What is your opinion?
A piece of art
"This story is everything I didn't know that I needed. Emotional, action-packed... The love between the two main characters is so pure and moving. But I also fell in love with the side characters, even the ones I thought I hated. J.R's got an amazing talent. I don't usually get this emotional when reading, but I shed some tears, laughed quite a lot and found myself smiling like crazy. Fucking fantastic."
The Flame
"This work undeniably displays the author's love for this world and its characters. It's vividly alive and fascinating with all the little details that breathe life into the text. While the story starts slow by introducing the world, all the little and bigger intricacies of the Ridora's culture and rituals, once the action takes off it's a book that's hard to put down. I don't want to wander into spoiler territory - as I believe anyone should give this one a read - but this world that is a curious mix of primitive and technologically advanced shows off the writer's care and attention to detail. The only thing that I - personally and that's a WHOLLY subjective opinion - find off-putting is that I found myself often rooting for basically anyone BUT the main protagonist and narrator. I blame a lot of it on the fact that I normally avoid 1st person's POV, on the other hand - since its story in a huge part about growing and the first part of a planned trilogy - I can hope that my dislike for Kadari would have space to change. I just found that for me personally he too often came off as selfish, immature, and entitled, up to - at times - dipping straight up into evil, by the end making me feel like he did not deserve the ending he got. But then, again, I'll look toward the next books and his eventual redemption arc. Overall, The Flame is fascinating and more than worth reading, and making up your own mind along the way. I know that I'm glad that I did! "
Wish I could give more stars
"I am floored by this. The effortless bond between these boys, the phenomenal pacing, everything happening at just the right time . . . I don't know if there's more praise I can heap on this book. I devoured most of it in one sitting. I am certainly taking notes because good grief, these descriptions were beautiful and breathtaking! Both of these characters are my favorite. The way they're so sweet and gentle with each other is such a treat to read. The subtleties in their interactions and the emotions were so real and permeated through every word. I really can't say much more other than this is a must read and I will be following it to the end because I cannot predict how this will go. "
Not my usual fare, but...
"I feel like I ought to begin with a disclaimer - romance isn't really my preferred genre of reading. The result of this preference is that I generally prefer the adventure elements of the book over the romantic elements. However, I did my best to engage with the story as presented, and not impose my own wishes upon it, as much as such a thing is possible. Mr. Barton's writing is excellent. His control of scene, character and dialogue are great. His world seems to live and breathe, and the world which he has created, DarkSea, feels realized. The novel is split fairly evenly between the more romantic, character-driven introduction and a fast-paced adventure quest in the second half. This split, however, leads me to my first primary critique of the novel - it moves at times at what feels to me a glacial pace. The book spends most of its first half focused on the relationship between the POV protagonist, Kadari, and his relationship with the other primary protagonist, Taeyon. But at times the story feels stagnant. Roughly half of the first twenty chapters take place in a single room, and it felt at times as if the story is running in circles. But since I'm not really familiar with romance novels, I don't know whether this is typical form for these kinds of stories, and I don't know if this criticism is fair or reasonable. The larger issue I have with the book, and the one which primarily has me leaving off a star from my overall enjoyment of the story, is that I just don't like the protagonist very much at all. His character is immature and singularly focused, and his love for Taeyon feels far more like an obsession for most of the book, and from my experience obsessive relationships are rarely healthy. True to most coming-of-age stories, the protagonist does experience some character growth, but it's almost too little, too late for me. Still, in spite of these comments, I did truly enjoy most of my time with the book. I thought the plot was excellent and well-planned, although there remains one or two unknowns at the end of the book. The characters are varied and believable, they feel lived in and relatable. The prose is rich in detail and dripping with beautiful descriptions, and sometimes certain phrases and descriptions are truly breathtaking. Mr. Barton is a vivid writer with a bold imagination, and this setting for a romance is quite bold and brave. There is one scene towards the end where a character expresses some pretty ugly sentiments, and the revulsion I felt at this dialogue was visceral, which is a sign of excellent writing. All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I wish I liked the protagonist. It is hard to root for someone to succeed when they don't feel worthy of that success. However, since he does show signs of growth, I have hope for him in the upcoming sequel. Bottom line: even though I'm not really a romance reader, the adventure sequences, sci-fi setting and world building are good enough that I will probably read the sequel, which is quite an accomplishment."
