Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst - Restarting March 3rd 2019

[Sarah Elizabeth]

Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a kingdom where magic is forbidden.

Now, Denna must learn the ways of her new home while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses—and her teacher is the person who intimidates her most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine—called Mare—the sister of her betrothed.

When a shocking assassination leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. As the two become closer, Mare is surprised by Denna’s intelligence and bravery, while Denna is drawn to Mare’s independent streak. And soon their friendship is threatening to blossom into something more.

But with dangerous conflict brewing that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on their feelings could be deadly. Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms—and each other.

[Tiffany]

Gonna be starting this today

[Tiffany]

29% (view spoiler)[I really invested in this book. It’s so interesting and I’ve had a thing about reading about royal families as I’m watching the crown. I love the magical element in the book. I wouldn’t have liked to be anyone in chapter eleven. I probably would have been sick from the burning of the body. I love Denna as a main character and I like being able to see both her and mares persepctive and how they feel about things that are happening (hide spoiler)]

[Enne]

starting chapter 15 (view spoiler)[ I love this so much!! I'm loving the whole magic aspect of it and I'm so excited to learn more about Denna's magic - I can't wait to see if she gets to learn to control/explore all the types of magic. I also love Mare's attitude towards the whole royal thing and I love how she is very tomboy-ish most of the time. I'm excited to learn more about the backstories of both of the characters, I also love the relationship that is slowly developing between the two of them.
I'm not really enjoying anyone in the directorate much at the moment and I agree with Mare's perspective on them.
I still have no idea as to who might have killed Cas.
(hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Nadia wrote: "starting chapter 15 I love this so much!! I'm loving the whole magic aspect of it and I'm so excited to learn more about Denna's magic - I can't wait to see if she gets to learn to control/explore..."

(view spoiler)[I love the magic aspect along with the Royal story. It's very secret which I love. You could tell it was gonna be apart of the main story. I love mares character. (hide spoiler)]

[Tiffany]

Finished

(view spoiler)[This was a really good book! I felt bad for than do at the ending having lost his dad, sister and fiancé in some way or another. I knew it was someone inside the Royal court responsible. And when the Lord became really interested in mare, I knew something wasn't right! But omg such a good book. The royalty and the horses! (hide spoiler)]

[Abi]

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Reading from the 1st of May 2018

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[Amaryllis]

Heya 😄 starting now!

[Amaryllis]

31% in (view spoiler)[I thought it was Amaranthine/Mare's brother who would be killed. Dunno how I got that idea.. Anyhow. I like the changing POVs and right now I can relate a lot more to Denna's, she's such a nice girl. And her low key swooning over Mare is soo cute 😆.. I hope Mare starts behaving better towards her soon! (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Getting ready to start also :)

[Katrina G]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[ I'm over 50 pages in, and so far it's off to a slow start and has yet to suck me in. So far I think I like Mare's POV better since that's where the interesting stuff seems to be happening (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 8
(view spoiler)[ There really isn't much world building here. It seems there's a huge conflict going on right now, but I'm so confused because there's been little world building and I don't know why there's a conflict and I'm not able to feel invested in it in any sort of way so far (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 9
(view spoiler)[ It’s only going to be a matter of time before someone realizes Denna’s gift. She’s not very good at keeping it under control, and it seems someone always notices the “oddness” when it gets away from her (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 14
(view spoiler)[ It’s nice to see Mare care a little more for Denna now. I can see the romance starting to plant it’s seed and it’s exciting to see how they act around one another (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 19
(view spoiler)[ Oh man. That kiss was so awkward. I literally cringed while reading it. Poor Denna (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 29
(view spoiler)[ I’m glad Denna was honest with Mare about her Affinity. I’m surprised we’re avoiding the whole “I found out your secret and now I’m going to be really angry and not speak to you until some plot point pushes us back together and we realize how much we love each other” thing. It’s kind of refreshing. (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 35
(view spoiler)[ Things have really picked up now. I wasn’t expecting it to be so dramatic when Thandi found out about Mare and Denna for some reason. I almost feel kind of bad for him (hide spoiler)]

[Katrina G]

Chapter 40
(view spoiler)[ NOOOOOO! NILS!! I’m sad :( (hide spoiler)]

[Amaryllis]

Chapter 19/45% in (view spoiler)[I think the murder was a stunt for some reason, though why or whose I don't know yet. It's weird that the castle is so full of Zumordans without anyone noticing/caring tho..but I'm excited to see more people using magic, that's cool. And I'm so happy that Mare and Denna are getting closer now! But what will happen when they're falling for each other? There's still Mare's brother.. Well, will see! (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

I started today!!

[Amaryllis]

Chapter 26/62% (view spoiler)[I don't trust Lord Kriantz. Not one bit. I think the "price horse" he was talking about is actually Amaranthine/Mare 🙄 he seems.. I don't know. Slimy. Slick. Mare is rather stupid for trusting him, I think... Aaand the relationship deepening between Mare and Denna is so frickin cuuute. Ah gosh. Finally it's not a girl swooning about a dumb prince, but a cool princess. (hide spoiler)]

[Amaryllis]

Chapter 30-31/70% in (view spoiler)[Awwh, finally! That was a nice kissing scene. Those two are so cute together. (hide spoiler)]

[Amaryllis]

78% in/chapter 40 (view spoiler)[ the scene between Mare and Denna wasn't the worst I've read, but I think it lacked a bit of feeling. I don't know. But of course it makes the book more suitable for teenagers than a more detailed scene would, so that's okay. But it lacked passion. (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Ch. 5 (view spoiler)[ Dennaleia seems kind of useless outside of being a scholar. At least she's willing to learn new things. And wait is that dude seriously dead?? And why is the arrow white? (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Ch. 12 (view spoiler)[ I was kind of surprised that Dennaleia and Mare weren't friends more quickly, but I like it. It feels more naturally. It takes a while to be friends. I wonder if there's something more to the one dude's murder than the whole magic conflict (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Katrina wrote: "Chapter 9
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Yeah it's surprising someone didn't find out earlier. (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Ch. 24 (view spoiler)[ Ugh I'm starting to love Denna and Mare together. They really have come a long way. I'm glad that it took some time for them to come to like the other. I honestly thought they would be discovered outside the window when Denna got the knife. And I feel like Mare should've been able to figure out that Denna was the one who did something to the rocks when they were trapped outside. I also wish the King would've taken Mare more seriously when she came in with her claims about the dagger. I have a weird feeling about the Captain (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Ch. 34 (view spoiler)[ I'm so glad Denna told Mare about her magic and they've both confessed their feelings finally!! I want this to work out between them so badly. Also, clearly the magic that attacked the king came from what he was wearing, at least that's what it seems. I have a weird feeling about Kriantz as well. I don't trust him. (hide spoiler)]

[Dr. Andy]

Finished (view spoiler)[ Stupid Thani. I wonder if he'll go back to his magic is inherently bad ways if Denna ever comes back. That could be interesting. So Kriantz was behind the war push and the murders. It makes sense, but I was expecting a bigger plot?? Anyway, decent read, I really enjoyed Denna and Mare's relationship. (hide spoiler)]

[Amaryllis]

89% in/chapter 41 (view spoiler)[ I knew not to trust Lord Kriantz!! Poor Nils, didn't deserve to die. He was such a nice sidekick, and a great friend (or maybe the only one besides her horse, Flicker) to Mare.. speaking of Flicker. Selling him was an awful thing to do!! Thandi is such an awful person, ugh.
But what happened to the testing of the people that rode with the king? It didn't happen and wasn't mentioned again really. Did the author just forget about it? (hide spoiler)]

[Amaryllis]

94%/chapter 43 to end (view spoiler)[ uhmm, okay? Did Denna just throw meteors or shooting stars or something? Overpowered much? For someone with no training whatsoever, who's using their magic without any control at the slightest rise of emotions, that's a whole lot. I just don't buy it. Sorry.
I hope those two can make it, a new life of their own. Thandi is still an idiot. I bet he would have reacted different, if he knew that Denna lived.

However, yay for the princess saving the day!

(hide spoiler)]

[Ashley W]

Chapter 4
Anyone else find this a little dull? So far (view spoiler)[ all I've gotten out of it is Denna can't ride a horse and Mare doesn't want to teach her. (hide spoiler)]

[María]

Starting

[Amaryllis]

✌ Ashley ☠ wrote: "Chapter 4
Anyone else find this a little dull? So far [spoilers removed]"
Yeah. True, it is rather dull for the first half, but it does get a bit better

[María]

I like it so far. I think is cool to have an epic heroine who fell in love with another strong woman. Even if I'm not sure how their relationship will start. (view spoiler)[ Maybe the lesson helps Mare to see another side of the princess (hide spoiler)]

[María]

Katrina wrote: "Chapter 9
[spoilers removed]"


I'm worried about her too

[Abi]

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Reading from the 3rd of March 2019

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[Linaria]

Starting now

[Natalia]

Up to chapter 5 (view spoiler)[ So far I don't really like Dennaleia, she doesn't really do anything, hope that changes soon. I like Mare though.
Also the world seems pretty interesting
(hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

Chapter 10 (view spoiler)[ Dennaleia is growing on me, I'm starting to like her a lot more. Also I love how disinterested she was in Nils.
Also I love how Mare's opinion of her is slowly changing, when she learns more about her. (hide spoiler)]

[Linaria]

Natalia wrote:
"

Yeah I like the world. Not sold on the characters.

[Linaria]

Natalia wrote:

Still debating on what I feel about this. I liked the idea, but I think book could use a bit more polish.

[Linaria]

ThougH I am digging the f/f relationship

[Linaria]

Marya wrote: "✌ Ashley ☠ wrote: "Chapter 4
Anyone else find this a little dull? So far [spoilers removed]"
Yeah. True, it is rather dull for the first half, but it does get a bit better"

Yeah I think the pacing could have used a bit more work.

[Natalia]

Chapter  25 (view spoiler)[  Denna is adorable! I love how she couldn't take her eyes off Mare. (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

Chapter 29 (view spoiler)[  Denna finally told Mare about her Affinity  and Mare handled it great. Also Denna finally realised that she was in love with Mare and I'm pretty sure that Mare is beginning to realise it as well. I can't wait for them to get together (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

Chapter 30-32 (view spoiler)[ Yesss! They are together. Also Mare is totally jealous of her brother and that he's going to marry the girl she loves.  (hide spoiler)]

[Natalia]

@Clephiro (The Book Coven) yes the pacing at the beginning is really slow, but it gets a lot better.
I also love the f/f relationship, Denna and Mare are amazing and really cute, I love them!

[Natalia]

Ending (view spoiler)[ I loved the ending! Denna and Mare finally together, both doing what they want. Mare is finally going to learn how to control her powers and she finally started putting her desires before her duty. Mare has the freedom she wanted and also managed to make up with her brother.
I really loved this book! (hide spoiler)]