#IgniteTheSun

[libraryinthecountry]

Are you a night person or a day person?    I am unequivocally a night person. I love the evening! Today I am featuring Ignite the Sun (+ a giveaway!), where daylight is only legend and darkness fills the kingdom.     —————————————————————   Once upon a time, there was something called the sun... In a kingdom ruled by an evil witch, the sun is just part of a legend about light-filled days of old. Luckily for everybody in the kingdom, Siria Nightingale is headed to the heart of the darkness to try and restore the light--or she will lose everything trying.    Thank you to @blinkyabooks for sending me a copy of the book and teaming up with me for a great giveaway! Check out how to enter below:    GIVEAWAY  Enter to win a finished copy of Ignite the Sun    TO ENTER  - follow me, @blinkyabooks, @hannachoward and @storygramtours         - tag a friend you think will be interested    For EXTRA entry  - visit @cc_bookreview’s account tomorrow and repeat these steps    RULES  - Giveaway will ‪end Aug 24th at midnight‬ EST  - US ONLY  - not affiliated with Instagram  -must be 18 or have parents permission  -must be a public account so I can verify entries    #IgnitetheSuntour #IgnitetheSun #hannachoward #blinkyabooks #storygramtours    #booknerd #bookishlife #bibliophile #bookaholic #bookhoarder #bookworm #bookstack #igreads #bibliophilelife #bookishpost #booksofinsta #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booklove #mybookfeatures #bookcommunity #bookobsessed #bookaddict #bookphoto #bookish #bookaesthetic #bookwormlife #booksbooksbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CEFQHfcJ_2b/?igshid=12eo2hd3plk1d

[aghowardwrites]

Thanks to @blinkyabooks and @hannachoward for the opportunity to read #IgnitetheSun early (scroll to second image to see the beautiful #coverart)! Not only is there a #toughheroine, but also banshees, witches, and nymphs, each with their own unique lore woven into a fresh #fantasy world. I had so much fun reading this imaginative #fairytale! If you like #magic, #sweetromance #mysticalcreatures, and #foundfamily, this story is perfect for you. It debuts August 18th, so get it on your TBR asap. 🔥🌞 ••• #bookaddict #amreading #bookstagram #reads #yafantasy #fiercereads #arcs #beautifulbooks #booktag #bookworm https://www.instagram.com/p/CCHWsakAVIS/?igshid=2b173oxsugvh

[sunnyisreading]

Book Review: Ignite the Sun by Hanna C. Howard

This book held such an amazing premise when I started reading it: an evil queen, the never-ending darkness, a quest to bring back the Light, and save the kingdom. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to the premise.

Howard's debut book Ignite the Sun is a fantasy young adult novel about a common 16-year-old girl with a fear of darkness in a kingdom where darkness always prevails. Overnight, she is thrust into an entirely new world, discovering she is not who she thought she was and learning about her duty to the kingdom and her people. On the quest, she tries to find herself through love, friendship and magic.

Going into the book, I didn't have necessarily high expectations, but the plot was something I would read in a moment if offered - just the thing that is right up my alley. But even after the first few chapters, I started noticing things that don't usually bother me if done well, but they really weren't: cliches. And deeper I went into it, more of them there were - and I wouldn't have minded, but they were badly incorporated at inappropriate times, but I would have handled that if they were done and gone through properly, but they really weren't. I think the sentence 'One bed.', is all I have to add here.

Siria, the main character, was a person I started off liking a lot, but that just stopped after we got around to the quest portion of the book. Her backstory somehow didn't match a lot to what she was going through at that time - as a rebelling child, although she was supposed to be coddled and cherished, I didn't expect to spend a good 1/4 of the book with her muttering and holding grudges and being angry at everyone for not telling her something they possibly couldn't. But again, I could have handled the growth of her character if it was done properly.

Especially looking at the world and how it is right now, I think we need more strong female characters that find strength, bravery, and magic in themselves, without a prince charming always standing around. And that might have been a bit of a problem here. Although in the beginning, I really liked the slow-building romance in this book, from childhood friends to starstruck lovers, as we might say, I think it would have been better if they stayed best friends as the book and their romance started dragging on.

Another thing that bothered me a bit was the ending: we get this pretty slow-paced story at the start, them travelling to the North on foot, and then suddenly we're 80% into the book and everything, and I mean everything, goes down. The pace could have been a lot more thought out, and the ending shouldn't have been rushed as much as it was.

Saying all of this, I can't deny the fact that at times, I still enjoyed the book and its premise, thinking of it as more of a light, fun, romance-filled read with some feeble characters, but with some who I loved seeing grow: Yarrow, Elegy and Merrall. Although this was a 3 star read for me, I think some of you who are into light and fun novels with a twist of magic could still enjoy it a lot.

Disclaimer: I received the eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Expected publication: August 18th 2020 by Blink Read: June 20th 2020 Rating: 3 stars | ★★★☆☆ Review cross-posted to Goodreads.

[amysbooketlist]

QOTD predictive text time! “After sundown I ...” . . I want to give a big thank you to @tlcbooktours, @blinkyabooks, and @hannachoward for gifting me a copy of Ignite the Sun to review. . . Ignite the Sun is above all a really solid debut from a super promising YA author. I loved the concept of this book and it’s allegorical approach to to anxiety and depression. The mental images were visceral at times, with the powers of dark and light fighting each other throughout. The heroine Siri’s ultimately uses her greatest fear (the light) as her source of power, literally drawing its essence into herself to overcome her obstacles. While there is still room for some growth in places, I can’t wait to see what Hanna Howard writes next. Check out my blog for a full review. Blurb in comments. . . #bookstagram #picoftheday #sunrise #bookaholic #instabook #instaread #mood #readersofinstagram #pictureoftheday #flame #fire #mondaymotivation #yafantasy #youngadult #tlcbooktours #ignitethesun #beautifulbooks #becauseofreading #dystopia #fantasy #bookstagrammer (at Columbus, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CESShBKAZoW/?igshid=12lncdwx96c00