I remember that I really enjoyed this! and I was super invested in this novel. It's a cute romance of different classes and some straight up loyal as fuck friends. ( )

This book was overall good and alright, in a sense. So, Before She Ignites is the first book in the Fallen Isles Trilogy written by Jodi Meadows, best known for the Incarnate Trilogy, Orphan Queen Duology, and one of the three co-authors behind The Lady Janies series.

The story follows Mira Minkoba, who gets sent down to the Pit for something that she was involved in that involved her own treaty, The Mira Treaty, and that's the main general gist of the story.

So, Mira does spend a good majority of the book inside of the Pit, but she does get out about 300 pages in, then heads back in again. But the thing about the Pit is that she learns throughout her time in the Pit. From meeting Aaru and Chenda to dealing with Altan, she also meets with Tirta, and has to deal with her anxiety, which is a major factor throughout the book and one that I enjoyed.

Mira dealing with anxiety and things such as panic attacks with the situation that she's in feels real, and Meadows doesn't write it in a way that it's romanticized or taken as a joke, it's a very real and overall good portrayal of anxiety.

Now, the biggest issues that I had with this was the fact that there was no map in the book, and there was a lot of complex worldbuilding. It's a book that was a lot for me to take in, since it's kind of hard to imagine the locations, so the book not having a map did make it a bit hard for me to follow, but I can understand as to why there isn't one in the book, due to the fact that Mira spends a majority of her time in the Pit.

The other thing I will say is how things happen at the last minute or even earlier on than expected, like how the whole thing with Tirta telling Mira that she's part of the Luminary Council didn't happen until close to the very end, or Altan talking to Mira about her secret and the whole thing surrounding the Algotti Empire and the Treaty. And for a book about dragons, there's talk about the dragons, but not a whole lot of dragons appear throughout the book. It's mainly Kelsine, some dragons when Mira escapes, as well as LaLa and Crystal, but considering how the dragons were being shipped off, it also makes sense as to why there was more talk about the dragons rather than having the dragons appear.

Now, the last moments of the book got me: Mira has flames all around her and burns, then she collapses. Aaru's glad that Mira's alive and he explains to her that the others ran and her friend took them. Mira notices the cell around her in ruins, and a small crater formed around her and Aaru. Mira takes Aaru out from their cell to freedom. Ilina and Hristo hug Mira, glad to see that she's alive. Mira asks Hristo if Gerel, Chenda, and Kelsine got out alive, and Hristo says that they have, with Gerel and Chenda getting supplied and Kelsine waiting outside. Hristo tells Mira that Altan is still alive, since he saw him get out with twenty warriors. Mira and the other leave the Put and sees LaLa, with Ilina holding Crystal. Mira plans to use her voice, power, and knowledge.

Overall, for the first book, it was both good and okay. This is definitely going to be the last book that I'm closing off with to end 2021, and starting As She Ascends into 2022. Needless to say, I can't wait to see how the rest of the story with Mira, Aaru, Ilina, Hristo, and the others unfold, as well as the dragons and the rest of the world throughout too. ( )

pre-read: I found out that this has dragons in the story and I had to add it to my priority-TBR

3.5 stars

This was great, and dragon-y and intense! I loved the world, and the dragons, and the characters!
Mira had such great friends, and it was SO nice to see both a positive female/female friendship, as well as a female/male friendship that was just that. A friendship.

The romance was also wonderful, it was adorable, and I shipped it SO hard, and it was super slow burn. To be honest, it was so slow burn that I'm quite sure whether it even counts as romance yet... Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, they didn't even kiss. But I ship it REALLY HARD, so it's romance. That works, right?

Then there was dragons. DRAGONS! I love dragons! And there was an adorable baby dragon! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Unfortunately though, this book was VERY slow. Almost the entire book took place in a prison, and I was a bit bored. Like seriously, DO SOMETHING ALREADY! It didn't bother me too much, but it was definitely the reason this book didn't get that last star.

Overall, this book was quite good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I have high hopes for the next book. I do, however, think I need to accept the fact that I'm probably never going to enjoy another Jodi Meadows book quite as much as the Orphan Queen. Which is sad, because I adored that series, and I know that Jodi Meadows is capable of more than this. ( )

I was really looking forward to reading this book but just never got around to it so when the sequel Before she Ascends was announced I was like okay let's read this before you jump on buying the sequel. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed. I felt the main character was very weak and had the "what do we do now?" Quality I don't like in female leads. I did really like the representation of anxiety and how overwhelming it is and how it affects even the simplest of tasks. I will still be reading the sequel but I do not have high hopes. ( )