Book Review :: A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan
ISBN: 0063399997
on 24 September 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads

Dragons are extinct. Witches are outcast. Magic is dying.
But human lust for power is immortal.

Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous…especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it's her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. Her only friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard...though sometimes she thinks he wants more than friendship.

When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, descends on her home, Tamsyn’s world becomes even more dangerous. To save the pampered princesses from a fate worse than death, she is commanded to don a veil and marry the brutal warrior. She agrees to the deception even though it means leaving Stig, and the only life she’s ever known, behind.

The wedding night begins with unexpected passion—and ends in near violence when her trickery is exposed. Rather than start a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his bride...but can he accept the dark secrets she harbors—secrets buried so deep even she doesn’t know they exist? For Tamsyn is more than a royal whipping girl, more than the false wife of a man who now sees her as his enemy. And when those secrets emerge, they will ignite a flame bright enough to burn the entire kingdom to the bone.

Magic is not dead...it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.

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What is A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan about?

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan is about a world where dragons are gone, witches are shunned, and magic has all but faded out.

Tamsyn has grown up in the royal palace, raised alongside the princesses but treated as the lowest rung of the household ladder. Her job – and it’s a grim one – is to take punishment for the princesses’ mistakes. Not quite family, not quite servant. She belongs nowhere, except maybe beside Stig, the Captain of the Guard, who might just want more than friendship.

Then Fell shows up. He’s the so-called Beast of the Borderlands, and he’s come to claim a bride. To protect the princesses, Tamsyn is sent in their place – veiled, deceiving, and completely alone. She goes along with it, even knowing it means leaving Stig and everything she knows behind.

The wedding night doesn’t go well. When her deception is exposed, things nearly turn violent – but rather than spark a war, Fell accepts Tamsyn as his wife. What he can’t quite accept is her. And she’s hiding things even she doesn’t fully understand yet.

Tamsyn isn’t just a royal stand-in; she’s carrying secrets so buried they haven’t surfaced yet. But when they do, the whole kingdom is going to feel it. Magic isn’t dead. It’s been waiting. And it’s been waiting for her. 👀

My thoughts on A Fire in the Sky

A Fire in the Sky was a fun, short read. I actually got it in my Bookgrocer Advent Box in 2025, and picked it up after reading a few long books and wanting something short.

There were definitely things I liked and things I really didn’t in this book – probably the reason for the straight-down-the-middle rating ha – but for the most part, I enjoyed reading it.

I do think the first two-thirds were better than the final third, I think, and if you have the copy I have, then the main spoiler for the story is blatantly obvious in the cute little design in the bottom right, where you can flick the pages really fast and see a girl running and turning into something. While it was cute, it was also the very first thing I did when I saw it was there, and it immediately told me everything I needed to know about the book.

“I don’t know which is more treacherous. Humans or love. In the end, both will fail you.”

It was fast-paced (which many shorter books need to be to fit everything in), which I enjoyed, and it had me reading this book in just a few days. The concept was an interesting one, where our main character, Tamsyn (I’m not stoked about that name for some reason??) is a whipping girl, punished for the misdeeds of her ‘sisters’.

There’s an Author’s Note at the back of the book telling us a little bit more about whipping boys and girls – apparently, they’re a bit of a debate among historians. But Jordan took the idea and used it for A Fire in the Sky. And I thought it was a strong start to a series.

If you’re looking for a short fantasy Young Adult read with some fun elements and decent characters, then perhaps give A Fire in the Sky a go.

There are two more books in this series, and while I did enjoy this one overall, I don’t think I’ll pick up the others.

Have you read A Fire in the Sky? What did you think?