I had mixed feelings about this book. There were parts I like and there were parts I hated. So, I'll split this review into what I liked and what I didn't like. Starting on a good note, what I liked: Big one for me - character growth. I could see a steady progression of growth in Sonya throughout the book. Revolution theme. Seeing the rising of a revolution and the problems that arose with it. World building. I really got a sense of the countries and cultures. What I didn't like: The inconsistentness of Sonya's 6th sense. For example, in the beginning Sonya feels the anger/hunger of the peasants at the gate of her convent and it controls her to the point that she ultimately kills her friends. Then later she has no (mostly but I'll get to that later) problem controlling her emotions in just as high emotional situations. The only time she can't control her emotion 6th sense is when the emperor feels any passionate/lusty type emotion toward her. She's then all over him later blaming her 6th sense for the lack of resistance. The books focus was much more on her love interests then it was on revolutionary plot or that there were starving people in the world. Lastly, for Sonya having killed her friends in the beginning of the book, she got over it pretty fast. She "punished" herself by holding a statue with her friend's blood on it (she can feel the pain of her dead friend through the blood). But that stopped even before a quarter of the book was done. Aesthetic note: For me the book was really a three part book. The first part was between the convent and arriving at the castle, the second was arriving at castle and finishing reading the poetry book, and the third part was between finishing the poetry book and the end of the book. I had an ARC so maybe there was a page that said part 1, part 2, and part 3, but if not, it would have been a nice physical transitional between the grown of the character.
Burning Glass
By Kathryn Purdie
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 9 - 12 | Grade 6 | n/a | 5.8 | 122947 |
Red Queen meets Shadow and Bone in a debut fantasy about a girl forced to use her gift for sensing—and absorbing—other people’s feelings to protect the empire from assassins. Steeped in intrigue and betrayal, Burning Glass captivates with heartrending romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s quest for redemption.
In Riaznin, it’s considered an honor for Auraseers like Sonya—girls with a rare form of synesthesia—to serve as the emperor’s personal protector, constantly scanning for feelings of malice and bloodlust in the court. But Sonya would rather be free.
After the queen’s murder and a tragic accident, Sonya is hauled off to the palace to guard a charming yet volatile new ruler. But Sonya’s power is reckless and hard to control. She’s often carried away by the intense passion of others.
And when a growing rebellion forces Sonya to side with either the emperor who trusts her or his mysterious brother, the crown prince, Sonya realizes she may be the key to saving the empire—or its greatest threat.