An excellent and wonderful fantasy adventure based on Hindu mythology with a touch of the Grisha saga. I can’t wait for the next story!

The first third of this book was extremely rough for me. The opening scene was promising, but then it all went downhill because it felt like information was being dumped while the action was happening, with no context being given for why the characters and situation are the way that they are. I thought that Zarya read as naive, annoying, and immature, which, while realistic, made it difficult to feel like she was worth the story being told. The other characters felt flat and one-dimensional, exhibiting one emotion or defining character trait until ... they suddenly don't. Additionally, although the summary mentions the enemies to lovers trope, it is more absent than present throughout the book.

With that being said, everything improved 2/3 of the way in and the ending was extremely solid. Additional backstory was given on several characters, which gave some much-needed depth and insight into their relationships with one another (and Zarya become much more bearable to read). Although the first third dragged, the pacing and plotting improve after the 2/3 mark. The big reveals at the end were not disappointing and did a good job setting up for the sequel. The worldbuilding was also interesting; I enjoyed the food descriptions and the incorporation of all the monsters. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow-building fantasy and journeys of self-discovery and growth.

This was an engaging fantasy with some definite angst. Zarya has been locked away for years, with Row, her protector. Her magic is a secret. When she finally is free, she doesn’t tell anyone the full truth about her. Her magic becomes clearer as the book continues, but there are still some surprises up until the last page.

I need more steamy scenes with Rabin and Zarya in the next book. Vikram was such a red herring, and the twist on who Rabin is were both great surprises.

My first read from Nisha J. Tuli and I couldn't be happier. Booktok should definitely get on the The Nightfire Quartet train because this is a guaranteed best seller and an amazing read.
Heart of Night and Fire follows along Zarya's journey of self discovery as she abandons her seaside prison of nearly 21 years, along with Aarav. They stumble upon two handsome rakshasa warriors who bring them to the city where they have no idea of the future that awaits them.
A beautifully written tale of self discovery, found family and complicated relationship dynamics, Heart of Night and Fire depicts a strong and courageous woman who will go to any lengths to aid the ones closer to her and the helpless people of her new found home in Daragaab.
Personally, I found the book to be slow in the first half, which made it a bit of a chore to get through that 35-45% of the book, but as soon as things start kicking in the second half, I was not able to put it down.
Definitely keeping tabs on this series so I can read the second book as soon as it's out!

Loved the book, filled with magic, mythology, I need a part 2! I am officially a new fan of Nisha J Tuli. Did not see the twist coming at all! Thank you NetGalley and author for giving me a chance to read this wonderful
Book!

This wasn't a winner for me.

I really wanted to love this. I love getting to read more about Indian culture but the words that were thrown into this without context felt lost to me. Like the words Agni and Aazheri. You really need to know your Hindu terminology or mythology. I was constantly having to google a lot of terms to understand what the characters were talking about.

I found the writing style to be overly descriptive which came across as long-winded. There were a lot of words spent describing the clothing, the food, their actions, or the location. Not really much in the terms of development of the plot.

I felt like the whole plot of the story didn't really happen until well into the book. I didn't enjoy it because it felt like it took a while for the story to get actually interesting.

The romance was not what I was expecting in this one. The main character Zarya felt juvenile and didn't feel like her age. So if there was romance, I didn't really connect with it.

Overall, I have to admit, this isn't the book for me.

I am genuinely shocked at the difference between this novel and Nisha’s other series. Personally, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. However, there was great dialogue and world building. I wish romance took a bigger role and characters were explained more in depth and differently. I also wish the plot was more evident rather than to be thrown for a loop after 80% of the book. I want to know what happens next to our heroine and the predicament she’s currently in with the 2 brothers and mother. Overall I would still recommend!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

You say the words "enemies to lovers", "slow burn" and "fantasy" and I.AM.YOUR.GIRL. I'm going to pick that up and devour it, and devour this I did. This was a great intro to a four book series. It did a great job of introducing the characters and setting up the story. The tension was incredible. Cannot wait for the next book.

I love Nisha's writing so much, I was so grateful to have this opportunity to review her newest series. To start with Nisha kicked off the story strong with great character development for Zarya, this was a great hook into the storyline. There was enough mystery around Zarya to keep the story intriguing until the very end. About 15% in the story slows down as Nisha spends time world building and continuing other character's development. Her writing style is captivating, keeping me going right until the very end. It was full of everything anyone could ever want, found family, strong FMC, drop dead gorgeous love interests and all embedded into a beautiful Indian setting.

Wow. Just wow. This was one of the most beautifully descriptive stories I have ever read. The setting was so lush and vibrant, but at the same time full of demons and danger. Zarya was such a strong lead, not taking any BS from anyone and being an absolute delight while doing it. I LOVED the friendship between Zarya and Yasen, strong characters need strong supporters. I have so much praise to say for this book, but alas I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m going to leave it at this……. Dragon.

This is a no for me. I do really enjoy the Indian mythology side of this. But I feel we don’t get enough of that and I was excited to dive into this.

I feel like all we’re getting is repetition of this book. A lot of reminders of why Zarya is angry and that she hates being stuck at the cottage.

It also feels like the author is throwing in swear words randomly so we know this isn’t Ya. But it FEELS Ya to me.

I’m also not someone who can sit down and read something where everything conveniently happens. That’s how this feels. Things are happening just to move the story but it has no real purpose.

I saw someone say the characters feel like fanfiction characters. As it’s like we should already know them and I totally agree. Everyone is too comfortable when they all meet.

Anyway, I’m DNFing at 13% because I can’t keep forcing myself to read. Perhaps others will like this but it’s definitely not for me.

This book was amazing! The secrets, plot twists and the the slow burn romance was what kept me hooked ☺️ I highly recommend!

I need the next book now! This is a captivating story where there is a lot to learn about magic, monsters and the world in general. This story is about Zarya who has lived her whole life in a gilded cage and at the beginning of this book she can finally escape.

I love the found family, the mysteries about her magic and Row (her caretaker in the aforementioned gilded cage, who disappeared), the twists and turns, the romance and cool fighting scenes. It warms my heart to see her develop a relationship with an 'enemy' to best friends. Their conversations were heartwarming and hilarious, definitely the best part of the book.

I look forward to the next book where I expect we will learn more about her family by blood and the slow burn romance.

I am curious about the author's other books.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher Second Sky for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 40%

I tried, but I’m so bored.

I actually really enjoyed the first 10-15% of this - I feel like it had loads of promise and, whilst the characters were lacking development, there was time for them to improve. But now I’m almost halfway through and these characters have no personality.

I don’t understand where this attraction has come from between Vikram and Zarya - it’s very underdeveloped. Also, Zarya is so immature. I find the way she’ll just randomly be like ooooh I really wanna have sex so weird. Like it comes out of nowhere and, I get that it’s because there’s gonna be some smut in the future, but it’s very out of place at the moment.

The writing style is a bit jarring - we seem to jump around a lot in the plot in a way that is completely nonsensical. Also, it’s just really boring.

I love the idea of the world and the descriptions of food, but the promise of a better second half isn’t enough to keep me going.

I’m going to start by saying I hate when a book or author is advertised by comparing themselves to successful authors such as JLA, SJM or Carissa Broadbent. It never lives up to the hype.

I promise I can tell you about this book in 5 minutes and you’ll understand how pointless it is. Plot? You wouldn’t fucking know until 90%? Slow burn? Barely. You find out at like 80ish% he is to be the new queens steward and they cannot be together. It was not even spicy. They made out and she had dirty thoughts.
The twist that’s barely a twist. It’s annoying because you know nothing about him besides he disappeared for years, but the FMC saw him in her dreams like a handful of times and talked with him.
I understand words building but this entire book was absolute fluff for you to just find out she’s a princess and has magic. Like I could have told you that, I didn’t need to read 40 chapters to figure that out.

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk.
Oh yeah, I got this from netgalley for my honest review so here ya go 😬

4.5 stars

Look, I am always on the hunt for more South Asian fantasy books and I am so glad that I stumbled upon this one. Heart of Night and Fire had me hooked from the first line. The worldbuilding was simply incredible and felt very immersive. As someone who's Indian, I loved recognizing all the references (and trust me there are a lot). Nisha J. Tuli's writing just flows off the page and sucks you into the beginning of what I believe is going to be a very magnificent story.

In terms of the characters, I liked Zarya the most. She's fierce and determined, and also unexpectedly funny. Because the story focuses on Zarya, her character development is visible the most. But it's done really well and you really see her grow. Though, I would have liked the same for the other characters as well; I'm hoping the next book in the series does that. One thing that I did like was how Yasen slowly grew into a friend and a grumpy older brother figure for Zarya and I'm excited to see more of their dynamic.

In terms of the pacing, I do think it might feel slow for some people at the start, but it picks up pretty quickly and the story moves on fast as Zarya learns more about herself and her powers and the mysterious figure that haunts her mind.

Heart of Night and Fire is the start of a lush, captivating fantasy series set in a world inspired by South Asian myths and legends. Like I said, this book was extremely immersive and establishes a great start for what I think is going to be an utterly magnificent series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Second Sky for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

more of a 2.5 stars / Heart of Night and Fire follows Zarya who has been trapped in a gilded prison—her home—for as long as she can remember by her keeper who is adamant that her powers are not to be revealed to the outside world. One day, she is able to leave her home and arrives in the city of Dharati, where she finds that dark creatures are besieging the city and growing stronger.

Heart of Night and Fire is described as "Packed with enemies-to-lovers tension, heart-pounding action and devastating twists, The Nightfire Quartet is an epic fantasy romance that begins with a slow burn and builds in intensity.". Though, in this first book there is practically none of that. I will note that book one might still be a build-up to what is to come in the rest of the series.

What I did like was the Indian-inspired mythology aspect of the book, and I feel like the global plot has a lot of promise. Though the execution was quite lackluster in my opinion, especially the first half of the story. With its messy execution plot-wise, it was a major letdown in comparison to the second half of the novel. Without spoiling what happens, I don't think the series of events that led Zarya to Dharati had a good reason for them, and the story seemed to have various inconsistencies.

Zarya's portrayal in the first half lacked depth and was characterized by immaturity and an excessive innocence that was incongruous for a twenty-year-old. It felt more like reading a YA-contemporary romance at times, which is strange considering she is 20 years old at this point. Her constant desire for 'romance' at all times also significantly reduced my interest in the overall plot. Even though her character did improve in the second half, it was hard for me to identify or relate to her.

The main character Zarya is not the only character that was lacking in this story. The 'side-characters' also seem to be missing any complexity or even meaningful relationships with our MC. Whereas Nisha spent a lot of time describing how handsome Vikram and Yassen were from Zarya's POV, she skipped giving them unique personalities. However, I have to say that Rabin and the events that happened between him and Zarya kept my interest piqued in the second half of the novel.

Overall, Heart of Night and Fire didn't have much of what I look for in an "enemies-to-lovers new adult fantasy". Although the first half was rather disappointing, the second half was able to make up for some of those flaws. However, I don't think I will be picking up the sequel because this book couldn't keep me engaged enough with the story as it is now.

This book was SO. GOOD.

I was a little worried that I wouldn’t like it at first, some of the vocab made my head spin and I felt myself having to read & then read things again to make sure I understood.

But, LET ME TELL YOU. It got better. The world building, the character development, the mystery (like who the heck is Zarya’s actual love interest), the unpredictable PLOT TWIST & how it all came together at the end. Chefs kiss.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series. I need more of Zarya & Rabin immediately.

Overall I really enjoyed Heart of Night and Fire and devoured the book within a day. The world building was a bit clunky but I think it was primarily due to all the different terminology for the types of people/creatures/beings on top of the Indian culture that was mingled throughout and which I am personally not familiar with. That being said, the world building was enjoyable to explore, and the writing made everything fun to visualize.

My biggest complaint and the reason for not giving 5 stars is that I felt that the secondary characters could have used a lot more development. I feel like I didn’t have a strong connection to any of the secondary characters, the exception being Rabin, and that was only because the sense of mystery surrounding him for most of the book was so strong.

I can’t wait to hear about when the next book is coming out and am looking forward to reading more about the world and it’s characters!

I freaking loved this book so much! I needed a good fantasy! And this book blew my mind. I loved all the characters! It moved pretty fast paced and the plot twists were...WOW