Throwback Thursday Review: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

 Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature & linkup here at I Heart YA Fiction where we will be reviewing older releases and/or books that have been on our shelves for awhile. Feel free to participate by reading from the bottom of your shelf and adding links to your reviews of older titles! We would love to read your Throwback Reviews! 

This week's feature? 

A repost in honor of next week's release of The Perilous Sea!

Release Date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 480
Source: ARC from Publisher
ISBN-10: 0062207296  

Rating: 5 Hearts (Repost from 2013)

Book Description

"Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death. Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal. But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life."

Review

Short and Sweet:

The Burning Sky is a gorgeous experience. It is an intricate, layered tale written by a skilled and talented story teller. It is a little bit of everything: flying carpets, winged horses, dragons, magic, castles, kingdoms, secrets, bravery, terror, love and longing. Truly captivating in every way.

To Elaborate...

In The Burning Sky, 'the greatest elemental mage of her generation' has been hidden in plain sight in a small town from the Bane, a corrupt elemental mage, who would use her to increase his own power. However, Iolanthe's life changes quite suddenly after she brings down a bolt of lightning that captures the attention of all of Atlantis. 

Prince Titus has known nearly all of his life that he is destined to die seeking vengeance on the Bane. One morning, while standing on his balcony, he witnesses the most powerful display of elemental magic that he has ever seen. He almost immediately recognizes the moment as a vision his mother had long ago that signals the catalyst for change in his life. Titus, who now knows that the journey to his death has begun, doesn't hesitate for a moment and rushes to beat the Inquisitor (a dreadful woman with mind bending abilities) to the source of the lightning bolt and discovers the dazed Iolanthe. A girl. 

Titus has spent his life preparing for this great elemental mage. He has prepared a place and an identity within a boys school to hide this mage from Atlantis, as well as from the reach of the Bane, but Iolanthe is not a boy. A simple, overlooked possibility which raises the stakes immeasurably. Iolanthe will have to be Archer Fairfax, a 16 year old boy. And she must be convincing.

Titus struggles against his single-minded goal of revenge (for which he needs Iolanthe's power to achieve) and his developing feelings for her. Iolanthe, intelligent and perceptive, sees his desire to use her as a weapon against the Bain, but also sees the sadness of a life lived in anticipation of prophesied death. As these two prepare to overthrow an elemental tyrant they encounter terrifyingly close calls and unimaginable adventures. 

The Burning Sky is magical and one of the most well written stories I've read in such a long time. Do not skip this one! 

Your post doesn't have to be on Thursday to participate! Just link up your own reviews of recently (or not so recently) read older books!