Ignite the Sun by Hanna C. Howard - ADVISIBLE

Ignite the Sun by Hanna C. Howard, 352 pgs. Blink, 2020. $19. Language: PG (5 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13 (child in peril, on page killings in battle, corpses placed on display).

BUYING ADVISORY—MS, HS - ADVISIBLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL—HIGH

Siria Nightingale lives in a land of perpetual darkness. She longs to experience the sun, but only knows about its light and warmth from stories of the old days. On her sixteenth birthday, as she prepares to be presented to the queen, Siria discovers something about herself that will put her on a drastically different path. Now instead of serving the queen who brought the darkness, she will join the rebels who are fighting to return the light.

A fast-paced read full of adventure, romance, and magic. The characters in this story are well written and appealing. The plot is original and has few holes enabling the reader to become immersed in an exciting battle of good vs evil. The only slight drawbacks are the magical setting that would benefit from a bit more background as the reader is thrust into the story quite abruptly and a plot where the energy is more stable instead of veering dizzingly at times between calm narrative and frantic action. 

Reviewer: Ali Bridge