Feathers of Ash and Hope by K. J. Altair – Book Review
Book Details
Feathers of Ash and Hope by K. J. Altair
Series: Flameborn #1
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Published by: Edwyn Publishing on June 6, 2025
Goodreads rating: 4.21/5
My rating: 5/5
Some lies protect, others destroy, and when forbidden desire sparks, they can be your downfall…
Feathers of Ash and Hope is a dual POV slow burn fantasy romance set in a Roman Empire-inspired world—where magic is power, secrets are deadly, and giant birds rule the skies.
Blurb
Ara’s curse is a death sentence—one that could doom her entire family. Joining the Skyrider Academy, bonding with a mystical bird, and earning magic is her only hope… if she fails, she dies, and if her identity is exposed, her family falls, too.
Lying, deceiving, and bending the rules are all part of her plan. Running into her childhood crush and catching the eye of her dark, scarred, and beautiful centurion… is not.
Tate joined the Skyriders to climb the ranks and settle a debt—in blood. His past taught him to keep everyone at arm’s length, and he has neither the patience nor the intention to deal with a reckless recruit who seems to have missed the basics of self-preservation.
But he can’t keep his eyes off her either, and trouble follows wherever she goes. Staying away becomes continuously harder… until he can’t help but tug on those secrets swirling behind her eyes.
When enemies rise and forbidden attraction sizzles, choices of who or what to trust become nearly impossible. Loving him could be her ruin. Letting her go may be his.
Slow-burn romance, military academy, hidden identity, magic, secrets, forbidden romance, dual POV, found family, banter, magical creatures, high stakes.
My Review
I absolutely devoured this book!
Feathers of Ash and Hope is the first book in a new romantasy series and follows the story of Ara and her time at the Skyrider Academy. Ara is “cursed” which puts not only herself but her whole family in danger and sees joining the military academy, bonding with a mystical bird and earning magic as her only way forward.
Of course she enrolls without her families knowledge, so in order to not stand out in a male dominated academy and hide her true identity, she disguises herself as a boy.
Ara is such a fun FMC. She’s feisty, sassy and full of life with a wicked sense of humour, the complete opposite of our brooding and mysterious MMC, Tate. Both characters have secrets and flaws which only makes them more relatable and while this book focuses a lot on Ara, we do also get a glimpse into Tate’s past.
The book is written in the first person with dual POV so you get both sides of the story. It’s fast paced, action packed and full of banter and tension (definitely a slow-burn in every sense of the word). The writing style felt a little stilted in the beginning and some parts of the story were a bit vague but once everything came together, I couldn’t put it down.
And that ending?! I CANNOT wait for the next book.
Humor is my way of dealing with things, and angry people are simply hilarious.
Happy reading x
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.