REVIEW: A Tribute of Fire by Sariah Wilson

A Tribute of Fire by Sariah Wilson: The fate of the entire nation of Locris lies on the shoulders of Lia, as the princess of this cursed desert land, it is up to her to break a century old cruse and free her kingdom, if not for her land and people, then for all the other young maidens that will be forced to compete in a life or death race to reach the temple of Illion. While Lia might have a leg up with her knowledge in combat and her quick wit, but nothing could have prepared her for the labyrinth that Illion is transformed into. If having the weight of her entire nation on her shoulders and saving her younger sister wasn’t enough for Lia to deal with, it would seem that she has managed to attract the attention of Illionian sailor Jason, but regardless of how handsome he is or how how smooth the talks, there is something about him that Lia cant help but feel weary of. With challenges at every corner, hard choices to be made and more than a few dead ends; Lia needs to think fast, act with caution but most of all stay alive because the tribute games have began and there is only one way out…

Okay now, this was something completely different from Willson and I have to say I absolutely LOVED it! While we have come to love her cute romcoms, I did not expect to completely lose myself in this romantic fantasy novel. Now before I can go any further, I have to say this book ends on a cliffhanger and if you are anything like me then you absolutely detest when this happens! Nevertheless Im invested in Lia’s journey so I guess I will just have to wait like everyone for the next book to find out what happens next. I have to take a moment to appreciate the way Wilson crafter a multilayered novel, there were so many things going on through the course of the story but not once did it feel jumbled or rushed. I loved the way she introduced this new world to us and gave us all this information we need to understand what is going on, without it feeling like an info overload. I also really liked the close parallels to Greek mythology and that the entire feeling of the book kind of felt a bit Hunger Games inspired.

Now for our leading lady, well let me just start of by saying that Lia is a total girl boss. She knows the responsibility that lies on her shoulders but this does not make her cower in fear, if anything it makes her all the more determined to save her people. I loved getting to see her navigate the ‘game’ and use her natural and crafted abilities to manipulate the game to her favour. One of the things that I did really enjoy about this book was the relationship that Lia shared with her sister, these two had a tight bond with a fierce loyalty to one and other. Now I will say while I loved Lia to bits, she was a bit easily sidetracked namely by Jason, though really you cant fault her for being sidetracked by such a hottie. While the book mainly focuses on Lia, we do have an interesting male lead, there is some much more to Jason than meets the eye and so much more than he is letting on. Though I will not spoil this bit for anyone, all I will say is there are a few hints to who he really is thrown into the novel, you just have keep your eyes open to find them.

“Its like we’re two flames, drawn to each other, meant to burn brightly together.”

Lia and Jason just had me hooked, these two had some incredible banter and chemistry to keep things romance heavy in the best way possible. I really liked the slight enemies to lovers arch that was going on between them and that it kind of touched on the forbidden romance trope. There is an undeniable connection between these two and things between them only ramp up as they book progresses. I will say I am eager to see how their relationship unfolds and how the Goddess plans to use Jason in her grand plan.

A Tribute Of Fire was an incredibly captivating introduction to Wilson’s new romantasy series The Eye Of The Goddess, I can already tell that this is going to be one of her best series yet! If you are a fan of The Hunger Games and love a bit of mystery and fantasy with your romance then this is most definitely the book for you! Also with such a pretty cover how can you not want to add this book to your collection?

Book Info:

Publication: November 1, 2024 | Montlake | The Eye of the Goddess #1

Lia is the princess of Locris, a dying desert nation cursed centuries ago by an earth goddess—one still worshipped by the thriving and adversarial nation of Ilion. Every year, Ilion offers the goddess a sacrifice: two Locrian maidens forced to compete in a life-and-death race to reach her temple. In a millennium, no maiden has made it out of Ilion alive. This year, Lia is one of the hunted.

An education in battle gives her a fighting chance, but the challenges are greater than she feared: Lia’s beloved but untrained sister Quynh has been put in the path of danger. The winding streets of Ilion itself have been transformed into a labyrinthine maze of countless choices and dead ends. And if the risks weren’t significant enough, Lia is reluctantly drawn to the commandingly attractive Jason, an Ilionian sailor she loathes to trust and desires like no man before.

The tribute game is on. It’s up to Lia to lift the goddess’s curse, restore Locris to its former glory, and change the fate of every young woman destined to follow in her path.