Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani – A Review by Bryony – BBNYA BLOG TOUR

Rating: 3 stars

Author: Intisar Khanani

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah, on the coast of the Red Sea. Intisar used to write grants and develop projects to address community health and infant mortality with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. She is the author of The Sunbolt Chronicles, and the Dauntless Path novels, beginning with Thorn.

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The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

I really enjoyed Sunbolt as a book that holds promise of a bigger story to come. I feel like we got a glimpse of the creatures and the land and the magic possible, and I’m excited to see where it’ll go next.

Hitomi was a resourceful main character and, although not traditionally powerful, I feel like she grew into the challenges she was faced with. I think she also became braver as the book went on.

I am interested in the side characters, such as Val and the Ghost. I feel like there are more stories waiting to be told there.

The world and setting were well developed. There’s a history to it, and a vastness we haven’t seen yet. Magic exists, but I don’t think we know how it fits.

The book was really easy to read, and the plot kept me turning the page.

I’ll be checking out the rest of the series and the author’s other books!

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I received this book to read and review as part of the 2022 BBNYA competition and the BBNYA tours organised by the TWR Tour team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest.

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner. 

If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.