Review: Burning Bright by Megan Derr

Burning Bright (The Lost Gods #2) by Megan Derr
Less Than Three Press
Novel
5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Nine gods ruled the world until the ultimate betrayal resulted in their destruction. Now, the world is dying, and only by restoring the Lost Gods can it be saved.

In the land of Pozhar, the people fear the return of Zhar Ptitsa, the god of souls and rebirth who nearly destroyed them nine hundred years ago in a terrible rage. To prevent his rebirth, the people hunt down and sacrifice Vessels, those born with a piece of Zhar Ptitsa's soul within them.

The Sacred Texts say that one thousand such Vessels will be born and all must be sacrificed to destroy Zhar Ptitsa once and for all. Now, only two pieces remain in the bodies of two thieves who will not go to the Flames without a fight.


Review:

Megan Derr has done it again with a wonderful and exciting read. The second book in The Lost Gods series takes to the streets of Pohzar and introduces us to its fire children. For many centuries, they have been making sacrifices in order to finally rid themselves of the god Zhar Ptitsa so he will not come back and burn the country to ruins. Seems Zhar Ptitsa souls was scattered to a 1000 vessels, and so 998 vessels have been sacrificed and now only two remain. Priest Dym is in charge of the daunting task of hunting and removing the vessels and with only two vessels remaining his anticipation is high but also his trepidation.

Raz and Pechal are thieves and they are best, a couple of street rats whose only dream is to make enough money to one day own a home with a garden. Seems their small dream will never come to completion when Pechal becomes sick and it becomes clear that he is the next vessel. Raz will not give up his friend easily, and is willing to got to the gallows if it guarantees that Pechal will remain alive. When both boys are cornered by the hunting party, two things become clear that Raz is the last vessel and he is more Zhar Ptitsa than those before him. A history becomes known that both Priest Dym and Raz share. Seems Raz isn’t just some street rat after all.

The storylines and characters are so intertwined, that when it all comes together you will do a *fist pump*. I am just so impressed by how the author pulls it off; the entirety of the plot just comes together effortlessly. The characters are so wonderfully diverse, and you will just be rooting for all of them; they provided me with such merriment (ha, I wrote merriment).

I was a bit put out in the story and found myself a blubbering mess when certain things happened. I found myself cursing Priest Dym to Hades and back, but as the story progressed my heart when out to him. He is by far the most depressing character that carries such a huge weight on his shoulder. So kudos to the author for sharing background on Dym’s life because otherwise he would have just been the bad guy with no redeeming qualities.

The story is not a romance but it does contain romantic themes, and gives you enough sweetness to make you smile. It really is an action packed, adventure fantasy story with such awesmazing world building. I thought I couldn’t fall in love with this series anymore after reading Treasure, and folks I was very wrong. The Lost Gods is gonna be spectacular, and I am saying this after only reading the first two books.

I was surprised by many happenings in the book, and I always like to keep things spoiler free but I will say this ‘a happy ending was for all’. Loved how everything came together and left me satisfied and anticipatory for the next book.

If you are looking for an adventure story filled with twists, turns, and intrigue. Then I would recommend this wonderful series. There is just so much to love, even without sexy naked time (I wanted sexy naked time T_T) Yep, I love this book.

5 Pants Off