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A review by azrah786
Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova
4.0
UPDATE - 17/04/21
CW: violence, blood, torture, death, grief, emotional abuse
I'm convinced I was distracted or something on my first read because this time round I thought everything flowed really well in the story and I honestly don't know why I was confused? Though the last few chapters did upset the pacing of the rest of the book because everything was happening so rapidly.
Anyways I enjoyed this a lot more on the second read so I'm putting my rating up to 4 Stars
--
**I was provided with a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
Taking place in a Spanish Inquisition-era inspired fantasy world, Incendiary follows a girl who possesses the rare (and feared) power of stealing memories with just the touch of her hand. As a child she was kidnapped and used as a weapon by the crown in their quest for power. However, she was rescued by a network of rebels and has spent years working with them to help others with magical abilities (Moira) to escape the kingdom. Though her power in particular means that next to no one has ever been able to fully trust her.
When there is a mishap on a particular rescue mission she is forced to dive back into the world of her past in order to save the future of her people, with only her own supressed memories and those she has stolen from other lives circling in her mind to accompany her.
Now I’m a little on the fence about how I feel about this one.
Córdova’s writing and storytelling is beautiful. The beginning immediately draws you into the thick of the rebel movement the story centres on and introduces you to a world with a fascinating magic system. Renata is a protagonist you both feel and root for, yet something just wasn’t clicking for me with the story as a whole.
Memories play a massive part in the narrative and I absolutely loved how this shaped Renata’s character for us as well as the world and people around her. The various twists and secrets embedded in the story, though occasionally predictable, really keep you reading. However, I found that at times I was confused due to missing information – particularly when it came to connecting and understanding the actions and motivations of the various other characters in the book. Some of the reveals happened a bit too abruptly and without much previous explanation… Hence I found that I was not enjoying the book as much as I expected to.
I do plan on picking up the sequel though!
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
CW: violence, blood, torture, death, grief, emotional abuse
I'm convinced I was distracted or something on my first read because this time round I thought everything flowed really well in the story and I honestly don't know why I was confused? Though the last few chapters did upset the pacing of the rest of the book because everything was happening so rapidly.
Anyways I enjoyed this a lot more on the second read so I'm putting my rating up to 4 Stars
--
**I was provided with a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
Taking place in a Spanish Inquisition-era inspired fantasy world, Incendiary follows a girl who possesses the rare (and feared) power of stealing memories with just the touch of her hand. As a child she was kidnapped and used as a weapon by the crown in their quest for power. However, she was rescued by a network of rebels and has spent years working with them to help others with magical abilities (Moira) to escape the kingdom. Though her power in particular means that next to no one has ever been able to fully trust her.
When there is a mishap on a particular rescue mission she is forced to dive back into the world of her past in order to save the future of her people, with only her own supressed memories and those she has stolen from other lives circling in her mind to accompany her.
Now I’m a little on the fence about how I feel about this one.
Córdova’s writing and storytelling is beautiful. The beginning immediately draws you into the thick of the rebel movement the story centres on and introduces you to a world with a fascinating magic system. Renata is a protagonist you both feel and root for, yet something just wasn’t clicking for me with the story as a whole.
Memories play a massive part in the narrative and I absolutely loved how this shaped Renata’s character for us as well as the world and people around her. The various twists and secrets embedded in the story, though occasionally predictable, really keep you reading. However, I found that at times I was confused due to missing information – particularly when it came to connecting and understanding the actions and motivations of the various other characters in the book. Some of the reveals happened a bit too abruptly and without much previous explanation… Hence I found that I was not enjoying the book as much as I expected to.
I do plan on picking up the sequel though!
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse