and everyone else who was affected by it. It brings into the question of change, if after so many years things can be different and fight of right and wrongs.

Fireborne is an amazing debut novel and had made my list of top ten books that I have read this year. I am super excited to see what Munda has in store next for these characters because it can only get better from here. (Well, it's already amazing so even more so.) If you love dragons, politics, battles, war and angst filled romance then make sure that you add Fireborne to your TBR immediately!

Initial thoughts:
Not enough words for how much I love this book. I can’t wait to see what book two is going to bring!!

Also, after learning this was inspired by Plato’s, The Republic I’m suddenly interested in reading it...? 😅 ...more

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You Are Never Too...: Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle #1) 4 Dec 2019	15	3	3 hours, 53 min ago
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SOS: Serious Over...: [Nov 2019 - tie] "Fireborne" Discussion	1	19	Sep 23, 2019 05:49PM

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About Rosaria Munda

Rosaria Munda

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Rosaria grew up in rural North Carolina, where she climbed trees, read Harry Potter fanfiction, and taught herself Latin. She studied political theory at Princeton and lives in Chicago with her husband and cat.

For book recs and updates, follow her on instagram: @rosariamunda