Today’s book review is for Spark of the Everflame (Kindred’s Curse, Book #1) by Penn Cole, a fantasy novel about civil unrest between mortals and their magical rulers.
All Amazon links are affiliate links. This doesn’t cost you more but does help me with website fees. I was not compensated for this novel and all opinions are my own.
Book Synopsis
When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn.
In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.
Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.
With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind. From Goodreads.
“And I didn’t want to be gentle or delicate. I wanted to burn.”
The Basics
Category: Fantasy
Tags: Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Dragons, Adult, Gods
Author: Penn Cole
Publisher: Self Published, June 2023
Where to Find: Amazon, Walmart
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐.75 – the first half of the book was a 2 for me but if you can make it to the last 1/3 of the book the pacing and action really picks up!
**Spoilers Ahead**
Long ago, the gods colonized the mortal world and now their heartless offspring rule the land. Unrest is growing among the mortals and the main protagonist, Diem, must decide if she is ready to fight against the Crown in hope of a better life.
“Hope without reason is… it’s cruel.”
So Let’s Get Into it…
Our female main character, Diem, is your typical mortal badass that dreams of a life free from poverty and oppressive rulers. In this world, on the continent of Emarion, those rulers are called the Descended – the offspring of the gods that colonized the mortal world. Years and years ago when the Descended came into power, the gods envisioned a world where their children lived in harmony with mortals and used their magic to protect the powerless. Their vision did not come true, and the Descended became oppressive rulers who did not care about those they considered beneath them.
“War is death and misery and sacrifice. War is making choices that will haunt you for the rest of your days. You fight to protect, or to survive, but never for the joy of killing, no matter how brutal your enemy.”
The first thing I noticed was the fantastic world building, which continued throughout the book. When the original nine immortal gods, known as the Kindred, fled their own war-torn world and colonized Emarion the mortals were wary of their magic and powers because mortals had no abilities. However, the Kindred gained their trust by improving the mortals’ ways of life with their magic, innovations, and healing powers. As time passed, each of the nine Kindred took a mortal lover. The gods were able to have children (the Descended), but could not bear the thought of watching their mortal lovers grow old and die. The Kindred gave up their immortality and broke Emarion into nine realms, each with the name and magical prowess of the Kindred that resided there. Diem lives in the Lumnos realm, the realm of light and shadow designated by the Descended having the ability to control light and/or darkness.
Diem has been taught to stay away from the Descended, which isn’t hard considering the Descended rarely leave the capital city to visit the impoverished mortal parts of the realm. However, Diem’s life changes when her mother, Auralie, seemingly vanishes without a trace. Diem is desperate to uncover what happened to her mother and the only lead she has is Prince Luther, a Descended and nephew of the King of Lumnos. On the day Auralie goes missing, Diem spies her talking with a Descended, who is later revealed to be the Prince.
“Only one thing is certain: my mother’s disappearance on that hot, cursed afternoon set off a chain of reactions so unexpected, so far-reaching, that even the gods themselves could not predict the consequences that would later come to pass.”
Ignoring her mother’s warning to avoid the Descended and not draw attention to herself, Diem continuously puts herself in danger in search of any clue or lead she can find. This puts Diem on a path of conflict and confrontation as she joins a secret group called the Guardians, a mortal led rebel organization whose goal is to take down the Crown and the Descended.
It is obvious from the beginning of the story that Diem is part Descended and is in denial. The first major clue (which comes up in the first chapter) is her appearance. Her auburn hair and brown eyes, which designate a mortal of Lumnos, unexpectedly lose their color due to a childhood illness, and she is constantly reassuring mortals that she is not a Descended. Additionally, Diem is adopted, and information about her birth father is suspiciously omitted by her mother growing up.
“I am not afraid, Devourer of Crowns. Ravager of Realms. Herald of Vengeance.”
Around the same time Diem lost her hair and eye color is when she began hallucinating. Her mother prescribed her flameroot – a powder she must take once a day that dulls her emotions but keeps the hallucinations at bay. Once her mother goes missing, Diem decides to stop taking the flameroot and throw all her supply into the lake. Diem truly believes the flameroot stopped her hallucinations as a child, so her impulsive decision to toss it all away without knowing how to get more is foolish.
“Ever since giving up the flameroot, my emotions have been an out-of-control firestorm, threatening to char everything in it’s path.”
As you can imagine, her hallucinations start back up along with a voice inside her head urging her to “FIGHT.” Only this time, Diem isn’t sure what to believe, as her hallucinations aren’t hallucinations at all. Even though she refuses to admit this to herself, it is apparent she has magical abilities when multiple instances of unexplainable things happen when magic is the only possible explanation.
“Descended bones are strong. Stronger even than iron. Mortals don’t have the strength to move them.”
I had major problems with Diem in the beginning of the book – “ignorance is bliss” and that is certainly where Diem lives. She is very self-centered and makes rash decisions that should have gotten her killed numerous times. The Descended are supposed to be cruel and powerful beings, and with Diem’s ignorance and lack of respect towards the Crown, it is a miracle that she is still alive. I would’ve liked the author to add more backstory about how merciless the Descended are – without it the hate towards the Descended from Diem seems unwarranted and sloppy. After she joins the Guardians in their fight to take down the Descended, Diem suddenly develops a moral compass. Although she admits that the Descended have done terrible things, she does not believe in fighting violence with more violence, especially because innocent bystanders will likely become injured or killed. This all comes to a breaking point for Diem when the intel she gathered is used in a bombing against the Descended in the capital of Lumnos.
“I’d never taken a life before. As a healer, I’d sworn a vow to help, not harm. And I didn’t want to be like the cruel Descended, playing god as I dealt out death like a deck of cards.”
The first half of the book is a lot of set up whereas the last 30% of the book is mainly action. I welcomed the change in pace, but the writing became clumsy and less detailed. I think flameroot will be important later in the series, but the author dismisses the flameroot storyline quickly – if I were Diem, I would have been more concerned about what flameroot is. The author tries to set up a love triangle between Diem’s current boyfriend, Henri, and Prince Luther, but the reader gets little backstory or interaction between Diem and the Prince that their shared moment of passion seems forced.
“I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I brought this man into my life, it would open a door I could never close again.”
The author writes that Diem is always drawn to Prince Luther, so this may end up being a “mate” situation, but I personally don’t like that theory because the author is already using multiple stereotypical romantasy tropes. In this world I don’t see how “mates” would fit in, and would need more detail and backstory. For example, were the mortal lovers and the Kindred “mates”, and that is why the Kindred couldn’t bear the thought of watching their partner grow old and die? That being said, I absolutely loved the world building and look forward to learning more about the other realms. Although this book is slow at times and I don’t fully connect with the main character, I think this first book does a good job at laying the foundation for the rest of the series. I had many questions along with theories after finishing the book, which made me want to immediately start the second (which I did!). This book ends with a MAJOR cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to find out with happens next!
“‘Survive’, my father’s words echoed in my ears. At whatever cost, to whatever end. Survive first, mind the consequences later.”
So Bookmark or Bin it?
Conclusion: Bookmark it
Yes, this book has some flaws, and the FMC is annoying, but if you are willing to look past that you will be rewarded with intricate world building filled with magic and fantastical creatures. I think this book sets up for an interesting second book as well as the rest of the series – you just need to power through until the end. This book is predictable, but the slow burn and “enemies to lovers” with a feisty FMC is a script for success with many readers (including me!). Additionally, while I was poking around on r/romantasy on Reddit, I saw many people comment that the first book is the weakest of the four book romantasy series, so I am willing to give the second book (Glow of the Everflame) a try!
Fun Extra Tidbit
The Kindred’s Curse Saga is Penn’s debut series. She is from Texas and is currently living in France (and drinking lots of wine) with her husband – I’m jealous!
Her website includes links for licensed Kindred’s Curse merch via Etsy. I adore the mini crocheted Gryvern.
Thanks so much for reading my book review for Spark of the Everflame, (Kindred’s Curse, Book #1) by Penn Cole! Now it’s your turn! Have you read this novel or any others by Cole and if so, what are your thoughts? Please feel free to share in the comments below!
Happy reading 😊
