“There is so much wrong in the world,” she says. “Sometimes, I feel the only thing I can give is a bit of kindness even when I can’t give hope.”

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RATING:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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SYNOPSIS:

I am Renata Convida.
I have lived a hundred stolen lives.
Now I live my own.

Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King’s Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata’s ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King’s Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.

Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred–or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned “hollow” during her time in the palace.

When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez’s top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.

But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom–and end the war that has cost her everything.

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REVIEW:

Firstly, I want to say thank you to Hodderscape for sending me an advanced reading copy of this book and for also inviting me to be part of the blog tour, I am so grateful for this opportunity.

Before I talk about my feelings surrounding this book please can we first appreciate how beautiful the cover is. Both the ARC and the full copy is absolutely stunning. I have a strong feeling that Incendiary is going to be a cover buy for many people this year!

Incendiary is a book that I really did enjoy. It had just the right amount of action alongside world-building which is something I see authors rarely get right. The first half is very slow burning with a lot of information being given to the reader. At times during this first half I did put the book down and found it easy to leave, however I persevered knowing that it was vital to have this initial part of the book the way it was. However, all of a sudden I was hit in the face with a tonne of action half way through. This is where the first slow burning part of the book came in. I knew exactly what was going on and why it was going on purely based on the information I had been given at the start. This really did add to my enjoyment and I found I could really enjoy the action, whizz through the latter half whilst having a strong knowledge of the world and the characters.

Oh the characters. The author Zoraida really does know how to develop a good character to which the reader is going to care about deeply. Ren was by far my favourite character, very much the outsider but such a strong and independent woman. A protagonist that I would always choose to be by my side. I love how fiercely she loves but also how fiercely she hates. She doesn’t take any shit and for me that it was makes a wonderful main character. I also enjoyed the side characters, I feel like they really helped to carry Ren to be the character she ended up being.

Also, special mention to the magic system. The “whispers” are perfect and I really thought that this aspect of the story was unique in its execution. It was definitely one that I enjoyed learning and one that I will also enjoy seeing develop in books to come.

The ending, whilst I guessed, was a very good ending and it was really left in a way that regardless of how you felt about Incendiary you are going to want to pick up the sequel. I can’t wait for the next book and to see what happens next!