Action packed, beautifully descriptive read! I couldn't put it down. Excited to see more from this author!

🖤 THE VIBE CHECK

Wow! Dawn of the Firebird is an adventurous, dark, and emotional epic fantasy with an intricate magical system, lore, and martial arts.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Library Edition Needed (4.5/5 Stars)

Spice: None

Format: Ebook

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"But my power was a curse, this she did not have to say. Like any great legend, my tale began with tragedy." (Before)

🗡️ The Curated Plot

Khamilla Zahr-zad is a young girl who has only ever known pain, fear, and destruction. Every home she has ever known has been destroyed by the Sajamistani army. She was raised to be the emperor’s sword. She vows to destroy Sajamistan from the inside to avenge her clan. Khamilla enrolls in their military school where she learns how to truly wield her magic as an Eajiz and discovers that this war, and the ‘enemy’ in this war are not as black and white as she grew up believing.

"She knew the Divine had shown the power I would come to inherit: nūr, cold Heavenly light, the same spiritual power that flows through the firebird.” (Before)

🔥 Khamilla Zahr-zad

Intense, dark, and absolutely incredible. We follow Khamilla from a young child up until young adulthood. There is a sense of mystery with her character. A shadow always seems to be with her, especially during pivotal moments; is it a manifestation due to her trauma or something more sinister? She adapts easily to who she needs to be based on her environment which makes it easy for her to infiltrate the Sajamistani army. She is relentless and her resilience is outstanding. There are moments that she is at war within herself between the beliefs she was raised on and what she begins to witness. I was so invested in Khamilla and the people who began surrounding her which made for some extremely emotional moments. Seriously, I could not stop crying over two specific characters who I will not name! The world building is incredibly intense and at times can be hard to follow. I would also like to note that there was no romance in this novel, strictly fantasy; however, I am hoping for a romantic subplot in Khamilla’s future. I am very excited to continue this trilogy to see where Khamilla’s character development goes, especially after that cliffhanger! Off to buy my shelf trophy!

"And of course, children are children through their dreams. Children only become monsters when all the dreams fade away." (Chapter 24)

⭐ The Cozy Conclusion (Rated: 4.5/5 Curated Coziness)

Dawn of the Firebird is a must read for high fantasy lovers who are looking for a medium paced read with feminine rage and intense world building experience.

"But in truth, all I feel is anger. Not loud anger, but the gentle, simmering kind, like tea above a slow-burning fire. The kind that does not leave, even in prayer. I fear that all I will feel until my last breath is anger." (Chapter 24)

The Tropes We LOVE:

• Epic Fantasy / High Fantasy

• Coming of Age / Feminine Rage

• Magic / Mythology

• Political Intrigue / War

Favorite Quotes:

"She is unusual, however unusual children bear the greatest gifts." (Before)

"That day, with blood and story, I began to win the hearts of my tribe, and they mine." (Before)

"It was the beginning of my curse: I had potential for strength, but without death I could never reach its peak." (Belonging)

"Uma once warned me, the purest flowers die, never the weeds." (Chapter 7)

"Remember, there is no worth in one possessing no purpose." (Chapter 10)

"Uma would deem him a hawk." (Chapter 10)

"Fool, do not underestimate a woman with both a child at her hip and a blade in her hand," (Chapter 23)

"Every single one of them who partook in this filth will die. The Divine have mercy, I will make them scream." (Chapter 31)

"Love, I see, is all the withering darkness between the stars, small in appearance but limitless to experience." (Chapter 38)

3.5 stars

Dawn of the Firebird was my first introduction to Rana’s work. While the world building is beautifully intricate and detailed, showcasing the author’s clear talent for crafting immersive settings, I found the execution of key plot points uneven. The frequent shifts between the past and present tense disrupted the narrative flow making it difficult to stay engaged.

Part One captured my attention with its intriguing setup. Part Two felt weighed down by exposition slowing down the momentum and considerably overshadowing the plot. Fortunately, the story regains its footing in Part Three, offering a more engaging conclusion.

Dawn of the Firebird left me a bit torn, but with tighter pacing and a clearer sense of direction, the sequel could really shine. I’m definitely curious to see what happens next.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the opportunity to read =)

3/5 stars

“[…] family is not the blood running through your clan or the gnarled roots twisting beneath a tree in archaic tradition, a cage to be rebuilt generation after generation. It’s the people worth every breath, every labour, and every act of love to create a home.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARc!

I am very torn.

So let’s start with the positives. Right from the start, the writing is so rich that you feel the story through all your senses. I could almost taste the dishes, feel the fabric, see the architecture, hear and smell the plains. I also loved learning more about cultures and mythologies that I am (sadly) not as familiar with. In the same way that European mythology often isn’t explained in books (writers suppose that everyone knows what an elf is), the vocabulary used isn’t explained, although context clues are sufficient to get the gist of its meaning. I was quite happy to do some googling to get a deeper sense of the atmosphere and world of this story!

The author manages to tackle the themes of trust, loyalty, love, home, family and identity throughout the entire book and I thought it was done particularly well. There is also a creepy-sentient-shadow creature that kept me guessing up til the very end. This world is harsh, dark, but still very much believable and clearly inspired by history.

Now, there are two aspects that I struggled with. The first is that for the middle part of the book, the FMC is intolerably immature and boring. This has a purpose; the narrative clearly explains why she is this way, and it all ties up nicely with the ending. However, I had a hard time staying invested in her story, to the point where I considered DNFing. The fact that the pacing slows in the middle contributed to my diminishing interest. The second thing is linked to how my brain works. I am a very visual person, but the magic system, although really interesting, is linked to metaphysics and psychospirituality, which is understandably quite hard to visualize. The fact that the story is narrated in a way where the reader only knows what the FMC does did not help me with figuring out how the magic actually works.

Also, a warning for people with emetophobia! There is a surprisingly large amount of times where characters are sick.

Overall, although I loved certain aspects of the book, the ones I disliked make me unsure as to whether I will continue with the series. I’ll probably wait to read reviews of the sequel and decide at that moment if I wish to continue.

This book was waaaay MORE than I was expecting - in a very, very good way.

I absolutely fell into this world and story.

The world building is so rich and immersive. The story is beautifully written and mesmerizing.

I was pulled into the captivating prose and descriptions throughout.

The magic is so unique, the political intrigue was incredible, the lore was intricate and complicated, and the characters were tragic, broken, and determined.

I thoroughly felt transported by this story, it was a full journey of emotions.

I love when a book makes my brain work. When I have to think about it, process it, and even decipher parts of it. For me it really elevates the whole experience. This story will definitely stick with me for a long time.

I will make a special mention that it IS NOT a romantasy. There is no romance.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys high fantasy, but would not recommend it if you need romance in the plot line.

Actual rating: 3.25 stars

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*I received an ARC from HarperCollins Canada & Harlequin Trade Publishing | Hanover Square Press, & NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*

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This story is ambitious and incredible and if this book had been spread out and had room to breathe in one or two books, I think it would have shown much better promise. But unfortunately, the author’s skill and likely story constraints for this first book in the series did not match the promise of this series. The writing is readable, but was not especially engaging for me and I had to force myself to keep focus and not let my mind wander.

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That is not to say this novel is not without its strong points. The second act when we enter the school is much stronger. And chapter 23 I found to be one of the best chapters, with great imagery in the Marka and it really showed off the strengths of this story - getting the story out through action and not information dumps. I also really enjoyed how the author tackled the complexity of war, who the enemy is, and the corruption and weaknesses of those seeking power. I applaud the themes and complexity this author tried to go for, I just wanted to love this so much more, I wanted this book to devastate me and rip me to shreds, but unfortunately it didn’t. Instead it feels like I am told to be invested in these characters and not shown why I should be and then I’m a stubborn goat who just doesn’t.

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And now we get into the specifics of what didn’t work for me:

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The author has two habits that unfortunately didn’t work for me - having information dumped in large paragraphs by someone telling us what was going on, and using “I see” and “I remember” to bring back information in order to definitely make sure that we got exactly what was trying to be said. It felt like the author did not trust the reader to put the pieces together.

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Also, I still have a hard time visualising what Mitra is in the story - it’s magic that can be transported at the very least - is it contained in bottles? Is it in solid form like ingots? Or is it in creatures? I still could not tell you after combing over the text. That could be a failing on my part but I really went through this story to try and figure that out.

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Additionally, I wanted to see her struggle more with her nameless status - she only gets her name when she’s 17 and I assumed she would have much more of an identity issue that would at least be discussed, but perhaps we’ll see more of that unravel in book 2. .

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Next is that the writing style was unbalanced between massive paragraphs and short sentences that could have almost been stage directions - I do remember reaching parts several times where a secondary character would start monologuing about the worldbuilding - and I would verbally go “ugh” and roll my eyes before continuing. .

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Another piece of worldbuilding that irked me was the use of modern words - like logos and losers. There were also words that didn’t really fit geologically based on the historical inspiration of the novel like moccasins and potatoes. And finally the use of the weekday structure of Friday/Thursday/Saturday etc really through me off. As a fantasy reader, I go in expecting a new time system to be created and when it’s not, it comes off as lazy.

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I have so much to say because I really went through this book, taking me time, annotating the hell out of it because I thought this would be a story I would love and obsess over. There was so much potential and it pains me that this book simply wasn’t for me.

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Regarding the audiobook performance, the narration by Sarah Slimani I found to be a little slow, but sped up it was easy to follow along with. I would have enjoyed more peaks and valleys in the performance to amplify the drama, however I think the performance is solid and the essence of what was written is captured in the audiobook. Still, I did not find it a performance that I would say enhanced the story and I think Dawn of the Firebird could easily be read without.

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In the end, I struggle to figure out who this book is for. The cover looks like a romantasy, but it is definitely epic fantasy. The author info dumps like she expects the readers need to be spoon fed as they are new to fantasy, but then the worldbuilding is especially layered in a way that well seasoned fantasy readers would look for (minus the points I mentioned before). It sends many mixed messages and I think this means this book will struggle to find its footing. Perhaps as the series continues it will become more satisfying. I have hope, the promise is there, all that remains is to hone the skill.

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I trust that this book will find its audience and judging on some earlier reviews and reader reactions I’ve seen, it will, but unfortunately, I am not part of that audience and I am so bummed about it.

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Hisses & Kisses 🐍

The world within the pages is unique, complex, magical, and full of conflict and battles. Khamilla is a strong main character with a thirst for vengeance for good reasons. The secondary cast around her is large but vital to bringing the story to life. This is an emotional and darker storyline and not for the faint of heart, but if you’re brave enough to enter, you’ll be swept out of reality.

A gritty revenge story that doesn’t hold back on the emotional punches! The world takes place in a reimagined ancient world after Noah flood through a monotheist / Islamic lens. This book has it all - revenge, layered complex world building, epic anime martial arts style battle and duel scenes, power scale magic system, military strategy and battles, and the most heart felt (and heart breaking) found family. If you love Asian inspired fantasy, this is a knock out!

Loved this fantasy world! Such a shame I have to wait for the next book! I love to see writingbwhere the character grows up from adolescent to adulthood to see how circumstances shapes them and who they become. Looking forward to reading the next book.

I have not read a book like Dawn of the Firebird in wayyyy too long. This book is such a rich saga of loss, betrayal, growth, transformation, revenge, and finding yourself. I listened to the audiobook and was pulled in from the start. This is a book that you sit down and get comfortable with. You don’t sprint through it, you read and feel the build up, just waiting for the explosion…and why an epic explosion it is. I cannot wait for book 2!!!

I received Dawn of the Firebird from HTP Books and not only was I stunned by its beauty, but excited to read Sarah Mughal Rana’s first epic fantasy! I loved her contemporary YA, but I am a fantasy girly, so when I heard a new favorite author was releasing a fantasy, I dove at the chance! I am sad that our move got in the way of me absolutely devouring it right away, but I’m so excited it’s out now, and I can scream about how good it is!!

Khamilla is unlike any other MC I’ve read before, having been nameless through childhood moulds her identity to that of vessel to be filled, and as such, she is used by those who see her and her Heavenly nūr only as a tool. This makes her neither likeable nor unlikeable, but more of interest to the reader to see how she will find her own identity and moral compass.

I really enjoyed that this book includes martial and magic training in an academic setting and even trials. Sometimes the specifics of the martial arts, strategy, and magical law went over my head, with the magic system being the most confusing and at the same time intriguing. At some points, characters would shout their moves like a game of Tekken, and other times there are detailed mathematics that go into the use of magic, but these nuances are not carried through the story from beginning to end. A lot of the more abstract magical moments seemed both metaphorical and literal, which made it difficult for me to grasp the scene and the rules of the magic as well. Despite my confusion, it was one of the most interesting magic systems I’ve read, being of Heavenly power.

The buildup to Khamilla’s ideals and philosophy developing into her own moral compass was a teasing slow build of push and pull of internal and external conflict and it was quite masterfully done! This book was almost a character study set against adult fantasy. The end bargain was the most morally gray and emotionally devastating, especially with the epilogue’s major reveal.

This book was all the stars, and I hope I don’t have to wait too long for the sequel!!

BEautifully written but I really did not like the ending. So much manipulation.

This was very very good. Its hard to believe its a debut fantasy. The story follows a girl who is thrusted into an enemy military academy and who must take it down after her clan and her empire is usurped. A revenge story pretty much, and the first book in a trilogy I believe. The worldbuilding is unlike any other book I've read, extremely layered and intricate but wide in its scope, taking us across empires, and so very immersive. I felt like I was in the world. The action was nonstop from the tragic prologue to the academy training, the duels, the competitions, and the war itself in the latter half of the book. I read this in two sittings. Its very dark. Definitely not a romantic fantasy in any way. Very much The Poppy War vibes, if that's your cup of tea. I loved it! I see this becoming apart of the canon when the Epic Fantasy genre comes to mind because its certainly carved its place into the genre as a force not to be reckoned with. Highly recommend and will definitely be reading on