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theeclecticreview's review against another edition
5.0
This is a story about first love. Burning love. True love.
Don’t do anything to shame us. Good girls don’t smile at guys.
Cyrah is so much stronger than she thinks. Although she lives by her families beliefs and traditions, she insisted on taking a summer course in a different country where her promises to her father are challenged every day. When she meets the sweet and gentle, Ryder, her defenses are gradually worn down. He gives her confidence, he respects her as a woman, and he loves her. Love is an unimportant word in her country. Duty is important. So she must go home when the summer is over. It is her promise and her duty to her father. It is a deal that Ryder means to break.
Ryder is an honorable young man who only wants to love and protect Cyrah forever. It will be next to impossible to convince their families that they truly love each other. His mission is destined to fail, but their love is unbreakable. What does life hold for these two determined young adults?
Cyrah and Ryder’s love is poetic and moving. The letters they initially write each other are beautiful and filled with hope and promise so from the start, I strongly wished everything would work out for them.
Overall, I adored Cyrah and Ryder’s beautiful love story. Ms. Khan’s writing is lovely as always. Her characters are so vibrant and unique and her references to several notable books continue in this defining novella.
This book is a prequel to The Name of Red which I highly recommend, as well as The Weight on Skin which continues this wonderful series.
Thank you to Ms. Khan once again for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
Don’t do anything to shame us. Good girls don’t smile at guys.
Cyrah is so much stronger than she thinks. Although she lives by her families beliefs and traditions, she insisted on taking a summer course in a different country where her promises to her father are challenged every day. When she meets the sweet and gentle, Ryder, her defenses are gradually worn down. He gives her confidence, he respects her as a woman, and he loves her. Love is an unimportant word in her country. Duty is important. So she must go home when the summer is over. It is her promise and her duty to her father. It is a deal that Ryder means to break.
Ryder is an honorable young man who only wants to love and protect Cyrah forever. It will be next to impossible to convince their families that they truly love each other. His mission is destined to fail, but their love is unbreakable. What does life hold for these two determined young adults?
Cyrah and Ryder’s love is poetic and moving. The letters they initially write each other are beautiful and filled with hope and promise so from the start, I strongly wished everything would work out for them.
Overall, I adored Cyrah and Ryder’s beautiful love story. Ms. Khan’s writing is lovely as always. Her characters are so vibrant and unique and her references to several notable books continue in this defining novella.
This book is a prequel to The Name of Red which I highly recommend, as well as The Weight on Skin which continues this wonderful series.
Thank you to Ms. Khan once again for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
kelligreenivy's review
5.0
New to romance
I don’t read too many romance books , so I was excited to see something new. This was certainly romantic , the way Rehan and Cyrah treat each other , court each other , & love each other is so beautiful.
The plot was very interesting and the characters were amazing. I enjoyed learning Cyrah and her family and her roommate even. I must admit I had frustrations that Cyrah ignored her mother’s warnings but I see how even that was painfully realistic as well as some of the decisions Rehan made.
The twist was definitely unexpected and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I look forward to reading more of this series from Khan.
I don’t read too many romance books , so I was excited to see something new. This was certainly romantic , the way Rehan and Cyrah treat each other , court each other , & love each other is so beautiful.
The plot was very interesting and the characters were amazing. I enjoyed learning Cyrah and her family and her roommate even. I must admit I had frustrations that Cyrah ignored her mother’s warnings but I see how even that was painfully realistic as well as some of the decisions Rehan made.
The twist was definitely unexpected and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I look forward to reading more of this series from Khan.
breeze_books's review
3.0
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. *heads up- trigger warning for sexual and physical abuse*
This book took me some time to adjust to the cultural differences and thinking the way Cyrah does. I’m not used to reading from the perspective of someone with so little experience, in all aspects of life. But I did appreciate the change. I will say, knowing so little of the culture/religious beliefs of Cyrah was challenging at times though.
Ryder was a perfect gentleman. Respectful of Cyrah and how she was raised and her respect for her father and mother.
This was a short book, but so many life altering things occurred. Cyrah was sexually assaulted not too far into the book and that caused her to be wary of everyone, including Ryder. But he gained her trust and love eventually.
The writing was simple and easy to read. A bit choppy at times but for the most part, it flowed well throughout.
THREE STARS.
This book took me some time to adjust to the cultural differences and thinking the way Cyrah does. I’m not used to reading from the perspective of someone with so little experience, in all aspects of life. But I did appreciate the change. I will say, knowing so little of the culture/religious beliefs of Cyrah was challenging at times though.
Ryder was a perfect gentleman. Respectful of Cyrah and how she was raised and her respect for her father and mother.
This was a short book, but so many life altering things occurred. Cyrah was sexually assaulted not too far into the book and that caused her to be wary of everyone, including Ryder. But he gained her trust and love eventually.
The writing was simple and easy to read. A bit choppy at times but for the most part, it flowed well throughout.
THREE STARS.
cristina0194's review against another edition
5.0
Copy kindly provided by the author in exchange of an honest review.
Oh my! Parts of this book broke my heart! I’m not easily impressed, but Beena has such a beautiful writing style, it’s impossible not to love her books! ❤️ And this one was no exception. I fell in love with this novella. It was so cute and innocent. And I loved how Beena continued to add Farsi/Urdu words in the story. Just like I read about Red and Kabir’s word of endearment “azizam”, in this case we had “joonam” which I loved even more! By this and by adding details about the Iranian culture, Beena made me wanna know more about cultures I’ve never expressed a certain interest before reading her books. And this is huge!
Cyrah and Ryder’s story begins when Cyrah comes to Canada for studies. But their journey has so many impediments due to the way Cyrah was raised and the cultural rules she has to follow. The ups and downs make this novella an easy read. I devoured it! It spiked my interest in a couple of minutes after starting it. So I recommend it with all my heart.
The only thing I felt that was missing were more chapters.
Oh my! Parts of this book broke my heart! I’m not easily impressed, but Beena has such a beautiful writing style, it’s impossible not to love her books! ❤️ And this one was no exception. I fell in love with this novella. It was so cute and innocent. And I loved how Beena continued to add Farsi/Urdu words in the story. Just like I read about Red and Kabir’s word of endearment “azizam”, in this case we had “joonam” which I loved even more! By this and by adding details about the Iranian culture, Beena made me wanna know more about cultures I’ve never expressed a certain interest before reading her books. And this is huge!
Cyrah and Ryder’s story begins when Cyrah comes to Canada for studies. But their journey has so many impediments due to the way Cyrah was raised and the cultural rules she has to follow. The ups and downs make this novella an easy read. I devoured it! It spiked my interest in a couple of minutes after starting it. So I recommend it with all my heart.
The only thing I felt that was missing were more chapters.
plottrysts's review against another edition
3.0
The Flame Must Burn is a short novel that centers on the romance between Cyrah, a young Iranian woman, and Ryder/Rehan, a Pakistani-Canadian young man. They meet while Cyrah is participating in a summer study abroad exchange program in small-town Canada.
Their relationship moves at a quick pace, from a brief glance at the beach, to love letters, to dates and hot-and-heavy make-outs. We especially liked their love notes and poetry, since they reveal both Ryder's knowledge and respect for Cyrah's culture and that the MCs share a mindset. We especially enjoyed the presentation of a culture clash between members of two non-Western cultures, both of which were somewhat unfamiliar to us.
The book took a turn about halfway through that complicated the story and our characters' motivations. Cyrah has been presented as an obedient woman who does not want to shame her family, and Ryder has encouraged her to break out of her shell and embrace new freedoms in Canada. We were interested to see how Cyrah would resolve the conflict between cultural expectations and her relationship with Ryder. Unfortunately the resolution emphasizes Cyrah's continued reliance on the men in her life. Although her culture of birth is presented as being restrictive, she also never manages to break away from it, despite the urging of members of her family, friends, and Ryder himself.
This objective review is based on a free advance review copy.
Their relationship moves at a quick pace, from a brief glance at the beach, to love letters, to dates and hot-and-heavy make-outs. We especially liked their love notes and poetry, since they reveal both Ryder's knowledge and respect for Cyrah's culture and that the MCs share a mindset. We especially enjoyed the presentation of a culture clash between members of two non-Western cultures, both of which were somewhat unfamiliar to us.
The book took a turn about halfway through that complicated the story and our characters' motivations. Cyrah has been presented as an obedient woman who does not want to shame her family, and Ryder has encouraged her to break out of her shell and embrace new freedoms in Canada. We were interested to see how Cyrah would resolve the conflict between cultural expectations and her relationship with Ryder. Unfortunately the resolution emphasizes Cyrah's continued reliance on the men in her life. Although her culture of birth is presented as being restrictive, she also never manages to break away from it, despite the urging of members of her family, friends, and Ryder himself.
This objective review is based on a free advance review copy.
bubblewombat's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning of the book is exactly as the blurb made it sound so I was expecting a sweet summer romance type of story. What happened instead is that I found a very relatable character whose life is anything but easy. Cyrah girl, you deserve all the hugs in the world for what you went through.
I come from a different country than those mentioned, but the culture is somewhat similar and it was nice to feel represented in a way. I think the author did a very good job with that, it's realistic.
The love between the two main leads develops fast. I mind, but I also don't? Ryder makes up for it later by being sweet.
The second half could've given me a heart attack, I'm sure. I couldn't even breathe because so much was going on.
I was NOT expecting those plot twists, especially the one at the end. It caught me so off guard I couldn't believe I didn't even consider it. I guess Cyrah is a better thriller reader than me ;)
All in all, I enjoyed this. I cried, I smiled, and I was absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of that one man. Ew.
*Thank you to BookSirens for providing me with a copy of this book for which I'm leaving a review voluntarily*
I come from a different country than those mentioned, but the culture is somewhat similar and it was nice to feel represented in a way. I think the author did a very good job with that, it's realistic.
The love between the two main leads develops fast. I mind, but I also don't? Ryder makes up for it later by being sweet.
The second half could've given me a heart attack, I'm sure. I couldn't even breathe because so much was going on.
I was NOT expecting those plot twists, especially the one at the end. It caught me so off guard I couldn't believe I didn't even consider it. I guess Cyrah is a better thriller reader than me ;)
All in all, I enjoyed this. I cried, I smiled, and I was absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of that one man. Ew.
*Thank you to BookSirens for providing me with a copy of this book for which I'm leaving a review voluntarily*
kathrinreads's review
4.0
Trigger warning for sexual assault.
I really enjoyed the story of Rider and Cyrah and how they met. Cyrah is from Iran and goes to a Summer Exchange Programm in Canada, there she meets Ryder, whose parents are from Pakistan. They have insane chemistry from the start but Cyrah is quite hesitant to start a relationship with him because it is not proper in her culture.
I really liked the writing style and the passing of the story. Furthermore, I could connect to the characters and understand their struggles and I was definitely rooting for them throughout the novella. I liked the cultural aspects of the story such as the arranged marriage because it taught me something new and I found it was well done. I cannot speak for the representation but I overall enjoyed this novella very much.
I really enjoyed the story of Rider and Cyrah and how they met. Cyrah is from Iran and goes to a Summer Exchange Programm in Canada, there she meets Ryder, whose parents are from Pakistan. They have insane chemistry from the start but Cyrah is quite hesitant to start a relationship with him because it is not proper in her culture.
I really liked the writing style and the passing of the story. Furthermore, I could connect to the characters and understand their struggles and I was definitely rooting for them throughout the novella. I liked the cultural aspects of the story such as the arranged marriage because it taught me something new and I found it was well done. I cannot speak for the representation but I overall enjoyed this novella very much.