Harper Teen
February 10th 2015
454 pages
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(my review of Book 1 All That Glows - summary and review below contain spoilers if you haven't read it, yet!)
In this thrilling sequel to All That Glows, the worlds of magic and mortal are colliding as London celebrates its new king, marking an era of unity between the Faery realm and the human one. Emrys, the Faery guard to the British royal family, sacrificed her powers to be with King Richard, choosing love over immortality. But now, as Emrys struggles to navigate her place between the Faery queen’s court and London’s lavish galas, danger looms beyond the Thames.When a prisoner with dark, strange magic breaks out of Queen Titania’s labyrinthine prison, endangering Emrys's king and sparking an uprising, Emrys must make the hardest decision of all.
Will she reclaim her magic to save Richard’s life and lose him forever? Or stay powerless as the kingdom goes down in flames?
All That Burns was a pretty fantastic sequel to All That Glows. Readers - and the mortals in the novel - now know that Emrys was a member of the Fae. As part of the Faery guard sworn since the time of King Arthur to protect the royal family, she was supposed to remain hidden, protecting in secret.
That became impossible and now not only can Richard see her, but they are in love and Emrys is mortal.
I really liked that All That Burns did not just give us a mortal Emrys, who's left both immortality and faery behind. The choice she made in All That Glows was a large one and the author does not take it, or its effect on the character, lightly.
At the same time that Richard must learn all that it takes to become King (the long days, endless hours with Parliament, the expectations), Emrys is learning what all her new life entails. And what it does not.
Their lives are both very different now and while they still love each other, it is not a cure-all. They each have doubts, questions and are struggling. It makes the story, the characters, and their relationship both feel more real and more compelling.
Part of what I loved most about All That Glows is back - and possibly even better - in the sequel: the mix of magic, of Fae and modern London. With the general population now aware of the Fae's existence, steps are being taken to ease the divide between the two societies.
Of course, that is something easier said than done. Faery has existed in secret for centuries and not everyone is exactly ready to bring the two worlds back together.
Even as we're seeing what (in London) would need to change for the Fae to be a part of things, to assist, we see the resistance to that integration. The resistance and all of the trouble it can lead to for the characters.
Emrys, Richard and Annabelle's characters become even more well developed in All That Burns. They were already intriguing characters with nice relationships but in this second book we learn more about them. We get a deeper look at who they are. Likely, you'll love them even more once the book is over.
All That Burns brings back the great characters from All That Glows, makes them even better, brings the Fae an the people of London closer together, mixing that past, magic and the modern day in great ways and throws some very real problems at the characters and their relationships. It does feel a bit lighter than All That Glows but readers should love the developments.
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as Richard
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as Annabelle
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by Ryan Graudin
My name is Ryan and I've been writing ever since I grabbed one of my dad's old tax ledgers and created this masterpiece: see image.
My writing has since improved, though my obsession with wolves has remained relatively the same (I even own a wolf-hybrid pup.) My childhood was a happy, sunny thing. I grew up on a steady diet of fairytales, salt-marshes, music and brothers who would re-enact Redwall battles with me in the back yard. I went to an artsy sort of high-school that allowed cello recitals in the hallways and impromptu poetry slams in the cafeteria. It was there I decided that writing was what I wanted to do more than anything.
I'm officially a grownup now (I suppose one must admit that once they turn 26). My diet still includes fairytales, salt-marshes and art, but there are a few new loves thrown in. A big one is travel. Pieces of my heart are scattered like breadcrumbs all over the globe--I've bartered them off for writing inspiration, so I suppose it's a fair trade.
When I'm not cramming my earthly belongings into a backpack and waiting in airport security lines, I'm doing one of the following: Writing YA novels, Photographing weddings with my husband, Making our little white cottage more homey, Playing with my wolf pup, Trying out Korean récipes, Haunting local coffee shops with my friends.
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