‘Ignite’ is two-parts novel and one-part poetry.

By Ella Smith

As an avid fan of Kara Swanson’s debut duology, “Dust” and “Shadow,” I was excited to dive into her latest release, “Ignite.” “Ignite” is the first in a fantasy series centering around a world with a dying sun where phoenix blood is the only source of warmth. The central character, Mara, is a phoenix tasked with protecting her family against human hunters. However, it is soon revealed that Mara can trust nothing of what she’s been told about her world. 

Character development was undoubtedly the highlight of this book. Mara had a strong voice and her character realization as the story progressed was the main reason I kept reading. Headspace, even in a first-person point of view can be a challenge and Swanson did an excellent job of keeping you invested in how Mara sees the world.

I am not always a fan of first-person perspective because it limits what I am able to understand about the world and it makes a fantasy world in particular difficult to show the readers. You could see some of those struggles as the book progressed but it did a generally good job of leaning into that element of first person. Mara’s confusion about the world around her drives the plot forward rather than slows it down. The tone was almost indistinguishable from Mara’s headspace which made sense since the book focused almost entirely on her character growth and character realization.

I do wish some of the other characters like Eli and his family were more fleshed out. I wouldn’t want to distract from the main conflict but fleshing them out could have led to some really interesting subplots. That being said, I could see the embers of some of those subplots and I am excited to see how they could develop in the next book. 

One area that I did feel was a bit of a weak point was the plot. I’m an avid fan of a strong and structured plot and “Ignite” definitely leaned into a more character-centric plot that only had one central goal and obstacle. I didn’t entirely dislike the simplicity of it though. In a lot of ways, it gave the readers more room to enjoy the prose and character.

However, I still think there was more room to develop some subplots and allow the characters to interact more throughout the book. I would have especially liked to see Mara and Eli’s relationship have more build-up. It was still enjoyable but their interactions didn’t carry a lot of weight. If done carefully it could enhance the theme rather than take away from it. 

My favorite part of the book was undoubtedly the theme. It caught me off guard at first because I assumed the book would be more about Mara either saving her family or finding out where she came from. Instead, the book was more about disillusionment, complex family relationships, and trauma. It was a lot heavier than I was expecting and seeing it all so immersed in Mara’s headspace was an interesting approach.

It was a much more sobering book than I was expecting but seeing Mara slowly unravel her past and identity was heartwarming. The prose and style of writing also played a big role in this.

I don’t typically ponder prose a lot when writing reviews or even thinking about books. But Swanson’s prose felt almost a step away from poetry and was something that seemed to play into the theme and character a lot.

The book almost felt like reading an expanded poem. Descriptions were heavily sensory-oriented and often seemed to allude and hint at something other than what was written. Occasionally that made it difficult to read because the book was very abstract at times and you had to search to find the concrete details of what was going on in a scene.

However, I do think the abstractness helped the themes and heavier topics come across in a way that was appropriately weighty and still tempered to not be overly gory or distractingly disturbing. 

Looking back on the whole novel I think the best way to describe it is that it’s two-parts novel and one-part poetic prose. It had all the elements of a novel but the focus was more on Mara’s reflection, introspection and ultimately realization. I look forward to reading the next book and seeing how the plot and characters will progress.

“Ignite” by Kara Swanson is available wherever books are sold.

Ella Smith is a junior Professional Writing and Information Design student as well as a writer for Cedars. She enjoys a stack of good books, leatherbound journals and a cup of tea (with lots of honey.)

Image courtesy of Enclave Publishing.