Burn of the Everflame Rant

Edit: Heat of the Everflame (sorry!)

I need to rant. I’m 75% of the way through book 3 and can’t take it anymore.

I cannot STAND how slow of a burn this series is. The pace of this romance (or lack there of) has extinguished any flame that was building for me. I loved the end of book 1 going into book 2, but then it just dropped off a cliff in book 3. I can deal with a slow romance, but this just seems drawn out to a ridiculous point.

Unfortunately, it’s not only the romance that’s slow moving, it’s also Diem’s IQ. I get that she’s 19, but her brash decisions never stop. She also continues to keep secrets. When will we see her develop?? Side note, I also grind my teeth at the dumb verbal battles she picks, yet she won’t stand up to her mother for treating Luther like trash. Don’t even get me started on Luther having to call Diem his “Majesty”.

Moving on, everything in this book is predictable, yet not. Some conclusions are painfully obvious to the reader, but are left hanging for PAGES. The amount of times someone has been interrupted while sharing a secret, or Diem makes a brash decision that redirects what could have been a really cool scene… is exhausting. It’d be nice to have one well rounded scene that gives us closure immediately. Edit: I’m also tired of hearing the words “FIGHT”, “DESTROY”, “BURN” without any explanation or culmination into something bigger… again another brutal slow burn.

There are other tidbits that are generally annoying, like forced and cheesy dialogue, but I’ll leave this on a positive note. I do love the world building and magic system. The storyline is cool and there’s a lot of potential for Diem’s power to fully cultivate. This world has so many possibilities and I’m hoping desperately that book 4 will do some of them justice.