Great idea, boring plot and naive protagonist ....
2.25 ¿¿Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole follows Diem, a young woman living in Mortal City, a place where ordinary humans reside while the powerful descendants of the gods¿known as Descendents¿rule the surrounding regions. Each region is tied to a different god, and its inhabitants inherit magical abilities connected to that divine lineage. Descendents are often recognizable by their pale hair and light eyes, traits that Diem strangely shares despite believing she is fully mortal. The story begins when Diem witnesses her mother secretly meeting a mysterious man. Soon afterward, her mother disappears without explanation. The man turns out to be Prince Luther, one of the Descendents who rule over the world and oppress ordinary mortals, pulling Diem into a much larger conflict involving magic, political tension, and an emerging rebellion.Unfortunately, I found the book surprisingly dull for most of its length. Very little truly exciting or consequential seems to happen until the very end, which made the reading experience feel slow and often frustrating. The pacing drags, and although the story hints at many intriguing developments, it rarely follows through on them in a satisfying way. Instead, it often feels like a long build-up without enough payoff along the way.The protagonist, Diem, also made it difficult for me to stay engaged. She often comes across as overly naive, sometimes to the point of being irritating. There are several moments where things are quite obvious to the reader, yet she either fails to understand them or actively pushes the truth aside. This tendency made her decisions feel frustrating rather than sympathetic. I also struggled to connect with Henri, her current boyfriend, who is part of the rebel group known as the Guardians and seeks revenge against the Descendents. From the beginning, he felt somewhat unlikeable to me, which made it harder to care about his role in the story.What makes this disappointment especially frustrating is that the worldbuilding and magic system are genuinely interesting and feel quite unique. The concept of different regions ruled by the descendants of specific gods¿with powers tied to those divine lineages¿is a fascinating foundation for a fantasy series. The contrast between Mortal City and the lands of the Descendents also creates an intriguing social and political dynamic, especially as tensions rise and the threat of civil war grows.The romance between Diem and Prince Luther is meant to be an extreme slow-burn storyline, and technically it is exactly that. I usually enjoy slow-burn romances, but here the problem is that almost nothing happens in the broader plot either. When both the main story and the romance develop at such a slow pace, the narrative can start to feel stagnant. Some kind of emotional or plot progression would have helped maintain momentum.The ending does deliver a surprising plot twist, and for the first time the story becomes genuinely exciting. However, while the twist is strong, it does not fully make up for the long and often tedious journey leading up to it. A good twist can enhance a story, but it cannot completely compensate for hundreds of pages where very little happens.This makes the book particularly disappointing for me because I had very high hopes for the series. The premise, the world, and the magical system all had so much potential. In the end, I am left unsure whether I want to continue with the second book. The slow pacing and Diem's frustrating naivety make me hesitant, even though the final twist suggests that the story might finally become more compelling in the next installment.
