Phoenix Unbound

Starred review from October 15, 2018
Draven (Madfall) creates an irresistible new world full of action and cataclysmic upheaval in this fantasy romance. Fire witch Gilene’s village considers her duty-bound to burn on the Empire’s sacrificial pyre, every year: she survives the fire and escapes. When her abilities are noticed, she’s forced to fight in the service of a sadistic empress, and then famed gladiator Azarion ruthlessly coerces Gilene into helping him in escape slavery and reclaim his legacy. Draven adeptly shifts perspectives at just the right moments to masterfully build emotionally complex characters. Readers will be pulled in by the inner turmoil that besets this formidable pair of survivors, who are frequently at odds with each other, and themselves. As Azarion and Gilene’s relationship shifts from an uneasy truce to admiration and ultimately love, Gilene must choose whether to return to doing her painful duty or embrace a new life at Azarion’s side. Draven’s outdone herself with this magnetic heroine and a magical world readers will be eager to return to. Agent: Sarah Younger, Nancy Yost Literary.

Narrator Katharine McEwan will leave listeners loath to finish this audiobook, and her fully faceted performance lingers even after it has ended. Every year Gilene burns as a sacrifice to the empire so that the other women in her village don't have to. But when she's spirited away by the famous gladiator Azarion so that he can claim his birthright, everything she knows about her abilities will be tested, and she may not be able to escape the burn of his love. In a fantasy romance that is "Game of Thrones" meets SPARTACUS, McEwan enthralls listeners with depictions of characters living in a brutal world. Her narration is so emotionally satisfying and thoroughly entertaining that one can say she delivers this enemies-to-lovers story with utter perfection. A.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine