Saige Grayson has always believed stories could heal. The capital’s most promising bookbinder, she works through chronic pain to restore other people’s treasures. But when her debt collector decides her bookbinding talent is worth more than coin, Saige is traded to the Azkari – an immortal race forged by the gods for war.
Her only chance of survival lies with Archer, a fallen Azkari general imprisoned beside her – cursed, dangerous and impossible to ignore. He offers her a way out, and in return Saige must help him retrieve and restore an ancient book – one made of living magic, powerful enough to stop a great evil . . . or unleash it.
As Saige works with Archer, the tome begins to awaken something dark – both within the realm and in her. With enemies closing in and buried memories resurfacing, they must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice: their freedom, their fragile trust . . . or the spark that could ignite the world.
Review: Kiss of the Black Flame had all the ingredients for a great fantasy book and I genuinely wanted to love it—but in the end I was disappointed.
First, there were lots of little plot inconsistencies here and there. Archer has been imprisoned for two hundred years and part of his memories are, understandably, fuzzy. But he remembers exactly behind which bush he hid weapons and supplies? And while he apparently retrieves a backpack, whatever is inside seems endless - reading glasses, drawing supplies, somewhere along the book Saige is cooking broth over the fire so he stashed pots and pans in there too? Also, Archer's beard is neatly trimmed after being in jail for two hundred years? Some powerful magic is surely at play there.
These are just small examples, but as the plot progresses, they pile on and it was increasingly difficult to keep my focus on the story.
And, of course, there's also the fact that the entire book is based on the fact that Archer and Saige seal a pact. And apparently (conveniently?) Azkari seal their pacts by kissing each other senseless. If the bookbinder Archer needed had been a man, we would have a whole different story within our hands, wouldn't we?
Second, in the last third of the book, the plot complicates exponentially - the narrative constantly layers on extra twists, secondary threads and more and more characters. I lost interest along the way and found myself struggling to finish.
There is a compelling story buried under all the noise, and readers who love hyper-intricate web-spinning might find more to appreciate. But for me, the narrative tangle and plot holes turned what could have been a standout read into nothing more than 3-star experience (and that's already being generous).
Kiss of the Black Flame ends at a cliffhanger (of course it does), but at this point in time I'm not even sure I'll want to read the second installment. I'll wait and see.
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