Blog Tour & Giveaway: Incendiary

Hello, book dragons! I hope you’re all well. Today I’m part of the FFBC Blog Tour for Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova and I’m super excited to share it with you. Let’s hop in!

{You might also like – Blog Tour: The Winter Duke}

Title: Incendiary

Author: Zoraida Córdova

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Format: eARC

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Date Published: 28 April 2020

Goodreads Description:

I am Renata Convida.
I have lived a hundred stolen lives.
Now I live my own.

Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King’s Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata’s ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King’s Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.

Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred–or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned “hollow” during her time in the palace.

When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace undercover and complete Dez’s top-secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.

But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom–and end the war that has cost her everything.

I received a free copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Links

Review

Story

I had to take a few days to sort out my thoughts on Incendiary. I honestly did enjoy the book, it was gripping and kept me hooked, I just have a few minor issues. It felt like the first half of the book should have been the last half of the first book. Stories are supposed to start in the middle, I understand that concept, but this literally felt like I had opened the book in the middle and started reading.

The plot itself was very interesting, and I loved the magic system and the Spanish-Inquisition elements. I read the ARC for this, so it didn’t include a map, but I hope the release copies do contain maps. Maps really help to orient me in fantasy worlds, and I felt a little lost without one.

Writing

The writing was superb. At one point I could not put the book down. Córdova does an amazing job of describing scenery and conveying character’s emotions. The world she created is brutal and unforgiving, and I cannot wait to read more.

Characters

Renata started out strong, but I was really annoyed by her in the end. My favourite character (the prince) got the least page time. If the ending is any indication we’ll be seeing more of him in book two and I cannot wait for that.

Let me know your thoughts on Incendiary!

Author Bio

Zoraida Córdova is the author of many fantasy novels including Star Wars: A Crash of Fate, the Brooklyn Brujas series, and The Vicious Deep trilogy. Her novel Labyrinth Lost won the International Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel in 2017. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft. Upcoming books include Incendiary, book one in the Hollow Crown duology (Hyperion 2020) and she’s the co-editor of Vampires Never Get Old (Imprint 2020). Zoraida was born in Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York. When she isn’t working on her next novel, she’s planning her next adventure.