Of Earth and Flame

The Ithenmyr Chronicles, Book 1

By: Elayna R. Gallea

Narrated by: Amanda Dolan

She refuses to be bound to anyone. He's trying to find freedom.

Aileana is the king's pet. She has lived her entire life in a tower, waiting for the day she will be forced to marry his son. When that day arrives, she has a plan. Armed with her daggers and desire for freedom, she runs from the king and his deadly power.

Xander has spent his entire life on the run. He doesn't need anyone or anything, certainly not a mate. But when his path crosses with a feisty elf, nothing will ever be the same again.

He has secrets to keep. She wants to leave Ithenmyr behind and not look back. Fate has other plans for them both.

This Rapunzel retelling is a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers, high fantasy romance filled with banter, fated mates, fake marriage, and world-building. Of Earth and Flame is book one in The Ithenmyr Chronicles, which ends in a series HEA. For mature listeners.

©2022 Elayna R. Gallea (P)2024 Podium Audio

meh.

good plot overall, but:
✨️predictable
✨️bad grammar
✨️not the greatest voice acting
✨️VERY cringy MC names (like seriously, quit trying so hard to be "yüneeq" with your names)

The magic system and mythical creatures were pretty great, though.

A refreshing listen

I really enjoyed the character building in this book. Rapunzel is my favorite princess so when I saw a book series with a similar beginning, I knew I had to jump into it.

Loved this book

I loved this book! Couldn’t put it down. The narrator was great and I can’t wait to read the next book

Interesting Rapunzel Retelling!

loved the fantasy twist to the Rapunzel story. Aileana and Xander's journey was fun and intense at some points, I didn't want to stop reading. There is some violence throughout, so be aware if that bothers you. This is perfect for young adults. There is not really any spice, just a couple steamy moments.

one of the most annoying/unlikable FMC ever

seriously she was so ridiculously inconsistent and overly obstinate. I could not stand how mean she was to him for NO REASON!!! The underlying "fake marriage" was silly and made no sense once they had passed through the one town where it may have been needed. Not to mention the "banter" was more sibling childishness than sexual tension and I don't know how anyone didn't question this "marriage " especially the one who magically knew who she was basically at first meeting. Honestly can't remember the last time I disliked a FMC so much as this one I rarely DNF something but was very tempted to on this one and now that it is finished not sure I care to continue the story.

Good narration

There was Zero spice, highly predictable plot line. Quality narration but poor depth. Would
Love to see some actual sexual tension between characters and more character development

Writing could use development

The story idea and plot are decent, even refreshingly new, and some characters and parts are pretty good, but the writer needs to work on her craft a bit more.

No complaints about the performance.

The MFC is inconsistent and not all that likable, TBH. The MMC’s voice (language not performance) in conversations seems realistic while the MFC’s voice (language not performance) is all over the place. If it weren’t for the fated mate aspect of this story, I don’t know why he would ever be with her. (Not a spoiler: She wants him to open up but then when he’s about to, she won’t shut up! Over and over! I wanted to scream at her.)

More MFC character development earlier in the story would have helped explain what she did and didn’t know about the world. Instead, the author drops in an explanation every time she suddenly knows something or not, like the author is making it up as she writes, rather than knowing her character from the beginning. Letting the author know she had a tutor from the beginning of the book, instead of dropping that in a third of the way in, would have made more sense. (Not a spoiler: It actually seemed from the beginning that she had NOT had a tutor. Also, the guard teaching her to fight and living, while the tutor was killed for teaching her history, seems inconsistent.)

There is also a lack of other characters (very few and very brief interactions).

Then there is the actual writing that needed editing. Although no obvious grammatical errors, it is the repetitive bits, which get worse as the book goes, like she was running out of energy or time to edit correctly. How many ways can you write the same concluding sentence of the book, just reordering the words without the saying anything new? Five? I was just thankful it was over.

Luckily the ending isn’t as much of a cliffhanger as unfinished business, so I’m fine with reading this as a standalone. I wouldn’t pay for the next book. This one wasn’t really worth a credit. Maybe a <$7 sale or freebie.

very obvious plot

it was annoying how obvious things happened and how mean she was to him even though he did nothing wrong. Very forced enemy to lover but no real reason to have been enemies to begin with.