Review: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

The Burning Sky

Author: Sherry Thomas
Series: The Elemental Trilogy #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Source: Mid-Columbia Libraries
Rating: 5 Stars
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Synopsis from Goodreads:

It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.

My Review:

Dragons, and Wyverns, and Pegasi: oh my! That was lame wasn’t it? Haha, not sorry. I thought it was funny. There were so many amazing creatures in this book! And there were wands! (So I never read Harry Potter, but when I read that they had wands in this book, I immediately thought of HP.) My nerdy fantasy-loving self was drooling. Seriously. Speaking of my nerdy self…. There were footnotes in this book. What??? That’s awesome! There was literally so much information that the author had to put notes in the back of the book. Loved it!

So this girl Iolanthe is just a normal teenage girl, learning how to use elemental magic. She’s pretty good. She can control three of the four elements: fire, water, and earth. Then one day, Prince Titus, Master of the Domain, tells her that she is the greatest elemental mage of all time. He has seen her in a prophesy and now she is in extreme danger and must go into hiding. There are powerful people in the world that want to use Iolanthe’s power for their own evil purposes. Like the Bane and the Inquisitor. Scary people.

Basically the Domain has been taken over by these people called Antlanteans. Prince Titus is still the figurehead of the Realm, but he has little to no power. The people of the Domain attempted to revolt at one point, but were crushed by the Bane. Now they live in fear, just trying to keep their heads down and avoid attracting any unwanted attention to themselves.

There were a lot of politics in this book which I really enjoyed reading about. Sherry Thomas has created an elaborate world that resides within Europe. There are mage and nonmage realms. The mage realms are made-up places, but the nonmage realms are countries and cities that we all know, like London. Sherry Thomas does a pretty good job of world-building and most of my questions were answered. The only question that I really feel like I need to know the answer to is this: Do the nonmage realms know about the mage realms? It kind of seemed like they didn’t, but I couldn’t be sure. And if they didn’t, how did they not know?

Iolanthe and Titus are the main characters in this book and I loved them both. Iolanthe develops a lot in this book, going from a scared girl who wants to run away from her problems to a girl who accepts her destiny and runs to face it head-on. She was confident and funny. In order to hide from the Bane, she pretends to be a boy attending an all-boys school in London and she does a great job of fitting right in. I loved her ability to adapt to any situation. Iolanthe isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and the people that she loves. 

 “I am not his to be had. And someday, he might just regret coming after me–after us–and not leaving well enough alone.” –Iolanthe

I didn’t like Titus at first. He was pushy and basically a manipulative d-bag. But then he starts to change as he gets to know Iolanthe. He realizes that he can’t force her to do anything and that she needs to make her own choices. Quite simply, he falls in love with her. And then he becomes adorable and swoony and I just wanted to make out with him. Yep, that happened.

 

“As long as I live and breathe, I will be with you. And I will shield you.” –Titus

 

I squealed several times throughout this book. I bit my nails and gasped in horror and surprise. The tension was thick. There was always an immense sense of danger. Atlantis is not to be trifled with and my stomach was in knots the whole time I was reading. My one complaint: The final battle scene was a bit anticlimactic. There were some seriously powerful people fighting each other and then it was over in like one page. I expected more bang. More fight. More injuries. More badassness.

The book wrapped up very well and we weren’t left on a huge cliffhanger, but we are wondering what Iolanthe is going to do next. I think that Iolanthe is ready to embrace her destiny and help Titus. Because she loves him. And he loves her. And they’re adorable. And they need to make out now. If you love magic, mystery, dangerous villains, magical creatures, and romance, you cannot miss this book. I loved it! Happy reading all!

Have you read this book? What did you think? Were you as in love with all the fantastical elements as I was?