2025-05-03
Hitomi is on the run again in this third installment of the Sunbolt Chronicles quartet.
Marked by binding magic that restricts her power, she journeys across the desert toward the mythical Burnt Lands to fulfill a long-standing debt to the phoenix—a powerful, enigmatic being who has saved her life more than once. Hitomi’s rare gift—the ability to unravel spells—may be the only hope for healing a landscape torn apart by ancient curses. But she’s on more than a mission of repayment; she deepens her bond with the phoenix and immerses herself in the culture of the desert people. With Huda and her siblings, Hitomi finds kinship, trust, and the stirrings of a sense of home, though not yet fully belonging. She’s still being sought by the High Council and rogue hunters, and the desert offers a rare and fragile safety—a place where she begins to claim her history even as new attachments threaten her freedom. Khanani’s seamless integration of new characters, ideas, and adventures attests to her skillful storytelling. The balancing of Hitomi’s desire for family and belonging with the need to protect herself from getting hurt makes her struggles and triumphs easily relatable. The narrative builds on the series’ legacy with sharpened urgency, textured worldbuilding, and a pace that never loses its footing. Rosero’s elegant chapter headings and the Tahir sisters’ full-page illustrations add to the sense of place.
The emotional depth, hard-won hope, and absorbing storytelling will grip readers.(Fantasy. 13-18)
