Publisher: AceRelease Date: September 25, 2018 (out today!)
Source of my copy: publisher
Series: Fallen Empire #1
My rating:
Synopsis
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 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. And unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.
To protect her family and village, she will risk everything to return to the Empire--and burn once more.
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 deeply 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 I 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!
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