Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone--even the lowborn--a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders. Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn't be more different. Annie's lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee's aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet. But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley. I, like many other YA Fantasy readers, am a total sucker for dragons. So, when this book came through my email I got so excited to read an adventure story featuring my favorite mythical beasts. It definitely did not hurt that this book had a great blurb by Rachel Hartman, either.
The first thing that pulled me into this book was the setting. It takes places nine years after a bloody revolution, which resulted in Lee becoming an orphan. As the new government is still adjusting, it helped ease me into the world and its rules. There were still moments of confusion caused by the quick plot at the beginning, which I’ll touch on more in just a minute, but I quickly felt comfortable in my understanding of the setting. The magic(or more like dragon) system and government were the most intriguing elements to me.
I initially found the plot of this book difficult to follow. The story starts off quickly with small moments of backstory to catch the reader up interspersed with high-energy plot elements, like a tournament, fights, love, and treason. I’d say around the 20% mark I finally found my footing and felt comfortable with the story. Once I understood what was going on, I was swept up into the story. There main conflict of the book, in my mind, is Lee’s internal struggle to betray his friends and country to help the little family he has left or risk becoming a true orphan. This conflict pulled me through the book and was a unique struggle to find in a YA novel.
This book alternate between Annie and Lee’s point of views. Dual point of view novels are always a struggle for me, because I end up greatly preferring one narrator over the other. This book was no exception, as Annie’s voice quickly out shined Lee’s. However, as I read on, it became clear that there was no other way to write this novel, and I just had to swallow my pet peeve. In regards to characters, I was only disappointed with the development of the dragon’s characters. While essential to the plot, they seem to mostly be tools in this world, rather than living creatures with their own quirks and characteristics. I would have liked to see them come off the page more.
Fireborne is the impressive debut novel by Rosaria Munda. The world and plot start out somewhat confusion, but soon will hook you into the book and you’ll struggle to put it down. Do be aware that this book switches point of view frequently between the two main cahracters, Annie and Lee, however both characters are complex and well developed. I hope to be able to read the next book in this series soon.