OF FLAME AND FURY by Mikala Bridge

Fiction, YA fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Action/Adventure

5*****

Blurb: On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly. Seventeen-year-old Kel Varra and her team of underdogs, the Crimson Howlers, are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it. But the Howlers need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with Warren “Coup” Coupers – an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head. As tensions rise on and off the track, Kel’s home is mistakenly burned down, and she’s forced to take a job from a mysterious tech mogul with an unsettling interest in her phoenix, Savita. This sets in motion a conspiracy that threatens everyone Kel cares for, especially Coup, for whom her embers of resentment are quickly igniting into something dangerously new. Heart-pounding pages full of steamy romance, fiery confessions, political scheming, and volatile magic culminate in a final twist readers will never see coming.

THOUGHTS: Wow. There are not enough words to describe how intense and fantastical this book is. It is full of angst, passion, action, danger, betrayal, and more. The world-building is beyond scope, drawing you immediately into Kel’s world. In this one, all the action centers around phoenix birds. Yes, the mythological birds that burn to a crisp, then are reborn. Only in this one, they are huge and are used by riders in races. Flaming races that can get you killed. From the first page where Kel, a trainer, is racing her phoenix, Savita in order to earn enough money to save her home, you are drawn into her world. An unfortunate accident gets her rider killed and she is forced to take on another rider—Coup—an arrogant rider with too much attitude. But there’s something about him that both draws Kel and repels her.

They, along with Coup’s brother and Kel’s best friend reluctantly agree to work for a large company who can provide Kel with everything she needs to save Savita from being taken away for her debts.  But it comes with a price that might be too high for them to pay.

The only downside I found to this was the end – and the missing epilogue in this ARC. I really, really wanted to know what happened to Kel and Savita! Maybe in the print version? Or a second book? I hope so.

Definitely recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for sharing this ARC. All opinions are my own and are not required, requested, or influenced by anyone or anything.