Firebird by Juliette Cross

Title: Firebird
Author: Juliette Cross

Release: April 8, 2025

Publisher: Bramble

Pages: 400

Review: 3.5 Stars

Synopsis:

LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN--featuring original illustrated stenciled edges, foil case stamp, and designed endpapers. Only available for a limited time and while supplies last.

House of the Dragon meets From Blood and Ash in this epic, scorching dark romantasy.

A conqueror captivated…

A witch prophesied to save them all…

A world where dragons rule Rome.

From the moment Roman general and nephew to the emperor Julianus Dakkia laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate. But he and his dragon know one thing: she belongs to them.

Malina can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality. His prowess as a warrior cannot be denied, yet they don’t reveal the secret he hides. All Malina knows is his protection and gentle touch. And she cannot deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his.

As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.

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Review:

There are many aspects of Firebird that I enjoyed, but one thing stood out from the beginning that bothered me. Set in a world adjacent to Ancient Rome (but with dragons), our male lead Julian is a Roman general and our female lead Malina is a Dacian dancer turned rebel. As was typical at the time, when she's captured after battle, Malina is enslaved. Yes, Roman slavery was different than our more modern understanding and yes there are compounding factors that are revealed partway through the book, but at it's heart, I did not like the master/slave dynamics. This is a conversation that has been had a lot in romance (no nazis, no master/slave romance), it hasn't been really touched in the growing realm of romantasy. I think there are ways the book could have been handled where there were still complex power dynamics at play without having Malina enslaved to the love interest.

I feel like in its desire to hit the romantasy beats Firebird rushed everything else. A romance plot that might have been stretched over 2-3 books is crammed into one book's plot. I have a feeling the series will be structured like a romance series (different main couple each book) and I think given what I've read I would rather more POVs from the beginning and everything stretched out, more like you might see in a fantasy series.

This is not to say the book was bad. There are many aspects I enjoyed. Beyond the insta-love with her oppressor, Malina was a fascinating character. I liked her interactions with the other enslaved individuals. Given her status, I think it would have been interesting if the book leaned in a Spartacus/slave uprising direction instead of a more basic "kill the emperor" direction. The level of rebellion that characters engage in would mainly benefit the noble and free Romans, neither of which includes Malina.

On a completely unrelated note, Julian is mentioned as being seven feet tall and I could not get that out of my head the entire book. Malina's height is never mentioned but context clues make her seem to be of average height. Despite likely being freakishly taller than her and everyone around him, Julian's height is never touched on again. I almost wonder if it was a typo and it was supposed to say six feet tall? Yes, being seven feet tall is totally possible, but would create a serious height difference that maybe should have been remarked upon more. Also, their sexy times would have required more contortions that there were.

I will likely check out book two in the series and am curious how the rest of the series is handled, but I do think this could have been handled better.

Author Bio:

Juliette is a multi-published author of fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary romance. She’s a mood reader as well as a mood writer if that wasn’t obvious by her eclectic book list. She loves lazy nights with her husband, old-fashioneds, and family gatherings.

She is represented by Rachel Brooks at BookEnds Literary Agency.

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Novella Review: In Time, Bittersweet Love, and The Moth in the Mirror

I realized that I read a large number of novellas via eBook and don't review them. Since they're shorter, they also might not need as much of a review. So I figured that, every once in a while, I'd make a post with reviews of novellas I have read recently.

Title: In Time
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: The Darkest Minds
Release: July 16, 2013
Pages: 190
Review: 3.5 Stars

While I loved The Darkest Minds, In Time just didn't do it for me. I got it when it released, but couldn't get past the first chapter. I would read bits and pieces at a time, resulting in hazy memories of what it was about. When I finally reached the halfway point, I got drawn in enough that I finished the book. I think it was partially because the main character was not the one I was used to. It was a guy (who's name I'm blanking on) instead of Ruby, the heroin of the series. He just wasn't as interesting. The plot was slow building, and I don't know what repercussions it will have on the series. I've heard it had important ones though. After reading it, it made me realize that I need to actually read book two, Never Fade. The book was good, nicely written, but not my style. I give it 3.5 stars. *wanders over to bookshelf to read Never Fade*

Title: Bittersweet Love
Author: Jennifer L Armentrout
Publisher: HarlequinTeen
Series: The Dark Elements
Release: December 1, 2013
Pages: 167
Review: Five Stars

It is an undisputed fact that Jennifer L Armentrout can do no wrong! I have twelve posts about her books that can prove it for you. I have read all but one of her YA's, and they ROCK! Bittersweet Love is a prequel novella to White Hot Kiss, the first book in a new series. This also marks Jennifer's first publication with a big publisher. What is the series about? Demons and gargoyles, that's what! Have you ever seen gargoyles as both the good guys and lead creatures in YA? I think not. It's a new frontier that Jennifer conquers brilliantly. The main character is Jasmine. The novella takes place over the course of a few days, where she is deciding if she wants to give in and become the mate of Zayne or make or own path. In the end, she does a bit of both. The novella was amazing and I couldn't put it down! Read it now and you will NOT regret it! I give it a full five stars!

Title: The Moth in the Mirror
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books
Series: Splintered
Release: October 22, 2013
Pages: 88
Review: Four Stars

This one was good. The only reason it took so long to read was because it took me a while to pick it up. The Moth in the Mirror is book 1.5 in the Splintered series. It's from the POV of one of the male leads, Morpheus. In it, he's trying to figure out what he needs to do to win the heart of Alyssa and 'defeat' Jeb, the guy who currently has it. Morpheus is an interesting character. I believe that he is good at heart, and I definitely like him more than Jeb, but he's not afraid to fight dirty. To be fair, it's in his nature. He lives in a twisted Wonderland, and everything from the original story is dead wrong. Emphasis on the dead part. I liked the story, but I wish that there'd been more from his point of view and less of just viewing Splintered through Jeb's eyes. Overall, the novella was good and is a great lead in to book two, Unhinged, which comes out in January. I give it four stars.

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt/Macmillan
Release: June 4, 2013
Series: Grisha
Pages: 448
Review: 3.5 Stars


Okay. This book was okay. It was much slower than the first book, which was a big disappointment. A lot of world and character building took place, which, while important, I did not want to read so much of. I enjoyed the little scenes and conversations, but it dragged on. No big events happened until the end, and by that point, it was obvious something had to happen. The book as a whole was good and was very well written, it wasn't much fun to read.

The main character, Alina Starkov, was a bit of a bore. I love how she was able to take charge and stand her ground, but then she'd just turn around and doubt herself. The amount of self-doubt in this book, with all characters, was suffocating. She would demand control, and then think that she couldn't do it. Alina is an amazing character with a lot of potential, but she didn't embrace it in this book. Her powers grow and Alina begins to get greedy. Though I have to give her props, her powers are awesome. The character Mal was a pain in the butt. He is the main love interest in the book and I cannot stand him. The Darkling betrayed Alina in book one, but I'd rather she end up with him than Mal. Mal feels like and unnecessary character who only added complications. He's only annoying in the beginning, but as the story goes on, he doubts himself as well as Alina. He does idiotic things and says even worse. Alina wants to trust him and have him by her side, but how can she do that if he continues to run off on her? Various other characters add and subtract to the story. My favorite being Stormhund and least being Mal. I love Tolya and Tamar, and can't help but pity Genya.

Spoiler Warning!

A boring book I can deal with. It's not my favorite route, but I can deal. I can't get over the ending though. In the end, Alina almost sucks out the Darkling's power, just about killing both of them. She survives and escapes, as does the Darkling. Though I know that Ruin and Rising will be book three and will hopefully satisfy my need for an ending, it could have ended in Siege and Storm. Unless the ending of Ruin and Rising is amazing and spectacular, I wouldn't have minded Alina dying as well as the Darkling at the end of the book. Why? It's not because I hate Alina. I actually really like her, despite how I complained about her earlier. She's a strong character and a good heroin. But, I would have been satisfied if Alina killing the Darkling and going along for the ride. Ruin and Rising could be from another character's POV where they clean up the mess. Alas, it didn't end that way. That's okay though, because, hopefully, the ending of Ruin and Rising will be even better.