Review: Road To Fire

Road To Fire by Maria Luis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m always eager to dive into a new Maria Luis read and Road To Fire had me super excited to dive in. Fortunately, once I started, I devoured it. Now I’m finished, I need the next book in the Broken Crown trilogy.

Road To Fire starts a wee bit slowly, but it’s worth it to get all the information that is to come. It’s a complicated story, with many layers, and there is so much to be introduced to throughout. It may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but it is vital that you take in all that is given. It gives you ideas of what is to come and will have you creating theories about how everything will play out.

Once we get beyond all the information, the story is packed with plenty to keep you turning the pages. As I said, there are many layers to the story. It’s great to watch as these things unfold, to watch as theories are proven correct or new details have you questioning what more is to come. Add in the romance that has you gripped, and you will not be able to put the book down.

As much as I loved this one, I did have one issue. I’m sure it will not distract many, but it’s a pet peeve of mine. The use of British slang, whilst not terrible, distracted me on many occasions. There were times when we went from British slang to using things that are very much American and are never said over here (hello Jell-O, for example), there were times when things were used incorrectly (yes, that is what a certain words mean, but using it in that context is not how it would be used), and there was one repeated detail that really pulled me out of the story when it happened (we use miles, not kilometres). It’s not an attack on this book, it’s a much larger thing – in both indie and traditional publishing. The stereotype the world has of us being super polite means we will happy put you right on these things, as we’re unable to say no to you – not to mention, we’ll then apologise for the confusion you felt beforehand. As I said, it won’t get to many, but it certainly pulled me out of the story on a few occasions.

The other things, not a criticism, is a question I have. Why does everyone use the name Hamish when writing a Scottish character? In all my years of living in Scotland, I have not met a single Hamish. I really want to know where this idea comes from, because if I turned it into a drinking game – a sip for every time the name Hamish was used for the only Scottish character in a story – I would be suffering from alcohol poisoning. As I said, not a criticism, but a legitimate question.

My pet peeve aside, this was an insanely addictive read and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book. I have so many theories about where the Broken Crown trilogy will take us, and I cannot wait to see how everything plays out.

View all my reviews