Book Review: Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova

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You know, I’ve been having a lot of trouble with YA fantasy lately. A lot of it has started to feel the same, and so I’m having to really pace myself with it. I picked up Incendiary as it’s the Space Sirens book club pick for October, and I’m so glad I finally gave it a chance because I ended up really enjoying it!

Firstly, the plot isn’t all that original. But that’s ok! The main character Ren was taken from her family at a young age, and has powers that could come in useful in the palace of the evil king. She heads over there to kill the prince for killing her lover (boyfriend?) and along the way she uncovers a few more things. It sounds like your generic YA fantasy, but I think the author pulled it off really well and overall I was very impressed.

I think what I liked most about Incendiary was the setting, which is well developed and Spanish-inspired. I would love to learn a bit more about the world in which this is set in the sequel, but I think the author did a really good job of introducing the history and the conflict in this one.

Additionally, the plot is super fast paced! My copy of the book is quite long (at almost 500 pages), but I flew through it with no trouble at all, and I think it might have also reignited my love for fantasy a bit.

As for the ships, I’m not entirely certain on where I stand, but I do know that I can’t ship the one that reminds me of Celaena and Chaol. It’s just so dull. Give me the Zutara in the sequel, PLEASE.

I’ve never read anything by this author before, but after reading Incendiary I’m very keen to check out her backlist. Go and check out Incendiary if you’re looking for a fast paced action plot, because you’re in for quite the ride. I do think the characters were a bit generic and flat, but I’ve read a LOT of YA fantasy at this point and it’s getting harder and harder for them to stand out to me.