Ignite the Sun's concept drew me in right away. I loved the idea so much. I also loved the world that Hanna Howard created.
The other characters were also unique and a good quest story always keeps me interested, especially when its heroes taking back 'the light' from dark powers.
It's a sweet book I'd recommend for younger audiences 13-14 years old.

*received audiobook for free from netgalley for honest review* Really liked this book! it sounded really good but i wasn't sure how much it like it but i loved the story and the characters, the ending wasn't my favorite but mostly bc i liked the book so much lol

One of the best aspects of this novel was the worldbuilding. In fantasy, there is almost nothing quite as important. I have read many fantasies where the story would have been so much better if the worldbuilding was done right. I also really enjoyed the main character, Siria. It was interesting to see her grow, even though her constant questioning of everything did get old after awhile. This seems to be something that occurs quite often in YA fiction nowadays.

I will say that there were some parts that were boring or the pacing was just too slow. This always knocks at least one star off for me.

In the end, this book fell right in the middle for me. It was good, and I enjoyed reading it. But overall, I couldn't give it a 4-5 star since I generally save that kind of rating for books that just completely blew me away.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a very fast paced adventure with just the right about of fantasy. I loved how each of the characters contrasted each other so well. Each character was very unique and came from very different places. I could not seem to put this book down. I thought the plot was very fresh and unique but it wasn't very hard to understand or figure out which I enjoyed. Now on to the complaints. In the first 1/3 of the book the main character complained A LOT. And I mean Harry Potter in the Order of the Phoenix a lot. But once you get past that it is a pretty good book overall. Also a couple times I thought there were some plot holes but I'm not quite sure. They were very small if there were any (or maybe I just misunderstood what was happening which is also very likely haha.) And for the final one, there could have been a little more depth in some of the plot details or characters but it wasn't an obvious lack of depth. All in all a good read and I would recommend.

I sped through Ignite the Sun. I didn't want to put it down and I was so 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 by the many, many magical creatures in this world. We have Mages, Naiads. Elves, Pixies, Satyrs, Shefauns, Wyrms, Witches and Banshees. I especially loved the different quirks each creature has, and ways they are identifiable.

Ignite the Sun is set in a world where the sun is but a distant memory, believed by the public to be a dangerous force of evil.. Instead, their world is shrouded in darkness by Queen Iyzabel. When Siria attents the queen's choosing ball, what she discovers will change her life forever.

I really appreciated that our MC, Siria isn't a typical YA protagonist in the sense that she isn't trained in combat, nor is she especially strong. She's also incredibly emotional, and I loved how the author allowed her (and other characters) to feel and express emotions. This book is heavily centred around friendships, and the lengths you would go to save the people you love. Siria did start off with a 'woe is me' attitude that made me dislike her at first, however I grew to like her by the end of the book.

I do wish we had seen more of Queen Iyzabel in the beginning. She was a very textbook villain with the odd bit of context here and there. Naturally, I disliked her. However I like my villains to be a little more than just 'evil.' I also found the dialogue to be very simplistic, however it was easy to read and follow. I would recommend this book to the younger side of YA, beginners of fantasy, or if you're just looking for a fun, fast-paced adventure with elemental magic!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read this all in one sitting! Stay tuned for an interview with the author, Hanna Howard, below!

This was a fantastic, magical debut! At times, the "romance" aspect was a bit cheesy, and there were some aspects of the plot that didn't make sense to me, but the action moved along quickly, and I never felt like the story dragged. I was completely engrossed in the story! If you like books with magic, you will probably love this.

I'll keep this review short and sweet so you can enjoy the interview.

In Ignite the Sun, there are many different characters with some sort of magical powers (elves, mages, naiads, sun children etc). If you could choose to have one magical power, what would you choose and why?

HH: Great question! I am very attracted to the idea of elemental magic in fiction, because I think the idea of natural power being wielded is really cool, but I confess I wouldn't really find it very useful in my day-to-day life. :) So from a boring, practicality standpoint, I think I'd have to go with teleportation. I am always running late--and I hate airplanes--so if I could just zap myself somewhere without the bother of travel, I would be really jazzed.


What were some alternative ideas for Ignite the Sun ?  Are there any scenes that you liked but eventually had to take out?

HH: For most of its existence, IGNITE was called SUNCHILD. When my agent took it on submission to editors, we renamed it SOMETHING LIKE THE SUN, and then after she acquired the rights, my editor started the process of finding its permanent title. Some favorites in that process were, A FLAME TO SPITE THE DARK, SET THE SUN TO RISE, and BREAK THE DARK, but in the end IGNITE THE SUN won out. :)

And yes! This book has actually been through more than a dozen revisions over the course of nearly a decade, so there have been many, many scenes that have eventually been axed, and quite a few that I loved. Two of my favorites were early moments in which Siria, fueled by emotion, finds herself airborne by her power without yet understanding how. One of these was during the group's escape from the royal city. I had a really clear image in my head of what the scene looked like: Siria, glowing like a torch as she rose above the boat on the dark river, her light the only illumination for miles, and my sister in-law recently told me she had always imagined that scene as the book's cover. But for several very good plot and character reasons, we had to cut it.


Which part of the book did you enjoy writing the most?

HH: Any scene in which Siria uses her power I absolutely loved writing. Light and dark imagery has the most compelling and powerful language for me, and I loved being able to use it in such a literal sense. I also love writing flying scenes, even though I am myself afraid of heights. :)


What is your favorite writing snack?

HH: This isn't really a snack, but tea is absolutely my favorite accompaniment to writing. I prefer the English brands--PG Tips, Yorkshire Blend, or Typhoo--and I usually make a large pot of it and drink it with a splash of milk. I don't know how many thousands of cups I have consumed over the course of this book's writing and revision, but it must be many...


What was your favorite book as a child?

HH: When I was a child I didn't really read books about people (with the exception of Harry Potter and the Boxcar Children); I much preferred animal books. Some of my favorites were the Hank the Cowdog series, and anything by Bill Wallace. Later, as a young teen, I started to get into what we would now call YA (though at the time I probably just thought of it as teen lit). My favorite book became Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine, and it remains my favorite standalone novel to this day.


What was the best part of the writing process?

HH: Drafting this book was really fun--watching the story unspool--but in general my favorite part of writing is the word-polishing stage. Once all the initial hard work of plot and character revisions is done, and it's just a matter of honing each sentence to a sharp point, and shining it until it glows... that's my favorite part.

You have so many fun character names! How did you decide what to name your characters? Were there any you liked that you didn’t end up using?

HH: Thank you! :) I like my names to have some meaning pertinent to the characters they go with, but of course that doesn't always happen. Siria is a tweak of the name Sirius, which is the brightest star in our sky, and comes from a Greek word that means "glowing" or "scorching." And a nightingale is obviously a bird that sings in the night--a metaphor for what Siria becomes. Yarrow is a hardy medicinal herb with lots of uses, but also sort of rambling and tough looking. Linden trees are lovely, with heart shaped leaves, and a lot of sort of broadly-appealing qualities. And an elegy is, of course, a lament for the dead. The one name I had to edit out was the name Iris, for the rebel leader who became Briar. My agent thought it sounded like a female name, but I really liked the sort of feminine, soft name on such a prickly, mean man.

What is your favorite quote from the book?

HH: Ooof, hard question! I've always been very fond of the closing line in the prologue: "Once upon a time," he said, turning back to us as the bowl glowed orange and a trickle of smoke crept from the corner of his mouth, "there was something called the sun."

If you could spend the day with one of your characters, who would you choose and why?

HH: I think probably Yarrow. I wrote a lot of my dad into him, and since we lost my dad to cancer in 2015, a day spent with Yarrow might be a bit like a day spent with my much-beloved father, with the added benefit of magic. :) I would probably spend most of the day fending off his thorny sarcasm and asking him to demonstrate the full extent of his mage power and/or reminisce about the days before Luminor fell.

I think this story had more to give. The beginning wove into this fascinating story but the ending felt a little rushed. I think this should have been a duology. It was not left open for more it ended and wrapped up. I just felt the pacing was already done so well and then the ending felt like it was very sped up. I really did enjoy this book and loved the story. I only knocked off 1 point for the quicker ending. It is definitely a book I will recommend to fantasy lovers and my students who usually prefer standalone's.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ignite The Sun follows Siria and her ragtag gang of friends/found family as they all venture North to find the Sun which hasn’t been able to penetrate the magical darkness in her country for 15 years.

Overall I really enjoyed this book- and definitely look forward to seeing what else Howard writes. The found family aspects of the book were absolutely my favorite part and Elegy must be protected at all costs. It did feel a bit clunky at times, and definitely read like a fairly typical YA fantasy chosen one story but I did like the Sun/Darkness symbolism/storyline.

I would have liked to see a bit more of an exploration of the limits of Siria’s powers, because they felt incredibly heavy handed and limitless. It made the villains rise to power a bit unbelievable. If a nearly untrained sunchild can conveniently learn to wield her powers in a handful of months, how was the entire country of multiple magical beings overthrown seemingly with ease. Everything just felt too convenient and the logic was lacking.

That being said, I still gave it 3.5-4 stars because it was just fun to read if you’re able to suspend your disbelief and go with the story.

I was a bit confused by the Christian publishing imprint and seemingly random Christian quotes that lead off some of the chapters though- the story itself doesn’t seem to be religious at all (other than a very loose light vs dark dichotomy) so that was weird 🤷🏻‍♀️

What if you had grown up your whole life in a place of darkness and then you find out that what you been told about sunlight, sun children and the darkness you lived in are all a lie. That what happens to our character Siria Nightingale. She spends her whole life and those around her as well wrapped in a cloak of darkness. Like all stories like this on her 16th birthday everything changes. She learns the truth about sunchildren, she learns that the total darkness is the work of something evil and she is the only hope.

Ignite the Sun is the story of a lost princess who must harness the light she was born to wield to break a darkness that consumes her world and to defeat the evil Witch queen who turned her life upside down. Siria Nightingale has always felt like an outsider at her boarding school, dreaming about stories of the sun while her classmates worry about things like marriage and dresses. That's why she's shocked when she's chosen to travel to Queen Izybel's court for her Choosing Ball. But what seems like a dream at first soon turns into a nightmare that sends Siria on the run and reveals an entire identity and power she never knew about before. As Siria fights for her life and learns how to harness the sunlight that has called to her for so long, she's thrown right in the middle of a rebellion to free her country from the witch she once regarded as her queen and accept who she is before she becomes the darkness' next victim.
Ignite the Sun had quite a few things going for it. The concept that inspired this story was really great and original I loved the magic system and how it combined the elements of nature with mystical beings such as fae, naiads and elves. I also thought the backstory of Siria's family and their ascent from power at the hands of Izybel was really well done too. I love a good lost family/secret royalty trope and I felt that Howard handled that really well. I also saw influences of Scottish lore in here. Unfortunately, I didn't love this novel as much as I wanted to. For a good half of the book, I couldn't stand the main character. All she did was whine and feel sorry for herself. Now, to the author's credit, Siria grows out of that, but she was like that for enough of the book to permanently turn me off from her character. Another issue I thought this book had was with pacing. A lot of places in this novel really dragged on to me, and I had a hard time maintaining interest in this story in many places. So I would have to rate it 3 or 3.5 stars. Ignite the Sun is a story about a lost heritage and lost legacy, and how we sometimes have to choose bravery in spite of what we feel to claim our own destinies.

This was fine. I'd say it's a good read for younger YA readers as it's pretty safe in terms of language, violence and sexual themes.

While this kind of story has been done before I still thought this had the potential to be a decent read. At first I really appreciated how quickly it moved, but at some point it started to feel both slow and rushed. This tells me that a) the action wasn't captivating enough and b) I didn't care about the characters enough. I'll read characters I love doing literally nothing and love it, or put characters I don't really care about in situations with real stakes and I'll start caring.

The romance was quite cute.

What wasn't cute was all of the coincidences and a lack of intricacy to the story.

Still, I tore through this in a day and I'd read the author again.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC, as well as the audiobook, in exchange for an honest review.

All opinions are my own.

Siria Nightingale has lived in darkness her entire life, but secretly dreams of the sun. She hears stories about the sun from Lunden, her childhood friend, and his grandfather to gain any knowledge she can about the "evil" that is the sun.
When Siria goes to the palace for a choosing ceremony, all hell breaks loose. She finds herself on the run, towards the sun, along with Lunden, his grandfather, and a few other outsiders. Siria must overcome the darkness, and "ignite the sun" in order to save the day.

"The light will always conquer the darkness" is the main gist of this story. It is marketed as an allegorical journey of depression and anxiety. Knowing this, having read the synopsis, and seeing the GORGEOUS cover, I was extremely excited to read this book. It however, left me disappointed.

The idea of light versus dark, using the sun, seems like a genious idea to me. This could have been so badass! The only badass part of the book was in the last 5%. During the journey to the sun, Siria is whiney, selfish, and weak. She only continues on her journey out of guilt. I am not a fan of a female main character that is weak and complaining nonstop. YOU ARE THE SUN CHILD!! THE CHOSEN ONE!! WHY ARE YOU CRYING??

Once Siria finally reaches the sun, she instantly becomes a different person. She sees the light, and allows it to fill her. (This is where overcoming depression comes in.) She is strong and confident. She knows what must be done. She forgives those that have wronged her on a whim. It just isn't realistic.

As someone that has struggled with anxiety/depression most of my life, I can tell you that it doesn't work like this. Do NOT say that you just have to look towards the light. One glimpse of greatness does not make everything else go away. Yes, it is a journey, but it is not a straight line. There are detours, backtracking, and times where you just need to rest.

I wish there would have been more details on the side characters and how they received their powers. In the end, I did enjoy the action at the end, as well as Siria using her powers to heal others (the one time she wasn't selfish). If there are other books to come, I will probably use the library, if at all.

Ignite the Sun felt way too convenient. Every character ended up having just the right skill to face each problem, and that made this book feel lacking of suspense and tension. Also, the "there's no sun, we live in darkness" feels jaded, but I think it was a decent remake of an overused trope. Overall, the writing was decent, but the plot and characters just weren't it for me.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I first saw this book no Netgalley, the cover drew me in. The bright, but simplistic cover was an aesthetic that I have been gravitating towards. Read the synopsis and it sounded even more up my alley! Ragtag group of rebels – yes please! Evil witch – yes! The premise that was unique that made me decide I had to read this book was the ‘there is no sun’ aspect. I have never heard of a book taking place where the sun is considered to be legend – I had so many questions that I needed answers to.

Siria was an interesting character. She seemed to act to things rather realistically. Found out that there was a huge secret relating to her, freaked out. Found out the people she loved and trusted had kept that secret – freaked out. I was reading it and had expected the immediate forgiveness, but the author went a different route and had Siria require time to heal and trust. Mind you, this time seemed to go rather quickly, but still wasn’t instant and I liked that. Siria constantly felt like she was being weak and fearful, but there were many instances where she proved herself brave -braver than I would ever be. She was always worried about her friends/found family’s safety and would do anything to make sure the were safe.

Her found family was so perfect. Each character played a valuable role that helped Siria grow. But she also played her own part in their lives. The dynamics of this found family group felt natural, like every piece of the puzzle was accounted for.

The plot had its ups and downs. I found that I would be interested in parts, but then others would drag. There was a fair amount of time between goals in this story and moments where I had wished there was a faster way – or even skimmed passed. I had wished though that the ending had a little more time. It felt like the final part of the book was done in just a few pages, where the getting there was extended longer than necessary. I’m not saying I didn’t like the book, but that the pacing had its moments and I had wished other parts had more of a focus. This could have benefited from being a duology just so we had a little more time in the later half of the book so we felt the weight of it.

That being said, I enjoyed Hanna’s writing and plan on reading more of her work. She brings interesting ideas to the table, changing up the standard trope just enough that it feels new. I highly recommend this book for those who love the chosen one, found family, or outcasts tropes.

In a world where the sun has been obliterated by magic so that the darkness can reign and fuel the powers of a dark Queen sixteen year old Siria Nightingale has her world turned upside down at the Choosing Ball where the Queen chooses new members for her court and Where she discovers that her whole life up until her life has been a lie. She failed to love the darkness that she instead fears, and chose to love those who society deemed below her. What results is an emotional twisty adventure where Siria must learn to love the truth about herself, as well as fight to bring back the sun she has never seen to her kingdom.

For me this book was another fun, light, YA fantasy adventure whose loveable characters reminded me a bit of the casts of Havenfall or The Black Witch Chronicles, great for a bit of escapism from our real world if you love the genre.

While I’m not sure I enjoyed the magic system in this book, I loved the sections of writing describing when people who have never seen sunlight, or a forest that has not been starved or sunshine see what to us seems pretty normal, but is actually quite majestic when you think about it for the first time.

Flipping through a few of my recent reads that are similar, I think you’ll enjoy Ignite The Sun if you enjoyed Havenfall or Garden of Thorns. Also, do follow @hannachoward on Instagram as I’ve really been enjoying her behind the scenes of the writing process posts in the build up to publication!

You know what I should have done? I should have listened to that little voice at the back of my head—the one I NEVER listen to—that whispered, "DNF it."

I have been deceived by that downright stunning cover. While the premise of a world deprived of sunlight was what immediately grabbed my interest, I found it to be poorly executed. The world-building felt ... incomplete. I struggled to absorb the details. Worse, I found it difficult to remember that this is a world of pure darkness. Literally the premise that drew me in, and it didn't click well for me. I was surprised to find that this was a world of nymphs, witches, banshees and the like. It was an interesting twist! The villain I found to be rather weak, who basically hates the sun and doesn't want anyone else to have magic.

I knew this would be rather wholesome given the imprint, but I didn't expect such a cringe-worthy and tropey book. This was not a good Chosen One trope. I usually don't have a problem with those stories, but I want the main character to be more, "What? Oh, sh*t, sweet. Let's do this." Instead, Siria served a lot of whining. I really stopped caring toward the end, but in the beginning, my understanding of the plan for her to save the world was to travel across the country and be yeeted into the middle of the ocean where direct sunlight was. The romance was not one for me to be a fan of, and I didn't think it really added anything to the story.

Even though the Chosen One trope was rough, I could have dealt with it had it not been for the main character. We are given very little opportunity to meet her before BAM! You are the one who will save us all. She lost my support pretty quick once I realized how properly whiny and snobbish she is. "You only care about me because I'm the Sun Child. I don't want to walk across the country. My parents don't love me. I can't touch anyone ever again because I have no desire to learn to contain my new powers." Wah.

I wish I had more better to say, but all in all, this was disappointing and not for me.

Once upon a time, there was something called the sun … In a kingdom ruled by a witch, the sun is just part of a legend about Light-filled days of old. But now Siria Nightingale is headed to the heart of the darkness to try and restore the Light—or lose everything trying. Sixteen-year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. That’s because Queen Iyzabel shrouded the kingdom in shadow upon her ascent to the throne, with claims it would protect her subjects from the dangerous Light.

The Darkness has always left Siria uneasy, and part of her still longs for the stories of the Light-filled days she once listened to alongside her best friend Linden, told in secret by Linden’s grandfather. But Siria’s need to please her strict and demanding parents means embracing the dark and heading to the royal city—the very centre of Queen Izybel’s power—for a chance at a coveted placement at court. And what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball sends her on a quest toward the last vestiges of Light, alongside a ragtag group of rebels who could help her restore the sun … or doom the kingdom to shadow forever.

Ignite the Sun is a compelling young adult high fantasy novel and very much follows the style of traditional, lyrical fantasies. The world is so lush and richly-imagined that becoming immersed in it is effortless and the beguiling magic system is creative, engaging and completely enchanting. This fresh-feeling debut strikes the same vein as old school fairytales and is complete with nymphs, banshees and witches. The cast of characters is superbly wrought and so vivid that I found they came alive on the page.

It moves at a perfect pace with the author weaving mental health issues into the narrative; these are dotted throughout but the author never strays into becoming preachy or letting such issues take over the story. The light and darkness of the narrative are metaphors for the light/dark times experienced by those suffering from mental health issues, and especially depression. It's the perfect escape for these troubling times and I'm sure readers will adore it as much as I did. There is mythology woven throughout adding a fascinating depth to it all. Siria is a great protagonist and ultimately this is her journey of self-discovery. Many thanks to Blink for an ARC.

Ignite the Sun is one of those stories that’s unique and easily captivating. It’s brimming with bursts of beautiful prose and extravagant worldbuilding. The chapters end in a way that grasps your attention and guides you to the start of the next chapter. It was hard to put this story down, mainly for the fact that I needed to know what happened next. Ignite the Sun is a YA fantasy debut that someone could finish reading in two days, if not one. It’s the first book in a while that I’ve been able to devour in less than two days.

Siria could easily be described as a delicate flower, in my opinion. It takes her most of the book to develop a hard shell, to understand that she’s not the weak girl she was made out to be. It also took her awhile to become acquainted with her new life and the powers hidden deep inside her. Siria does grow constantly throughout the story, but it’s only her growth I saw through the pages. The secondary characters, her companions, are not illustrated as strongly, but still represent the important roles they play in Siria’s life. My only big downfall with Siria was her constant questioning of everything and everyone. She’s uprooted from the only life she’s ever known and in an instant, she’s painted as the kingdom’s number one enemy, and must flee with those that kept her true heritage hidden from her. I understood her frustrations and why she questioned them, but it took awhile for her to come to peace with their choices and her lineage.

One thing I will say about Siria is that she is wholeheartedly devoted to her friends and newfound family. Originally, she’s devoted to the Queen and her kingdom, but her journey proves that those closest to her are more worthy of her heart. She’s definitely one of those characters that thinks with her heart, which is what made this story more personal. I could tell the author poured her heart and soul into this story and into Siria. It’s one of the parts that made this story so interesting.

Queen Iyzabel is a worthy opponent and villain. Like most villains, there’s a reason for their villainess ways, which they use to justify their actions. Iyzabel is no different. But in the beginning of her reign, she failed to wipe out the one bit of light that could defeat her: Siria. Some of my favorite scenes were finding out the backstory about Iyzabel, so I could better understand her character and actions. She’s encased the kingdom in complete darkness and almost has everyone brainwashed to believe her horror stories about sunlight. Iyzabel is a villain that knows how to manipulate those around her, even without using magic. She’s deadly and not afraid to go after what she wants and what she believes she deserves. And all those qualities make for a woman destined to be a great villain.

The story itself was interesting enjoyable. I really liked the premise and I thought the storyline was unique and well executed. It’s a fast paced fantasy read that I was able to finish in days. Howard’s writing is well-developed and charming. Her writing effortlessly captures your attention and leaves you enthralled. That’s one of the main reasons I kept reading: I really enjoyed Howard’s writing and how beautifully she brought this story together. Each scene flowed well into the next that I never felt there were breaks or rough patches between the chapters. Howard wonderfully brought the world to life with vivid descriptions and lush prose, and that right there is one of the reasons why I’ll pick up her next book.

Ultimately, Ignite the Sun is a great story, with a unique and strong plot, but needed tighter character development. Even with the lack of some elements, I found Ignite the Sun to be a strong debut that I believe many readers will be able to read and enjoy in one sitting.

Ignite the Sun follows a Siria Nightingale a girl who has never seen the sun!

“Once upon a time, there was something called the sun.”

Siria lives in a kingdom that only knows darkness, the Witch Queen keeps the light away to 'protect' her kingdom from the dangers of the sun. But Siria has always been obsessed with story's of the sun, even though they were forbidden.

When Siria travels from her school to the Queens's court she soon discovers she is not who she has been forced to believe she is.
She questions everything about her life, her parents, her friends and everything she's ever been told about the sun.
Now she must discover who she really is and try to control an unwanted power to try bring together a bunch of rebels and bring the light back to her kingdom!

I seriously could not put this book down, I loved the premise of the story the first time I read the blurb and knew I had to get a copy of this. It's been a while since I've read a really good standalone book. I'm very happy I had the chance to read this.

I think my favorite thing about this book was the world building, it was so well done. I loved the fact that we got see a variety of different beings, including Nymphs, Witches and Banshees. The different magical abilities made the world feel really unique and interesting.

I'm usually not a fan of 'Friends to Lovers' troupe, its probably one of my least favorite, but I actually enjoyed it in this story, it felt really genuine and I was routing for them beginning to end.

I liked that Siria eventually came to terms with the fact that she had this rare magic ability, she became this strong independent young woman towards the back end of the book and I'm all here for that!

After loving Hanna C Howard's debut I'm keen to see what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard
Publication date: 18th August 2020
Rating: 4/5 stars
(I received a free arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review contains SPOILERS.)

Sixteen-year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. The light is dangerous, according to Queen Iyzabel, an evil witch who has shrouded the kingdom in shadow.
Siria has always hated the darkness and revels in the stories of the light-filled old days that she hears from her best friend and his grandfather. Besides them, nobody else understands her fascination with the sun, especially not her strict and demanding parents. Siria’s need to please them is greater than her fear of the dark, and so she heads to the royal city—the very centre of the darkness—for a chance at a place in Queen Iyzabel’s court.
But what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball will send her on a quest that could bring back the Light—or doom the kingdom to shadow forever. Accompanied by a ragtag group of rebels, she sets her course for the North, toward the last vestiges of the sun.

I honestly have no idea where to begin. Having just finished it, in only two sittings (i had to sleep, otherwise I wouldn't have dared put it down.), it's hard to take a step back to put my thoughts into coherent sentences.

First of all, I love the cover. it's beautiful and matches the theme of the book. It was one of the things that drew me to the arc before I'd even read what it was about.

The classic 'childhood best friends to loves' trope, which is often used to death, was spun in a much different light. Linden was determined to hate her, but still protect her, even before he met her, and Siria immediately decided they were to be best friends, and they have been, for ten years before the story starts. Instead of spending most of the book awkwardly pining after unrequited love, they stayed friends, and kept up their friendly banter right up to the reveal, and even beyond, which I think was a nice touch, because so many versions of this trope change the characters attitudes to each other so much that instead of being best friends, they become lovers, and nothing more. No more friendly banter, which in my opinion, is the best part.

It was so interesting to read because the main character has never seen the sun. We know what its like, but reading from Siria's point of view, you begin to think maybe you take it for granted, being able to see the sun and the light every day.
The magic system was also very interesting to me. Sunchildren, nymphs, pixies, banshees, elves, dwarves, witches, mages, it was explained so well, and I love that sunchildren really were sunchildren. Everything about them, even their appearance had to do with the sun (ie freckles).

We were thrust into the story fairly quickly, with a little exposition on the world, and the people, before Siria's big reveal, and the action really begins. Some people might say that the pacing was off, or they didn't like how fast it moved at times, and how slow it seemed at others, but I loved it. I love that balance of fast and slow, action, and plot, so to me, it was preferable.

Once we got to the rebels and everyone was complacent with letting the Witch Queen continue the way she had been for 14 years, I knew everything was going to go wrong, and with so little left of the book, it was honestly terrifying. I thought for sure Yarrow was dead.
It turns out Siria didn't even need to wait for the equinox to see the sun for the first time, but I can't help but wonder, how much stronger would she have been if she had stuck to the original plan? if all our beloved characters' lives weren't on the line?

And while we're doing hypothetical questions, would any of this had happened if Izyabel's twin sister hadn't been a sunchild? Sunchildren are loved by everyone, as part of their magic, so naturally, Izyabel would have been pushed to the side, abandoned, neglected compared to her sister. She might have still done it, with other outside influences like Lormac, but she probably wouldn't have hated sunchildren as much. It's an interesting thing to consider, that indirectly, sunchildren can have a negative effect on their siblings and family.

I have no idea if this is part of a series or a standalone, but I would love more books with Siria, Linden, Elegy, and Yarrow.

I wouldn't say it was one of the best books I've ever read because I have read a lot of books, but it's definitely in the top ten of this year, and definitely, at the time of writing this, the best arc I've read so far.

I would recommend this book to fans of Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, and anyone who enjoys young adult fantasy.