My book reviews for the Dive Traitors duology by Kamilah Cole,  So Let Them Burn and This Ends in Embers.

Please be aware that my review for the second book contains spoilers for the first book.

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
Published by Hachette UK
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Action, Adventure, Dragon Fantasy, Black Authors, Black Characters, Mental Health Representation, OwnVoices Representation, Sapphic Characters, Chronic Illness, Mental Health, Trauma, Deity Characters, Diverse Representation, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Divine Magic, Summoning Magic, Dragons, Jamaican Culture, LGBTQIA+ Romance
Series: Divine Traitors #1
My Rating:
Published on: 16th January 2024
Pages: 400
Disability Representation: Fictional Condition, Flashbacks, PTSD, Trauma
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads

A complex, thought-provoking, thoroughly enjoyable read' Irish Times

Whip-smart and immersive, this Jamaican-inspired fantasy follows a gods-blessed heroine who's forced to choose between saving her sister or protecting her homeland - perfect for fans of The Priory of the Orange Tree and Fourth Wing.

Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She's a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbours.

When she's forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn't expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon - or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

As Faron's desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other's lives, as well as the fate of their world.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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I have been following the progress of So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole since the pitching stage. To say I was excited to read this one would be a massive understatement. It didn’t surprise me that I loved every minute of this one, and I will happily tell you why in my review below!

I’ve read many great books in the last year, however, it has been a while since one has left me as emotionally wrecked as So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole did. This is a book that I have been waiting to read for a very long time, and it did not disappoint.

Faron Vincent is the Child Empyrean, a human who prayed to the gods when she was twelve during a war to ask them to save her people. They responded by giving her the ability to channel their power and the task of finding the heir to the throne. Five years later, Faron is seventeen, a revered hero who uses her divine powers to win street races. She has lots of power and no cause to fight, especially when the Iryan Queen, her former fellow rebel fighter, is holding a peace summit with the very people, the dragon-riding Langley Empire, who they were fighting not long ago.

As the infamous Child Empyrean, she’s expected to attend, and she’s even angrier when she’s forced to attend early because the Langley Empire used a loophole to bring extra dragons with them. It’s already a tense atmosphere, and then protesters meet them at the site of the Summit. Queen Aveline is questioning her decision, while at the same time recognising that another war would devastate her queendom.

Everyone is watching the Langley Empire even more closely, especially with the extra dragons and their riders in attendance. When one starts to attack the peace summit, Faron feels vindicated in her fury – until she realises her sister Elara isn’t just involved, she’s bound to the dragon. An Iryan bonded to a dragon has never been heard of, and as if this didn’t make things complicated enough, the Commander of the Langley Empire informs them that the attack was the result of a complicated illness that is affecting their dragons and riders. A Fury that takes over both, resulting in destruction.

The only time it didn’t was at the peace summit when Faron stopped it. The Langley Empire want her help to stop it before tragedy strikes, but the problem is Faron has no idea how she did it the first time. To make matters worse, they want to take her sister into the heart of their lands to learn how to ride a dragon, a creature that symbolises Iryan trauma.

Pulled apart for the first time in their life, Faron and Elara must try to survive as they decide who to trust, work out what’s real and whether their former oppressors truly want peace or up to something nefarious.

Where do I even start?! Cole has created an incredible book that is powerful, explosive and stunning to behold. Every word is laced with emotion, and this one will leave you emotionally wrecked. Just when you think you know how things are going to go down, Cole rips the reader’s complacency out from under them.

We get two stories for the price of one, as Cole drops details of the war and Faron and Elara’s traumatic childhood throughout the narrative. She does it in such a way that it adds to the story rather than information dumping in large clumps, helping the reader to see through the character’s eyes and recognise the significance of current events. I much preferred this method of storytelling rather than having to read through a first book dedicated to the sisters’ childhood. I’ve always been interested in the idea of what happens to the chosen one after their save-the-day moment is over, and that is the story Cole is telling us in So Let Them Burn.

I liked that there were moments in So Let Them Burn that I knew were coming; they were comforting amongst the chaos, and there is a lot of chaos in this book. There are tropes, but there are also some tropes that Cole turns on their head, and one was of particular interest to me as a disabled reader. I can’t say anything specific as it’s a major spoiler point, so you’ll need to just trust me on this one.

Fantasy novels with dragons and dragon-riding seem to be back in fashion, and a certain novel is a comp for So Let Them Burn. Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of that one and if you’re beginning to get a bit fed up with dragons don’t let it put you off reading this one. While dragons and dragon-riding are a part of So Let Them Burn, consider them to be just one ingredient in a much larger recipe. This book is so much more than just a book about dragons.

It’s a book about race, culture, conquest, oppression and war and the trauma caused by them. How does someone begin to heal from that trauma when the cause of that trauma is still present in their life? That question is at the heart of So Let Them Burn, and please seek out reviews by readers of colour who can talk more about the specific type of trauma and related topics present in this book, as it’s not my place to do so.

All of Cole’s characters are brilliantly written, and her action scenes will leave your heart pumping. It did not surprise me that I bonded with Elara quickly, the rule-following sister being similar to myself. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I felt the same way about Faron who is nothing like me. That is always the sign of a skilful writer to me, someone who can create a character and embody them fully to the point that you feel them that strongly when you read their book.

There was a point in So Let Them Burn where Faron is told to just do her best, and it’s the first time that she’s not held to any obligation since becoming the Child Empyrean. She’s not expected to be a weapon, an all-powerful hero or a saint. She just needs to do her best, and I felt that deep in my chest because the feeling of obligation is something we’ve all felt at some point.

In case I’ve been too subtle; So Let Them Burn is the dragon fantasy book that you need to be adding to your reading list ASAP.

This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole
Published by Hachette UK
Age Group: Young Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Action, Adventure, Dragon Fantasy, Black Authors, Deity Characters, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Demisexual Characters, Mental Health Representation, OwnVoices Representation, Sapphic Characters, Dragons, Jamaican Culture, Mental Health, Trauma
Series: Divine Traitors #2
My Rating:
Published on: 6th February 2025
Pages: 416
Disability Representation: Trauma, PTSD, anxiety, mental health, amputation, and arm prosthetic.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads

Perfect for fans of Raybearer and Fourth Wing, this astonishing sequel to the bestselling novel So Let Them Burn doesn't hold back. After all, there are no easy endings in war-especially when sisters are forced to fight on opposite sides.

Faron Vincent was once the saint of San Irie. Now, she's done the unthinkable: betrayed her country. Alone, disgraced, and kidnapped, Faron is forced to help Iya grow his bloody empire. With her soul bonded to a ruthless killer, Faron has become an enemy to her people... and she fears they might be right.

Elara Vincent-the new Empyrean-must undo the damage her sister has caused. San Irie has been brought back to the brink of war as Iya proclaims no nation will be safe from his brutal invasion. But how can Elara save her sister, her best friend, her country, and her world when she's already cracking under the pressure?

This heart-pounding conclusion to the Divine Traitors duology pushes these unforgettable heroines to their breaking point and beyond. Because when the lines between hero and villain are blurred, deadly sacrifices must be made.

This book was provided for free by TBR and Beyond Book Tours and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

Today is my spot on the This Ends in Embers blog tour hosted by TBR and Beyond! You can find a list of all the stops in the tour on the TBR and Beyond website.

Following the catastrophic and heartbreaking conclusion of the first book, This Ends in Embers sees sisters Faron and Elara split apart again. This time it is Faron alone in Langley, while Elara remains in San Irie and both are dealing with the consequences of their decisions. In So Let Them Burn Faron released the first dragon, a god-like creature called Lightbringer from his imprisonment in the Empty. After just finding love in Reeve, he was taken from her when the first Empyrean, Gael, took over his body. Bound to Gael and Lightbringer, Faron stopped her sister from sending them back to the divine realm. Free to destroy the world, Lightbringer started with their home town, killing many of their friends and neighbours in the process.

Reeling from the destruction wrought by Lightbringer being free, Elara struggles with her new responsibilities as the Maiden Empyrean. The gods gave her their powers with the request that she use them to send all dragons back to the divine realm. Having previously been bound to the wise and kind dragon, Zephyra, Elara has firsthand experience of what it feels like to have that bound removed. She’s unsure how she’s going to get Langley to relinquish creatures they love and cherish, as well as how to save Faron and Reeve from the clutches of Lightbringer.

So Let Them Burn was one of my favourite books of last year, and I was looking forward to delving back into the world of the Divine Traitors duology with this sequel. I wanted to give this book a higher rating based on my love for the characters and the world, however, I have to be honest; the sequel fell a little flat for me in a few ways.

The first was the pace and flow of this book. I felt that the first book was much more balanced between the quiet moments and the action. In This Ends With Embers, there was a lot more downtime, which while necessary felt like it dragged on a bit at times. Everything was fascinating and well-written, it just felt as though everything was leading up to two big battles, one just over halfway through, and then the inevitable final battle.

The final battle was epic, and I was mesmerised by the events. I wish I could say that I felt satisfied with the conclusion. There was nothing wrong with the conclusion, it just did not work for me. I largely attribute that to my age. I read young adult and middle-grade novels for the story and world-building, so I’ll readily admit when a book is not aimed at my age group. Some of the ways the characters were written, especially about their romantic interest, felt very in line with how I felt as a teen – but as an adult, I’m shaking my head at the naivety.

Please be aware that this spoiler tag contains major spoilers for the book:

Cole’s strength is in her world-building and characters, especially her insight into her characters’ feelings and experiences. There were many moments where Cole captured their experiences perfectly, in a way that hit me hard in the feels. Despite my personal feelings, This Ends in Embers is an enjoyable read, and if you enjoy dragon fantasy, you’ll love the world-building.

About Kamilah Cole

Kamilah Cole was a writer and entertainment editor at Bustle for four years, and her nonfiction work has also appeared in Marie Claire and Seventeen. A graduate of New York University, Kamilah lives on the East Coast, where she’s usually playing Kingdom Hearts for the hundredth time, quoting early SpongeBob SquarePants episodes, or crying her way through Zuko’s redemption arc in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

Thanks for reading my book reviews for the Divine Traitors duology, So Let Them Burn and This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole.

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