Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling
Where do I even begin with this one?
I started off really enjoying this one, but then felt a little disappointed towards the end. The biggest positive is the characters; they really carried the book. I am absolutely IN LOVE with both Elowen and Cayden, and they reminded me of Paedyn and Kai from Powerless too. AND CAYDEN’S FLIRTING?? OH MY!! I could honestly listen to him talk to me like that all day! He would also make a great hype man given how much he hypes Elowen up, haha!
My only issue with these two is that they aren’t really “enemies to lovers” per se, they’re more instant attraction —> kind of slow burn —> lovers from the very start of the book. I wanted all the yearning and tension, but it felt as if we skipped a few steps, and they instantly fell in love. And don’t forget the spicy scenes! Darling writes them incredibly well, but I found some to be unnecessary, especially towards the latter half of the book.
I love the other characters as well; they really show us what it’s like to be part of a 'found family’. Saskia, especially, takes such great care of Elowen, and we can’t forget Finnian, who does everything he can to ensure he is always by Elowen’s side. I adore their sibling dynamic and am praying nothing happens between them!
What mainly let me down was the lack of worldbuilding. We don’t really know much about the lore or even the geographical locations of the places we are introduced to. We are told Elowen has dragons, and that’s it. No backstory or history to explain how she got them in the first place; she was already bonded to them at a young age. This made it difficult for me to track Elowen’s character development—I wanted her discovery of the dragons, how she bonded with them, and more on how her father’s despicable actions have impacted her since now that she’s grown. Yet, our journey with her starts with her mission to save her dragons, and that’s it.
In some ways, this lack of character development impacts the narrative, too, and consequently, the overall pacing. So much was happening and not happening that I had to ask why some of these events were occurring at all. Cayden is the Commander of Vareveth and is supposed to be ruthless, yet we frequently see him eating pastries and going shopping? I definitely needed more of Cayden being merciless and a tyrant way before he meets Elowen in the book, because all I remember is him being a cinnamon roll.
Having said all of this, the writing style made it easy for me to binge the book—I won’t lie when I say I couldn’t put it down! There’s something in Darling’s writing that keeps you flipping the pages! The storytelling wasn’t the best, but I need to know what happens in the next book!
Overall, Fear the Flames is a 4-star read and one to pick up if you’re craving a Romantasy and don’t want anything too heavy. Regardless of my complaints, I am still excited to dive into Wrath of the Dragons to see how involved Elowan’s dragons will be in the conflict and action!
