Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie

Sonya was born with the rare gift to feel what those around her feel—both physically and emotionally—a gift she’s kept hidden from the empire for seventeen long years. After a reckless mistake wipes out all the other girls with similar abilities, Sonya is hauled off to the palace and forced to serve the emperor as his sovereign Auraseer.

Tasked with sensing the intentions of would-be assassins, Sonya is under constant pressure to protect the emperor. But Sonya’s power is untamed and reckless, and she can’t always decipher when other people’s impulses end and her own begin. In a palace full of warring emotions and looming darkness, Sonya fears that the biggest danger to the empire may be herself.

As she struggles to wrangle her abilities, Sonya seeks refuge in her tenuous alliances with the charming-yet-volatile Emperor Valko and his idealistic younger brother, Anton, the crown prince. But when threats of revolution pit the two brothers against each other, Sonya must choose which brother to trust—and which to betray.



Rating: 1/5 Stars


“So much life had been snuffed out while I slept without dreaming. While a stranger died beside me. So much death and destruction.

All because of me.”

This is our main character, Sonya, she’s an Auraseer which means she can feel what other people around her feel. For some reason, that makes her a bloody idiot.

 It’s winter and people are starving, but the place where Sonya and other Auraseers live is well kept thanks to the food and money granted by the King to keep his assets well maintained. So, when an angry mob of starving villagers come at the door of their house to demand food (And let’s face it, they don’t care whether that food is a girl or grain) Sonya will do the stupidest thing ever and let herself be control by the hunger of the villagers, lock up all Auraseers in a tower and open the gate so they can kill and eat all of the girls inside. Of course, Sonya doesn’t see it that way. I mean, she was being nice! And the others Auraseers were, like, such assholes! Always wanting her to train to control her emotions! And even though it is her lack of discipline that gets them all killed, they made our main character feel bad, so why shouldn’t she take pleasure in their panic?

 "Cries rang out from the other side as the girls rammed their fists against the barricade. I smiled. They deserved to panic for all the spitefulness they’d doled on me.”

 Oh, but that’s not all! Because the girls are not eaten by an angry mob! Nope! The villagers leave before she gets to the gate because they are chased out by a pack of hungry wolves. So what does Sonya do? She tries to get the wolves inside the house and eat all the girls!!!! They are hungry, after all! But… no, the wolves leave after the villagers and Sonya is devastated that she couldn’t help them.

 

Wait a minute! What’s that thing moving in the shadows? Oh, it’s a crazy man! Of course Sonya lets him inside the house! And once again she’ll let herself by controlled by emotions, try to warm up the starving man… and accidentally set him on fire.

 I kid you not, she actually sets him on fire. And in his panic to escape this bloody idiot save himself, he runs away and sets the entire house on fire, killing all the poor Auraseers Sonya had trapped inside.

 I could continue describing more scenes where Sonya stupidly puts herself, and the Kingdom in danger, but I’d like to preserve what little brain cells I have left. Besides the complete and utter idiocy of this main character, there is virtually no plot. As the last Auraseer alive, Sonya has to go and serve the brooding, ill-tempered and handsome King whom she’ll develop feelings for. But wait! There is also his brother, the handsome, ill-tempered and brooding Prince!... or was it the other way around? Meh, who cares? They are both the same and just as boring as the love triangle the book takes as its main plot.

 Before it was published, I was dying to get my hands on this book. But when reviews started to come saying it might not be all that I had expected, I decided to wait until today I finally started it. Needless to say it was a great disappointment. I recommend it to people who don’t mind dumb heroines who have no agency, and an annoying love triangle.