I have never seen an episode of ATLA, so this book wasn’t written for me, but that didn’t stop me from loving it. The novel is astonishingly fast-paced while still being truthful to the slow-burn romance. This story has it all: elemental magic, solid female friendships, queer representation, political intrigue, enemies to lovers, a bit of spice, and badass dragons and sea serpents.

My only issue was that sometimes our strong heroine finds herself in a bit too much trouble for my liking. These “damsel in distress” moments got to be a bit repetitive, which I didn’t care for. However, the trauma and angst leads to some of the very intimate and vulnerable moments shared between the main couple, which I adored.

Ahearn writes inner monologues and feelings extremely well and lets that slow burn deliciously simmer. The author also found the perfect balance of giving us a dark, brooding, aggressive, possessive, gruff male love interest who will set the world aflame for the one he loves without being disgustingly toxic or icky, and I really appreciated that.

I’m extremely grateful to the author for having me on the ARC team for this novel. I’m so glad that I read this book, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next!