Week 21 Review: Bright Smoke, Cold Fire

From Goodreads:
When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched.

The heirs of the city's most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die.

Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong—killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan.

Mahyanai Runajo just wants to protect her city—but she's the only one who believes it's in peril. In her desperate hunt for information, she accidentally pulls Juliet from the mouth of death—and finds herself bound to the bitter, angry girl. Runajo quickly discovers Juliet might be the one person who can help her recover the secret to saving Viyara.

Both pairs will find friendship where they least expect it. Both will find that Viyara holds more secrets and dangers than anyone ever expected. And outside the walls, death is waiting. . . .

Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, Bright Smoke, Cold Fire is a darkly romantic and atmospheric fantasy from acclaimed author Rosamund Hodge. 

My Review:
Yeah! I was so happy when I found Bright Smoke, Cold Fire up on Edelweiss, since it's been a year and a half since I read Crimson Bound. And I've loved both of her full length novels, and I was really excited to read this book! And it was so great!

One thing that I really enjoyed was that this was a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Except that we focused on the characters Runajo and Paris, who were Rosaline and Count Paris-though Paris was changed to be a relative of the Juliet. I think. It's been a while since I read Romeo and Juliet! Yeah. That was really awesome!

Another thing that I really loved reading about is this world of The Ruining, of Viyara the only place with the living. And that the dead rise, and necromancers, and magic, and the Juliet, who's spelled since birth to protect her clan, and exact justice and vengeance!

So I was thinking of how I could write this review without spoilers, and I came upon the thought that there were similarities to Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers. Like in the masks that they wear, the families, and that the dead are a problem! I liked that I could compare and contrast the two books!

I can't help it, so yeah, spoiler alert! There were 3 sections of this book. And at the beginning of each one, was a part of Romeo and Juliet's story, but backwards, until the last pages and it's their first infamous meeting but changed for this world. I enjoyed that so much, intertwined with the story of what happened after the traditional story in this world!

Such a joy and pleasure to read this book, I absolutely loved it, and I can't wait for the sequel!

Author: Rosamund Hodge
Series: Untitled #1
Read: May 15th, 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Love her writing, and it's a 2016 Retelling Reading Challenge, Historical Fiction 2016 Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2016 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Expected Publication: September 27th 2016

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars