BLOG TOUR So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

Hi friends! Welcome to my tour stop for So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole (tour organized by TBR and Beyond Tours). Check out the post to learn more about the book, the author, and figure out where you can get your copy. Make sure you show the other hosts some love as well - the link to the tour schedule is below. 

Happy reading everyone!

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole Tour Schedule (TBR and Beyond Tours)

About the Book

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publishing date: January 16th, 2024

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Rep: Jamaican-American, Jamaican, Black, Sapphic, Demisexual

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 Iron Widow and The Priory of the Orange Tree.

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 neighbors.

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.

“By turns hopeful and devastating, So Let Them Burn is a masterful debut with a blazing heart. I was captivated from beginning to end by Cole’s sharp, clever prose and by her protagonists—two remarkable sisters with an unforgettable bond.” — Chelsea Abdullah, author of The Stardust Thief

REVIEW of So Let Them Burn (The Divine Traitors #1) by Kamilah Cole
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eARC (Courtesy of Publisher and NetGalley) and Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Dragons and fantasy are always a great combination for me, so it was super exciting to get the opportunity to read the debut novel of Kamilah Cole, So Let Them Burn. An adventure filled story with Jamaican influences, readers join the action after the major conflict. Sisters Faron and Elara are settling into a normal life on their home island after spending years at war liberating their people. However, after a chance encounter at an international peace summit sets the sisters on separate paths on opposite sides of the war, it sets events into motion that will determine the fate of their world forever. 

The worldbuilding in this novel was amazing. With the story being set after the major conflict, the characters are dealing with the aftermath of war and the lingering effects of colonialism and imperialism. Faron in particular reminded me a bit of the Avatar in the Avatar the Last Airbender universe. A child blessed by the spirits (or the gods in this case), and expected to save her people. An interesting spin on this, however, was the fact that Faron wasn’t a ‘chosen one’ from birth. When she prayed to her gods, they answered and gave her the power to enact their will. So, it was more of a ‘in the right place at the right time’ situation than anything else. Her magic (and the magic of the Iryian people) does contrast with the magic of the Langlish empire. One is more culture based (coming from ancestors and gods), whereas the other originates from the use of dragons. The way the author crafted this in the book was amazing, and had me hooked with the desire to learn more. 

While this is undoubtedly a fantasy novel, the relationship at the heart of the story is one of siblings. Elara has spent most of her life in her sister’s shadow, and while not an ideal situation her bond with a dragon has given her the chance to step out of that and make her own path. Faron is one of the most powerful people in history as the Childe Empyrean, but becomes increasingly frustrated over the course of the book as all the power she’s been given isn’t enough to save the one person she cares about most. There are some minor elements of romance in the book (Elara is gay and Faron is demisexual), but those don’t drive the story to the same degree. 

Overall, this was an amazing read. There’s so much drama and things happening with the story. A major twist and a very painful cliffhanger, but I’m super excited for the chance to get to read the next installment in the series as soon as it comes out. Narrators Keylor Leigh and Kamali Minter did a great job in bringing Faron and Elara’s perspectives to life with their performances in the audiobook. If you like queer, diverse fantasy reads with dragons, this would be a great choice. 

Thank you to the author, the publisher Little Brown Books for Young Readers, the team at TBR and Beyond Tours, and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary review copy of the book as part of my participation in the tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review So Let Them Burn immensely! Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way. 

About the Author 

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.

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