So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

The quick cut: Two sisters go to great lengths to stop another war from happening when one of them connects with an enemy country's dragon.

A real review:

We love the concept of a hero don't we? The idea that one person could be imbued with the power to save us all. It's a nice idea but between the power and the stress of being in that situation, is it as good an idea as we think? For Faron, it's not the case.

For five years, Faron has been the Childe Empyrean: someone who has the ability to channel the power of the gods. She used it to free her island from the Langley Empire: a people with the ability to ride dragons. They've gone back and forth in war multiple times, bringing their island nation closer each time to ruin. When a peace summit is called, Faron goes anticipating being nothing more than a symbol without a war. Unfortunately, what happens instead is chaos as her older sister Elara bonds with one of Langley Empire's dragons. Will this lead to peace or more war?

I liked the concept of this book, especially the heroic figure outside of war. It's not something that's usually written about and I do think it's a great story idea to explore what that toll does to a person. This book is actually about the two sisters doing whatever it takes to protect each other (in unorganized ways).

Truthfully, Elara and Faron struck me as one singular character most of the time. Rarely do they seem to be their own individuals, to the point where I had to often remind myself which one was narrating.

The world building was good and the gods concept was done effectively. I love that the different countries have different abilities based on the gods that connected with them. It meant that each nation had different strengths and abilities.

The ending felt abrupt and seemed to really not match the characters we had been reading about the entire book. Plot wise? Smart. Character wise? Too brash and too big a change without buildup. It made the whole thing feel unreal and took me out of the story.

A fun world building fantasy missing character integrity.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5