"A Spark of White Fire" by Sangu Mandanna (BR)

[Ryan]

The Amazin' Eights challenge participants chose A Spark of White Fire as the fourth book in our challenge. Anyone else who'd like to join in the BR, please feel free. We love a necropost!

[Allison]

Reminder this is more or less starting today haha! Looking forward to chatting about it :) Please remember to use appropriate spoiler tags and page/chapter markers

[Ryan]

Shame on me for reading this book without documenting my progress. It was a good, quick read that I hope others enjoy.

[Midiain]

Am I the only one reading this right now? I'm not quite halfway through it and it's a very light, quick read but maybe more YA than I prefer. At first I was trying to figure out who the characters represented but I have realized that it's been a long time since I read the Mahabharata and I don't remember enough. The competition is directly from it and the rival families vying for the throne but the book only seems to be loosely inspired by it from what I do remember.

(view spoiler)[Something I am enjoying is that there aren't "good" and "bad" sides. Esmae's preconceptions are challenged at every level and the various characters are all just people with (mostly) good intentions. Except for one character who does seem fairly villainous. (hide spoiler)]

[Meredith]

I am planning to read this but I have to finish something else first.

[Stephanie]

I read it last month because I was able to get it from the library. I was unsure at first, but I liked it a lot! I will try to collect more thoughts and bring them back here soon, but I need to go get my hair cut now 😅 Just wanted to let you all know I also read it and I will be here with more opinions soon :)

[Sha]

I'm joining in bc I cannot resist any sort of Hindu Mythology retelling and here's hoping I will remember to post in this thread on a semi regular basis

watch me fruitlessly try to match up characters with their mythological counterparts

[Megan]

I'm up next on the holds list for this at my library, so hopefully I'll get to join in soon!

[Allison]

I need help. I am HATING the writing so far, with the "I'm so hideous, I'm just slim and curly haired and elfin looking with a goddess and a prince as my best friend, but because I am so worthless I have to FINISH DISHES before going to meet another prince :( :(:("

Is this just a really terrible intro to a book that drastically changes or should I cut my losses?

[Midiain]

No drastic change but it gets a little better. Sadly, I thought that the writing was fairly juvenile all the way through. There were things about the story that I liked and I thought that the author showed potential but it might be that I persevered because I kept looking for the mythology in the characters and story.

I hate bashing a new author. Any author, but a new one particularly, so this is painful to say. The writing isn't so good, the plot is kinda weak, the pace is wibbly-wobbly, the mythology feels shoehorned in at points, the main character doesn't have a whole lot of agency despite the amount of power she inexplicably has, and she's a bit of a Mary Sue who continues to whine about her plight.

[Ryan]

@Allison, Hah! I was getting updates about your reading progress on my home feed but not for this thread. I thought your issue was with the writing style, but here it seems to be the story. I suspect that the issue you're having is one relating to the source material.

I'll say that it does improve in that the whining about aesthetics ceases and other things are revealed that justify whining.

I quite liked the ending of this for how it reminded me of (view spoiler)[ the movie Minority Report. The main characters in both constantly arguing that they won't do this horrible thing that others say they will, only for them to realise that there is a situation that they can be put in where they'd do it after all. I thought it was well done in both, but to do it well in a YA novel was really good. I've probably engaged with other stories that do the same thing but they haven't registered in my mind to recall them now. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison]

Thanks, y'all!

Ryan, no, I'm not mad at the forgotten orphan with magic best friends trope, but the "(view spoiler)[

The dishes are done. I must go.
I'm already late...I dry my hands and grimace at my reflection in the polished metal freezer door. Undtidy brown curls, a pale bronze elfin face with a pointed chin, gray eyes, smallish, sturdy. Years of training taught me to move gracefully and I've just about mastered the art of holding my head high but there's no getting around the fact I don't look like [royalty]." (hide spoiler)]

It's just very I'm so ugly but all the boys love me! I'm a huge klutz but also a prima ballerina! kind of whatever this new subgenre of writing is that people call YA but is instead something not tied to age bracket that I'm having a hard time dealing with.

[Ryan]

In that case I'll ask you to persevere until chapter seven before deciding whether to abandon the book or not. I think such talk stops a chapter or two before that and things will have picked up enough to determine if the story is for you.

[Allison]

Ok. I'll switchies between this and Steerswoman for a bit.

[Stephanie]

Finally gathering my thoughts:
I was uncertain about this one at first. I had actually started it at least a year ago, and I didn't continue after the first 'reveal' (view spoiler)[ where they have the meeting and she reveals her identity (hide spoiler)]. But I was glad I gave this more of a chance, as I didn't feel it went into the same territory as other YA books (the disappointing ones haha) did.

I loved that this is based on mythology. I'm not familiar with it, but that's why I wanted to participate in the A8 challenge.

I've always enjoyed stories that grapple with fate. I like to think about personal choice and how our actions cause changes.

(view spoiler)[ Ryan, I liked what you said about the certainty that they won't end up in this horrible situation, and then they do. I think it's especially relevant in a YA novel, where the characters are determining who they really are. It's easy at first to see two clear sides, and the longer you live, the more you realize how complicated things are, and you can end up in situations you never expected to encounter. This actually also reminds me a little of Deeplight, (view spoiler)[in how the MC has to think about which parts are central to himself, because all people go through changes throughout life. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Though I did think the tone of this story was a bit dramatic at times (not sure if that is the best word for it but it's the one that comes to mind), but honestly this reminded me a lot of the way I wrote in my journal when I was in high school, lol.

Another thought I had while reading: (view spoiler)[ Book: But they are not related by blood. Me: Oh, so that's the love interest. (hide spoiler)]

In unrelated news, I wasn't sure if you can put spoilers inside spoilers, but it turns out you can and I have done it in this post.

[Nicol]

I don’t remember the “I’m ugly but all the boys love me” trope at all. Now I’m wondering did I zone out in the beginning or my brain immediately repressed it?!

[Allison]

I'm not entirely sure that this is where it's going, so I don't know about the trope itself, but the writing so far is in that camp of book -- a la Graceling and Crown Prince and whatever this subgenre is.

[Midiain]

Allison wrote: "I'm not entirely sure that this is where it's going, so I don't know about the trope itself, but the writing so far is in that camp of book -- a la Graceling and Crown Prince and whatever this subg..."

I haven't read those books but I think it's safe to say that it's not as bad as you might be anticipating. (view spoiler)[Everyone instantly wants to be close to her but there is just the one love interest. Everyone else is a close friend or brother. I found that part refreshing since the tone of the book is younger-YA. (hide spoiler)]

[Stephanie]

Oh, I hate that subgenre, which I think is why I was very suspicious of this book to start out with. It surprised me, though. While there is a bit of that in some ways, for me it wasn't in a romantic way if that makes sense? (view spoiler)[ The MC is frequently saying things like, "But what god would possibly be interested in me?" Despite one god's frequent association with her. That along with the disbelief that she could be loved by gods. But, at the same time, disbelieving that gods could take an interest in you seems like a normal human reaction? Esp for a MC that is young and maybe doesn't have a lot of opportunities to compare her lived experience with others'? (hide spoiler)]

But Allison, I don't think you should make yourself suffer?

[Sha]

This whole month has been getting on my last NERVE 😡 I can't believe I forgot about this BR.

[Meredith]

I finished and I gave two stars because it really was just "okay" to me. Maybe if I was more familiar with the underlying mythology it would have given me something to hang on to while reading. But, I felt like things (situations, characters, etc.) just weren't developed strongly enough to make for a compelling read. I kept going back to the blurb, since that is what drew me in initially, and then looking at what I was reading and feeling disappointed.