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A review by nikkisbooknook
Heart of Night and Fire by Nisha J. Tuli
5.0
"For every brown girl who wanted to be the chosen one too.”
That dedication had me just abut in tears. Much like many little girls don't have a Disney Princess they can see themselves in, neither do POC in fantasy.
Zarya has grown up only knowing the area immediately around the swamp. With only her protector/father figure and his apprentice for company, she's stifled and rebellious and wants to be free to explore. Oh and she sucks up romance books like they are going out of fashion! When she finally gets her chance to escape she takes it. This leads her into the arms of Vikram, Commander of a specialist garrison of warriors. With Yasen, they become her friends and protectors. She soon adds others to her retinue of friends but will Aarav ever be one of them?
With the Queen or Rani's Vasvi in decline, her daughter in being primes to take over. But she reminds Zarya so much of herself, trapped in a cage not of her making - her fate decided by others, that she can't help taking the Princess under her wing too.
I love learning about mythology from around the world, the differences and the astonishing similarities. In Dharati we find the Chiranjevi, Apsaras, Rakshasas and the immortal Aazheri all living together, not always harmoniously. The rich history between these peoples and the other realms of the world is colourful, electric and well-crafted. There are hints of things that every PNR lover will recognise - vampires, shifters, magic wielders, etc. Google became my friend as I consistently googled for pronunciations and cliff notes of South Asian mythology.
The first half of the book was a wee bit slower but there was a lot of world and character building to get through. The 2nd half certainly had more action and the pace picked up and I read this in one fell swoop as I just could not put this down.
I love a found family and the bonds between the characters were great. I especially loved Zarya and Yasen together. They were like fighting siblings almost from the get-go. My best insult between them was " You are growing on me like a fungus". There is a great exploration of culture, cross culturalism and representation of LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
There are plenty of twists and turns, love, passion, betrayal, heartbreak and friendship. I'm super invested in reading the other books in series.
That dedication had me just abut in tears. Much like many little girls don't have a Disney Princess they can see themselves in, neither do POC in fantasy.
Zarya has grown up only knowing the area immediately around the swamp. With only her protector/father figure and his apprentice for company, she's stifled and rebellious and wants to be free to explore. Oh and she sucks up romance books like they are going out of fashion! When she finally gets her chance to escape she takes it. This leads her into the arms of Vikram, Commander of a specialist garrison of warriors. With Yasen, they become her friends and protectors. She soon adds others to her retinue of friends but will Aarav ever be one of them?
With the Queen or Rani's Vasvi in decline, her daughter in being primes to take over. But she reminds Zarya so much of herself, trapped in a cage not of her making - her fate decided by others, that she can't help taking the Princess under her wing too.
I love learning about mythology from around the world, the differences and the astonishing similarities. In Dharati we find the Chiranjevi, Apsaras, Rakshasas and the immortal Aazheri all living together, not always harmoniously. The rich history between these peoples and the other realms of the world is colourful, electric and well-crafted. There are hints of things that every PNR lover will recognise - vampires, shifters, magic wielders, etc. Google became my friend as I consistently googled for pronunciations and cliff notes of South Asian mythology.
The first half of the book was a wee bit slower but there was a lot of world and character building to get through. The 2nd half certainly had more action and the pace picked up and I read this in one fell swoop as I just could not put this down.
I love a found family and the bonds between the characters were great. I especially loved Zarya and Yasen together. They were like fighting siblings almost from the get-go. My best insult between them was " You are growing on me like a fungus". There is a great exploration of culture, cross culturalism and representation of LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
There are plenty of twists and turns, love, passion, betrayal, heartbreak and friendship. I'm super invested in reading the other books in series.