Glow of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, # 2)
By: Penn Cole
Expected Publication: December 3, 2024 by Atria Books
608 pages
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Dragons
Source: Personal Kindle Library
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Goodreads description--An unexpected gift offers the power to change everything—but keeping it could cost Diem her life.The threat of war has arrived at Diem’s doorstep, along with a new discovery that could save her people. To use it, she must survive the next thirty days by forming a devil’s bargain with the people she hates most: the royal family of House Corbois.
But as she dives into the world of the Descended elite, Diem quickly realizes good and evil aren’t as simple as they seem. Old prejudices are challenged, and new loyalties blur the line between friend and foe.
Meanwhile, her mother is still missing, and the secrets she left behind can no longer be ignored—and neither can the Guardians and their demands. Caught between an old flame and a sizzling new spark, Diem must confront the truth about who she is and what she wants before time runs out.
War is coming, and dangerous enemies wait on all sides.. but the most deadly battle Diem faces may be the one for her heart.
Glow of the Everflame is the second book in The Kindred's Curse Saga, a four-book fantasy romance series. This book will appeal to fans of plot-heavy, character-driven romantasy such as A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, From Blood and Ash, Gild, Shadow & Bone, and The Serpent & the Wings of Night.
Just like Spark of the Everflame, I read Glow of the Everflame in March. I am writing my review of this book in October. That being said, I also read Spark of the Everflame right before this book and Heat of the Everflame right after this book. So the events of the series are what I remember, but which events happened in which book are harder to remember. Plus I've read some other books since that have had similar plots. I'll do my best.
Glow of the Everflame begins with Diem having just found out that she is the new Queen of Lumos. The old king died and the magic chose her as the next leader. She's learning that she must be Descended or partly. Her mother is still missing so she can't exactly ask her questions about her father. She now has the power to change things for her people, the mortals left forgotten by the Descended. But those who have been accustomed to having power or on the fringes of power aren't happy to give up with little power they've had. They will do everything they can to oust her. At the same time, Diem now sees that she must have some Descended blood of some kind or other. And that means that Descended don't necessarily need to be hated just because they are Descended. Shouldn't they be judged off their actions and not how they were born? She meets some Descended that aren't inheritantly evil. They begin to change her perception.
Luther and Diem have a hard time knowing where the other stands and what the other's motivations are. It's hard to trust given what they each have been through in their lives. Luther is definitely in a "he falls first" category. Diem is struggling with her relationship with Henri. Henri isn't reacting to her change of circumstances as well as she'd like. He wants her to use her knew powers and situation to further the rebellion, but Diem has never been as strong in her feelings towards joining the Guardians as Henri has and she's beginning to see things differently. Diem is torn in her new position between where she used to be and her understanding and where she is now.
Favorite quotes:
-“I should put all four of your heads on a pike for treason. I just assaulted the Queen, and you cowards stood there and watched me do it. The next time someone lays a hand on her and you don’t kill them where they stand, I’ll carve out your eyeballs and feed them to the [...] hounds. It doesn’t matter if it’s me or the Regent or Blessed Mother Lumnos herself. Do your [...] jobs and protect our Queen.”
-“But rest assured, my Queen, when I do kiss you, there will be no confusion. You will know that I have claimed you— and I won’t have any desire to deny it.”
-“Wait until you’re coronated,” he said finally. “Get through the Challenging, take the full authority of the Crown, then...” He let out a heavy, loaded sigh. “Then we’ll plan. If he is what you want, I’ll help you find a way.”
-“And you... if you were my friend and nothing more, what would you tell me?” His answer came without missing a beat. “That if a man made you doubt whether his love for you would survive anything, he does not deserve you.”
-“Do not mistake my support as agreement with your choices,”
I love this quote because our culture has equated support with agreement, and they simply aren't the same thing.
-“It’s not easy for me to let go when I care about someone. To watch them choose something I know will hurt them.”
-Then why does flirting with Aemonn or Taran feel harmless, but one glance from Luther and I’m swimming in shark- infested waters with a bucket of bloody chum?
-My place is with you. Wherever that leads.” His fingers curled around mine. “Whatever it costs.”
-“You’re my Queen. Everything I do is for you.”
-“Patience, my Queen.” His thumb stroked a slow trail up my spine. “The most precious rewards come from the battles most fiercely fought.”
-“You are my Queen, and I am your sword. Point me at your enemies, and watch them fall. Lead this world, Diem, and I will follow you— into war, into death, into the tundra of hell itself.” He took my palm and set it against his chest, just above the patch of unscarred skin that lay beneath his jacket. “You are the fate my heart was spared for. As long as it beats, you will never fight alone.”
-“Every person in this room wants something from you,” he said after a heavy pause. “They look at you, and they see the things they want to take. I know, because I lived it. From the moment I became heir, everyone wanted to be either my friend or my lover. When you took the Crown, I swore to be different— to serve your goals, not mine. I told myself that even if you had no one else, you would at least have me. I never wanted to become just another person who wanted to steal a piece of you for themselves.” He let out a shuddering sigh. “And I have failed. Completely, irreversibly failed. I don’t just want a piece of you— I want them all.” His thumb raked across my lower lip. “I want every breath, every laugh, every tear. Every taste of your mouth, every inch of your skin. I want to kneel at your feet, soaked in the blood of your enemies, then...
-“I want to burn alive in that fire in your eyes. I want it to melt me down and forge me into the weapon you need me to be. I want to stand by your side for the rest of my life, and I don’t need you to marry me and make me a [...] king to do it.”
-“Does your anger actually help those people, or does it make you feel righteous while the situation gets worse?”
-“Being a leader is about more than barking orders when people don’t do what you want. And how many times have I taught you that giving in to your emotions is the fastest way to lose a battle? You should know better.”
-“You make so many promises, but the only thing I ever really wanted was honesty. And it’s the one thing you still refuse to give.”
“Even good men can lose their way.”
-“...perhaps...” He paused, his gaze heavy on mine. “Perhaps, for the right person, we endure the pain, because the torture of never having them at all is the more unbearable fate.”
-...what peace could I possibly achieve with a people so unified in their hatred?
I love when books have a good transition from an original love interest into a new, better suited love interest. We grow and change, and if we're not growing together with our partner then we can grow apart. You can easily see the difference between someone who is trying to support you and your goals and someone who is determined to use you to achieve their own goals.
Glow of the Everflame is actually one of my favorite books in this series. Even though I rated it the same as Spark of the Everflame with 4 Stars, I still enjoyed this one more. I was so excited to find out what was going to happen next that I moved right into the next book in the series, Heat of the Everflame. Have you read Glow of the Everflame? What did you think? Let me know!
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