5 Reasons To Read Flame In The Mist
Hi friends!
Today I am here to bring you one of my top books of 2017 (even
though I finished it just two days ago, it’s already made it onto the list of
my favourites!) which is, as you guessed from the title, Flame In The Mist by
Renee Ahdieh. THIS WILL BE SPOILER FREE!
So a bit of background on me with Ahideh’s work! I read the
Wrath And The Dawn series last year and absolutely L O V E D it! I recommended
it to lots and lots of friends, some of whom did read it (*coughs pointedly at
those who didn’t read it*) and they all loved it too! Basically I just love her
work, from the few interviews I’ve seen of her, I love her personality and she
seems like such a fab and all round lovely person!
And of course when I heard Flame In The Mist was due to be
released, I was HYPED because how could I not be? One of my favourite authors
was releasing a new book and it sounded so interesting and the people that had
ARCs were constantly fangirling so I gave it a shot even though I was a smidge
apprehensive as to whether it would live up to TWATD!
Boy, am I glad I gave it a chance!
Book: Flame In The Mist
Series: Flame In The Mist
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Recommended for: Anyone 13+.
About the book.
Series: Flame In The Mist
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Pages: 368
Publisher: Hodder And Stoughton
Published on: 16 May 2017
Published on: 16 May 2017
Synopsis: The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has long known her place—she may be an accomplished alchemist, whose cunning rivals that of her brother Kenshin, but because she is not a boy, her future has always been out of her hands. At just seventeen years old, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden, the son of the emperor's favorite consort—a political marriage that will elevate her family's standing. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by a dangerous gang of bandits known as the Black Clan, who she learns has been hired to kill her before she reaches the palace.
Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and track down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she's within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she's appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she's ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires. (source)
Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and track down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she's within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she's appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she's ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires. (source)
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Thank you to Hachette Australia for providing me a review copy however this is an honest review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR:
But if you don’t believe me quite yet as to why you need to
read this, maybe these reasons will convince you: (in no particular order)
1| SWOON WORTHY
ROMANCE
Ok it’s no secret Ahideh CAN WRITE a romance. I loved the
romance in TWATD and it was no exception in this book! I’m not going to be
mentioning the name of the love interest because it is better to go in and find
out yourself (even though it’s not technically a spoiler, it’s a better reading
experience if you find out for yourself).
This also had one of my favourite tropes which was the
enemies to lovers trope and one minute the two hate each other’s guts and the next
moment, BAM, they’re making out! I also thought the romance was quite well developed,
despite the sudden change of pace because you have the two getting to know each
other and developing mutual respect so thank god for no insta-love.
2| FEUDAL JAPAN MEETS
MULAN
BEST. SETTING. EVER. Am I right? I loved the premise of this
and I am such a huge fan of Mulan so this book was absolutely perfect for me!
And feudal Japan – time of the deadly samurais – YES PLEASE.
Another trope this had, which is where the Mulan inspired
storyline comes in, is a girl dressing up as a boy and going undercover. It was
so fabulous and while at times, it was a smidge unbelievable (like how do you
not notice??) I loved it all the same!
3| TWISTY, TURNEY,
UNPREDICTABLE AND INTRIGUING PLOT
If you think you’ve read an unpredictable plot, wait till
your read this book! I loved how IMPOSSIBLE it was to guess what was to happen
next and how there was no way of knowing when the big secret (aka Mariko – the main
character – dressing like a boy would come out) or what was to happen with the
other side characters.
It also had such vague and unpredictable twists that had you
SO confused but at the same time so intrigued, which is why it worked so well. This
book made you doubt all the characters and all their intentions because it was
impossible to know who was ‘good’ and who was ‘bad’.
4| RICH AND VIVID
WRITING
The writing of this book DID NOT DISSAPOINT.
It was just as well written as TWATD, which such a lyrical and
descriptive style with a strong attention for detail. I found myself
transported to Japan and almost felt like I was beside the characters,
experiencing the rich culture and traditions of those times. MOST MAGICAL
FEELING EVER .
There were times, especially at the beginning where the
writing did feel a smidge jarring, especially as you’re thrown directly into
the action at the beginning, but it picked up, not only the pace but also the
explanations as the story continued.
5 | IT’LL LEAVE YOU
WANTING MORE
Which is why I’m basically tempted to hound poor Renee
Ahdieh until she tells me all the deets of the next book in the series! (Just
kidding…or am I?)
For reals though, the ending was so magnificent and it left
me with so so so many burning questions! The story ended so well because it was
sudden, jarring and left you on the brink of having all the answers but not getting
any.
Suffice to say, I NEED THE NEXT BOOK PLEASE AND THANK YOU.
Have you read Flame In The Mist? Or any of Renee Ahdieh's books? Did you like them?
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★½
Have you read Flame In The Mist? Or any of Renee Ahdieh's books? Did you like them?
40 happy thoughts
This sounds so amazing! I'll have to pick it up as soon as I can!!
ReplyDeleteYay I hope you do Kirsty!
DeleteYay, so glad you liked this! I have The Wrath and the Dawn but I haven't read it yet (I know, what?), but this is on my list to pick up in the future. It sounds so good! I love that there is an amazing romance going on, and that it makes you want more after the end of the book. Your review was fantastic and made me super excited to read this now!
ReplyDeleteOMG KELLY YOU MUST READ TWATD! It's such a great book! And YAY I hope you get to it!
DeleteFantastic review, Anisha! This book is easily one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I read and LOVED The Wrath and the Dawn series: the world-building, the writing style, the romance, everything about it I loved. I'm so glad that I have more of these incredible things awaiting me in Flame in the Mist :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Marie! <3
DeleteThis is such a fab review, Anisha! As I I wasn't already excited enough to read this book, now you've made me crazy excited! <3
ReplyDeleteMegan @ http://wanderingsofabookbird.blogspot.co.uk/
AHA YES YES YES!
DeleteI haven't read TWATD, but you've convinced me to give Ahdieh's writing a try with this one. I'm intrigued by the feudal Japan setting and the romance and plot sound great.
ReplyDeleteOMG THANK YOU THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!
DeleteI AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK. I absolutely loved TWATD, not so much with TRATD, but I'm still excited! Especially now that you mentioned it has amazing romance and beautiful writing!
ReplyDeleteYeah I wasn't the hugest fan of TRATD either but still a great duology!
DeleteI can't wait to read this! I'm picking up my copy on Saturday at a book fest she'll be at. I only just read her other books a couple months ago and am so glad I discovered this author's amazing words. :)
ReplyDeleteOMG YOU'RE SO LUCKY SARAH! I am totally jealous because I'd love love love to meet her but I don't think she's making any trips to Australia any time soon! :(
DeleteI have read all of Renee's books, and I adore them all :D I am so glad you enjoyed FLAME too! I can't wait for the sequel :)
ReplyDeleteBrittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
OMG ME TOO!
DeleteI've never heard of this author, but you had me at alchemist and samurai. It sounds very exciting, and I'm glad you introduced me to it.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't say anything about an alchemist but yay, glad to hear that!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYay! It's great that you liked this book :)
ReplyDeleteI read it yesterday (the day it was released) because I couldn't WAIT to get my hands on it. Mulan based feudal Japan retelling?? YES PLEASE. I loved Renee Ahdieh's other books. But I slightly regret it because now I have to wait so long for the sequel! Bad choices *shakes head*
OMG I WAS ACTUALLY THINKING THE EXACT SAME THING BECAUSE NOW THAT I RUSHED THROUGH THE FIRST ONE IM GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE AND OMG THAT MAKES ME CRY BC I NEED IT NOWWWW
DeleteThis is one of my most anticipated books, so I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. It sounds absolutely fantastic! Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
ReplyDeleteAha you're so lovely Zoe, thank you! <3
DeleteYou just made me want to read this one even more! The fact that it has a swoon-worthy romance and is unpredictable and the whole Feudal Japan meets Mulan because Mulan is one of my favorites too. I was talking to another blogger about Flame in the Mist and she told that it ends in a cliffhanger big time though so now I'm thinking I might want to wait until book two is out. I'm an impatient reader lol. And I actually haven't read The Wrath And The Dawn books yet but want to really badly. Hopefully sometime this year. Great review!! Glad you enjoyed this one. :D
ReplyDeleteAha yeah I can see what you mean because I need the next book so bad now! And OMG I hope you do get around to reading TWATD because it is ALL kinds of amazing! Thanks for reading and commenting lovely! <3
DeleteThis book will definitely leave you wanting more! I can't wait to read anything by Renée. She is one of my auto-buy authors, for sure. Love this list!! :)
ReplyDeleteAHA thank you!
DeleteI haven't read any of these, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'd definitely give them a try. Also, I like how you take the photos, they're really pretty haha.
ReplyDeleteAmy;
Little Moon Elephant
Aww thank you Amy!
DeleteI love this review! I haven't read anything by Renee Ahdieh, but I'm definitely adding The Flame in the Mist to my TBR now! I can't go past a swoon-worthy romance ❤️
ReplyDelete*blushes* thanks Sarah! And yes, I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteI really really REALLY want to read this one!! I loved TW&TD (although I haven't read the sequel yet..shame, Cait, shame) and I'm so looking forward to Japan x Mulan mashup. 😍 It sounds amazing and really unique! Although I'm with you on always slightly not believing it when stories have girls pretending to be boys and no one notices. 😂 Like, really? Eeep. BUT ANYWAY. That trope was in Walk On Earth A Stranger and I still adored that book hehh. I'M SO EXCITED TO READ THIS EVENTUALLY AHHH!!
ReplyDeleteYAY OMG! And sadly I didn't really love walk on earth a stranger because I started it but it didn't catch my interest! But maybe I'll try it again sometime
DeleteYikes! I haven't read anything by this author yet but I love Mulan + good romances so much! Do you suggest I start with Flame in the Mist or one of her other books?
ReplyDeleteOoh this is a personal preference kind of thing but maybe TWATD just because it's a finished duology!
DeleteI'm in queue for Flame in the Mist at my library, and I'm super excited to read it! Yesss, I'm usually not a fan of romance, but Renee Ahdieh writes it extremely well. Do you know if FitM is supposed to be a duology or a series?
ReplyDeleteEllie | On the Other Side of Reality
P.S. - I just found your blog, and I must say I love it! Your design is so professional and put together, and I love your voice. I'll definitely be following :)
OH MY GOSH THANK YOU SO MUCH ELLIE FOR MAKING MY DAY! I don't know what Ahideh plans to do with it yet but I think it may be a series since she's already written a duology!
DeleteAh, I just started reading this one (only 30 or so pages in) but I'm already loving it so far, and now your review has made me even more excited to continue! So glad you loved this one!
ReplyDeleteTHANKS LINDSEY! Hope you enjoy it! <3
DeleteI have heard so many mixed things about this book! I think I just need to pick it up for myself, to be honest. Which shouldn't be hard since I have a copy :D
ReplyDeleteI really like all the things you said about this book, which makes me excited! Friends to lovers, unpredictable plot, lovely writing, left you wanting more? Those are things that I really like to read in a book so YAY.
When I read this one I hope I like it as much as you did, Anisha! And I hope that your wait for book two isn't too long :)
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