In this USA Today bestselling novel, a woman with power over fire and illusion and the enslaved son of a chieftain battle a corrupt empire in this powerful and deeply emotional romantic fantasy.Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire’s capital–her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village’s tithe has … small village’s tithe has been the same woman. Gilene’s sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses.
But this year is different.
Azarion, the Empire’s most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion–and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. Unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.
To protect her family and village, she will abandon everything to return to the Empire–and burn once more.
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Grace Draven has completely out done herself. I have loved all her works and this has exceeded all my expectations in so many ways. If you haven’t read any of her books before you will no doubt be reading them after this.
Gritty and uncompromising, this fantasy romance set in a dystopian Empire gave me all the feels. Gilene and Arazion are a perfect match in all that they have suffered and sacrificed. I really enjoyed the complex and organic way their relationship grew–enemies to lovers isn’t my favorite trope, but Grace Draven pulled it off well. Fantastic start to a new series–I’m eager to return to this world in the next book!
I got lucky and received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I had already pre-ordered it, but couldn’t pass up a chance to read it before it got published.
The story is about a gladiator slave, Azarion, who hatches an escape plan which relies on the cooperation of a mysterious woman, Gilene, who uses illusion and fire mastery to survive the yearly sacrifices forced upon women of all the surrounding villages. Her sense of obligation to save the women in her village by taking their place each year is her own form of slavery. But she sees it as her duty to protect her family. So he has to use blackmail to get her to help him. As you can imagine, she’s not happy about the arrangement which results in a slow building enemies to lovers romance arc — my favorite! It’s very well done and believable as they grow to respect and care for each other.
I really enjoyed the cultural world building done with Azarion’s clan. Once they reach his people, you are immersed in his world in such detail you feel like you are right there with them as they are dyeing clothes or trying to milk wild mares (lol on that scene!). Even the roaming free traders add that special spice of realism to the world. If you ever wanted to be immersed in more of Silhara’s people from Master of Crows, then you should really enjoy this story.
The side characters are also alive and distinct and have some good moments of their own. I enjoyed the interactions between Azarion and his sister and mother. I felt like each character had their own life and wasn’t just a name pasted in.
Sadly, the enemies are one dimensional without much intelligence or presence. I guess that’s probably the one weakness in the story. I was expecting more slimy backstabbing from one of them which never came to pass. On the other hand, you don’t know how the couple’s dilemma will be resolved since she’s still bound and determined to save her village which means separation. Gilene does see personal growth and makes a fateful decision based on that later on so I felt like there was enough other stuff going on to compensate for the lack of solid enemies.
When the ending came, it didn’t have an epilogue which made me sad. It seemed a bit abrupt without one. Don’t worry, the important things get resolved and there are no real cliffhangers. However, there are some lingering questions and I could see a book 2 or some short stories published later to address those.
Overall, this is a solid fantasy romance story and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Master of Crows or who likes the genre.
A beautiful enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance I’d waited months to read. Grace Draven’s worlds are so fantastic, and the feelings between these two characters, Azarion and Gilene, so vivid it’s as if I were sitting in the ‘qara’ beside them, listening in on their most private conversations. Their emotional journey from mortal enemies to soul-bound lovers was slow and sweet and perfect.
I loved this “happily-ever-after” fairytale. Lots of great story elements and enjoyable plot twists. I read it in two days. Definately a page-turner.
Grace Draven has building a world ruled by an evil empire. The story of a gladiator slave and the fire-witch who he has captured and forces to help him was a page turner.
Originally posted on Undeniably Book Nerdy book blog
I have had Grace Draven’s book Radiance in my wish list for years. But, I never took the plunge to just purchase it because I’m not a big adult fantasy reader–YA, yes I love, but adult not so much. So, when I got the chance to read the first book in Ms. Draven’s new fantasy series called Fallen Empire, I jumped at the chance to cross-out an author in my new-to-me list. Holy cow, I was not expecting to love and become obsessed with Phoenix Unbound! But, that was exactly what happened.
I went into Phoenix Unbound fairly blind. Besides the synopsis, I knew nothing about the story and I think that’s the best way to start the book. I will say though that if you’re sensitive to harsh language beware that f-bombs and c-word were thrown frequently, especially when they’re in the Kraelag capital–it’s a harsh, violent world so the language definitely matches that atmosphere.
Speaking of the world, we were introduced to the cruel world of the Krael Empire how it forces its surrounding villages to sacrifice a girl every year to be burned alive as entertainment along with their enslaved gladiators who fight to the death, and then we spend time with the nomadic tribes with their own rich culture. The world-building in this book was fantastic and provides a fascinating backdrop to our enemies-to-lovers tale about Azarion and Gilene, who were both deeping fascinating characters.
The enemies-to-lovers plot is one of my favorites and the author did an amazing job bringing together two people who are so deeply scarred (trigger warning for rape) and really had no reason to trust each other. Azarion forced Gilene to help him escape the Kraelag and then takes her with him and keeps her as his captive, but there was a huge contrast to what she was forced to do for her village as a fire witch and what she did with Azarion. I was never put-off by their relationship–actually, the romance was amazing and and ate it up!
If you’re looking for a dark romantic fantasy, look no further than Phoenix Unbound. Now that I’ve had a taste of Ms. Draven’s work, I’m planning on checking out her back list and I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the Fallen Empire series. Also, if you’re worried about cliffhangers, don’t be. Phoenix Unbound wraps up quite nicely and it can be read as a stand-alone.
I’m going to be raving about Phoenix Unbound for a long time. Highly recommended!
Phoenix Unbound was refreshing. I love Draven for her hot and heavy romances and was a bit surprised to find that this book was light on the interactions. I wonder if this is Draven’s first take into YA.
This is a hate-to-love story with a very slow burn which is characteristic of a lot of the author’s novels – Radiance being a great example of this. Our heroine, Gilene, has resigned to her fate as the yearly sacrifice to the empire. Every year for the past 5 years she has burned alongside her fellow flowers but Gilene has a secret. The flames don’t harm her. Azarion is the prized fighter in the coliseum. He dreams of escaping back to his tribe and gaining revenge on his cousin who sold him into slavery. Every year Azarion wins the cage fights but not his freedom. But not this time. This time he recognizes the Agacin in Gilene or fire witch and has hatched a plan to escape. Without her consent. Love blooms between the pair even though the heroine is reluctant. Despite the machismo, Azarion is A caring, patient and thoughtful man. So his actions are redeemed throughout the rescue and after.
Overall I would give this 4 stars for a sweet YA romance. The heat that I was expecting was missing but I still really enjoyed the action and romance.
Grace Draven is one of my favorite fantasy authors and she hits this one out of the park! Gilene is a fire witch who also has the ability to form illusions. Every year, women are led to the Krael’s capital as sacrifices to be burnt at the stake after serving a night as a prostitute. Because Gilene can put an illusion over herself, she selflessly goes every year to the capital so as that a innocent woman from her town doesn’t have to be sacrificed. The men, are gladiators that fight to the death. Azarion is a gladiator that has been serving the empress for 10 years now. He sees through Gilene’s illusion and see her as a means to escape and as a means to reclaim his birthright.
I love how selfless Gilene is, but also how much she fights to survive. I love Azarion. He is also strong and resourceful. While he originally plans to use Gilene because she is a fire witch, he does what he can to protect her and promises to get her back home once he accomplishes his goals. While the two start off not exactly liking each other, I enjoyed watching their relationship evolve into something more. I am always a sucker for those enemies- to- lovers stories and the author does a great job with the slow burn romance.
The hero and heroine in Phoenix Unbound are very strong, likable, and well developed. The book is told from a dual POV which is something that I always prefer because I like to know the thoughts and feeling from each of the main characters. There is a lot of action and of course romance, thus keeping the book moving at a good pace. It is amazing how the author is able to develop a world in such detail that you feel like you are actually there. It is obvious that while she builds a fantasy world, she clearly researches historical elements to add to her story. Phoenix Unbound is perhaps one of my favorite of Grace Draven’s (although I say that about almost all of her books). It is one of the rare books that I will re-read because its as that enjoyable.
I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley and I voluntarily leave this review.
I feel like I’ve failed this book/author. Why? Because I’m a HUGE PNR lover and I just couldn’t get in to this one. Don’t get me wrong. There were times when I was turning the page, fully engulfed. But then…(sigh)
Let me first start by mentioning that I’m one of those readers who struggle getting in to a book where I can’t (even in my head) pronounce the names of characters, towns, etc. It literally causes pause when I have to re-read what I can’t pronounce, pulling me from the moment. That being said, my problem shouldn’t be the authors, so I did my best to pull myself together.
Gilene (G-lean, Gil-in, Guy-lean) is an Agacin (A-ga-sin, Ag-asin, Ag-a-sin). The best description I can give is that she’s a fire wielding witch. Every year, she returns to the Empire to “sacrifice” herself as part of the annual ritual (think male slaves becoming Gladiators and woman slaves becoming whores and then burned). But she has a secret. If she a burned every year, how is she returns?
Azarion (I got this one) has been a slave Gladiator for a decade. Every year he’s noticed a woman who looks different, but has the same soulful eyes. And he’s going to use her for his plan. To escape the Empire, return to his birthright and live happily ever after. Except, there are a few things that happen in between.
I honestly felt like the concept was there. But I never got a clear grasp of the “world” they were living in. Was it medieval times with a PNR twist? Was it a whole new world all together? Like I said, I failed this book/author. I’m so sorry. I was REALLY hoping to love this one too…..