Her Hidden Fire took me by storm. I loved the mixture of world, dragons, and hidden powers. If you’re looking for a powerful story about agency and corruption, this is for you! Keep reading this book review of Her Hidden Fire for my full thoughts.
Summary
In a world where dragons stalk the skies and magical abilities are an elite privilege, the ruling family of Ailm’s Keep is on a knife can Ionain, the heir apparent, channel magic, or will the family be cast out and replaced by a cruel master from a neighbouring land?
So when Éadha, a servant girl who loves Ionain, discovers that she can draw power, she finds herself in grave danger. It’s extremely rare for a girl to have this talent, and certainly never outside the great families. At Ionain’s moment of truth, Éadha makes a desperate gamble to save him, Ailm’s Keep, and ultimately herself.
As Éadha and Ionain enter a whirlwind of patriarchy, class, heartache and jealousy, they learn about power’s terrible cost – a price others willingly pay to maintain theirs.
How far would you go to empower the one you love?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Her Hidden Fire asks us how far we would go to support the one we love. Would we sacrifice for them, drain ourselves for them, lie to them? I love a good friends to lovers arc and Her Hidden Fire introduces that and adds in a love triangle! But where Her Hidden Fire captivated me was the discussion of a corrupt system. A system where power is ingrained, where certain people are treated better, and where others are snuffed out. It’s about what we would do if we found out our world was based on a lie, on sacrifice, on ‘collateral damage’? Not always for the magic we need to save lives, but for tidying up and ‘harmless’ fun.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
At the same time it’s a story about love. About what we would do for the ones we love. Is it worth living a lie to be a ‘somebody’ or trying to risk it all to be a nobody? She’s stuck between herself, her love, and the future. Her Hidden Fire revolves around being diminished, about hiding our gifts, and what happens when we decide to let go. What would we do if we decided to let go? It’s about the systemic creation of special, of ‘gifts’ which demand sacrifices we would never pay. I am so excited for the sequel and it’s going to introduce more POVs!
Find Her Hidden Fire on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.