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A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on…
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A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire, Book One) (edition 2016)

by Jessica Cluess (Author)

Series: Kingdom on Fire (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
7844028,230 (3.6)8
Fantasy. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:"Vivid characters, terrifying monsters, and world building as deep and dark as the ocean."
â??Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen

 
I am Henrietta Howel.
The first female sorcerer in hundreds of years.
The prophesied one.
Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames.
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she's shocked when instead of being executed, she's invited to train as one of Her Majesty's royal sorcerers.

Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.

But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one.
As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, what does it mean to not be the one? And how much will she risk to save the cityâ??and the one she loves?
 
Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess's spellbinding fantasy introduces a powerful, unforgettably heroine, and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal. Hand to fans of Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, and Cassandra Clare.

"The magic! The intrigue! The guys! We were sucked into this monster-ridden, alternative England from page one. Henrietta is literally a 'girl on fire' and this team of sorcerers training for battle had a pinch of Potter blended with a drop of [Cassandra Clare's] Infernal Devices."
â??Justine Magazine

"Cluess gamely turns the chosen-one trope upside down in this smashing dark fantasy."
â??Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Unputdownable. I loved the monsters, the magic, and the teen warriors who are their world's best hope! Jessica Cluess is an awesome storyteller!"
â??Tamora Pierce, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A fun, inventive fantasy. I totally have a book crush on Rook."
â??Sarah Rees Brennan, New York Times bestselling author

"Pure enchantment. I love how Cluess turned the 'chosen one' archetype on its head. With the emotional intensity of my favorite fantasy books, this is the kind of story that makes you forget yourself."
â??Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen

"A glorious, fast-paced romp of an adventure. Jessica Cluess has built her story out of my favorite ingredients: sorcery, demons, romance, and danger."
â??Kelly Link, author of
… (more)
Member:odurant
Title:A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire, Book One)
Authors:Jessica Cluess (Author)
Info:Random House Books for Young Readers (2016), 416 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:magic, fantasy, London, BOCD, Sound Commentary

Work Information

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

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» See also 8 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 38 (next | show all)
Enjoyable. Looking forward to more in this series. ( )
  jazzbird61 | Feb 29, 2024 |
I wanted to like this and it started out strong but then it just bogged down and I found I could not care less. The heroine whined so much. Might revisit later, but right now do not intend to continue with the series. ( )
  Shelley8059 | Jan 25, 2024 |
I feel very mixed about this book. While I think it improved drastically as the story went on, I think it was lacking in several areas, most prominent being world-building and voice.

While there were times that I felt absolutely sucked in, every once in a while something about the magic would throw me out of the story. Sometimes it read like a Harry Potter pastiche. Replace the word staves with wands, and I'd believe we'd been sucked into a Victorian Ministry of Magic. That sounds awesome. If only there weren't so many complicating factors. The whole sorcerers versus magicians thing seemed superficial at best. But the thing I didn't like most were the monsters. It was like JK Rowling meets HP Lovecraft - with one important element missing: voice.

The narration often read like bland reportage to me. I couldn't get any of the emotions from the character. It might say she felt sad, or it would narrate a physical reaction of sadness, but I couldn't feel that sadness. The main character Henrietta read, until the very end, as unsympathetic and robotic. I could have ignored other flaws in the story if not for this.
( )
  beckyrenner | Aug 3, 2023 |
I enjoyed this. There's not anything particularly original but it's an enjoyable mishmash of all my favourites. There's a real fairytale/folklore vibe happening - it reminded me a bit of Howl's Moving Castle. Okay I'll admit, it's probably just because Howl Howel. But whatevs.

I liked Henrietta. She was unsure of herself but a survivor and I liked that she was willing to lie to protect Rook and save them both. I liked Rook and Lilly - although I guess I don't really know all that much about them either. Blackwood and Eliza were not bad but weren't really developed enough for me to have any strong feelings. I didn't like Magnus. The romance between Henrietta and Magnus was weak and annoying. I didn't like how it ended either - seemed way too dramatic to declare he couldn't let her go - they really didn't seem that close. But sometimes I forget how young adult novels can be. But there also wasn't too much of it and it didn't impact the story too much.

There were quite a few loose threads and I hope they're explored in the sequel. It was never really explained why or what it could mean to have matching stave designs or how Henrietta recognised Sorrow-Fell. The thread about Henrietta's past and why she was abandoned was never really touched on again either. I did like that gender equality issues were brought up (I'm female - obviously it's a concern) but it was a bit too heavy handed in the execution. It felt preachy.

My favourite parts were the interactions between Henrietta and Hargrove. I liked their magic lessons - it was pure fantasy and I loved it. I also enjoyed the interaction between Henrietta and Fenswick (the doctor/hobgoblin) and I really hope we see more of him.

It seems to be a rich and diverse fantasy world (or perhaps just very busy) but the world building was a bit sparse on details at times - I'm not sure I really understood all the particulars of who was what and where and why. But it kept my attention and kept me reading. I was interested to know more and will definitely read the rest of the series.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. ( )
  funstm | Dec 1, 2022 |
I really enjoyed the world built by Cluess and her writing was easy to read and follow. However, some of the archaic misogyny - while presented in and for the purposes of historical accuracy - was a little jarring and unnerving. I found a lot of Henrietta's ideals and thought processes made me wish she was a little more developed as a modern character and not like something out of a British historical melodrama. There are also some racist and classist ideas represented in the writing that, while again historically accurate for the time this was inspired by, brought me out of the story with shock. I still overall really enjoy the book and plan on moving on to the sequel just released but felt that these things could have been edited out in a way that kept the historical aspects still there. ( )
  brittaniethekid | Jul 7, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 38 (next | show all)
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The sorcerer arrived on a Saturday.
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Fantasy. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:"Vivid characters, terrifying monsters, and world building as deep and dark as the ocean."
â??Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen

 
I am Henrietta Howel.
The first female sorcerer in hundreds of years.
The prophesied one.
Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames.
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she's shocked when instead of being executed, she's invited to train as one of Her Majesty's royal sorcerers.

Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.

But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one.
As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, what does it mean to not be the one? And how much will she risk to save the cityâ??and the one she loves?
 
Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess's spellbinding fantasy introduces a powerful, unforgettably heroine, and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal. Hand to fans of Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, and Cassandra Clare.

"The magic! The intrigue! The guys! We were sucked into this monster-ridden, alternative England from page one. Henrietta is literally a 'girl on fire' and this team of sorcerers training for battle had a pinch of Potter blended with a drop of [Cassandra Clare's] Infernal Devices."
â??Justine Magazine

"Cluess gamely turns the chosen-one trope upside down in this smashing dark fantasy."
â??Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Unputdownable. I loved the monsters, the magic, and the teen warriors who are their world's best hope! Jessica Cluess is an awesome storyteller!"
â??Tamora Pierce, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A fun, inventive fantasy. I totally have a book crush on Rook."
â??Sarah Rees Brennan, New York Times bestselling author

"Pure enchantment. I love how Cluess turned the 'chosen one' archetype on its head. With the emotional intensity of my favorite fantasy books, this is the kind of story that makes you forget yourself."
â??Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen

"A glorious, fast-paced romp of an adventure. Jessica Cluess has built her story out of my favorite ingredients: sorcery, demons, romance, and danger."
â??Kelly Link, author of

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