Book Review: Ember Eternal by Chloe Neill
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Burner Kindle!
Ember Eternal by Chloe Neill
Published: November 25, 2025
Series: Souls Burn Brightest #1
Genres: Adult // Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Open Door)
Quick Thoughts: I really wanted to love Ember Eternal since romantasy mysteries are my favorite, but it just fell flat. The characters had no personality, the world-building was vague, and the pacing dragged for most of the book. There are so many better books out there if you're looking for an engaging read.
Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
-
Violence
Blood
Death of Parent
-
Hidden/Secret Identities
Chosen One FMCs
Royal Court Settings
Murder Mysteries
What is Ember Eternal About?
A new romantasy, following a thief whose dramatic encounter with an assassin and a crown bodyguard (who has dangerous secrets to keep) launches her into a world of swirling palace intrigue, from New York Times bestselling author Chloe Neill.
Fox is a thief with morals—she steals from those who can afford it and takes only a little at that. But she has no choice. Fox and her closest companion are indentured servants to an unscrupulous wealthy woman in the stronghold. Unable to pay off their debts with the work they’re given, they steal in the hopes of one day being free—truly free.
While searching for an easy mark, Fox identifies a would-be assassin with her rare magical ability, and then helps a royal bodyguard fend off his vicious attack on the prince. Soon that good deed embroils her in a vast and shimmering world of imperial politics, long-lost magic, and improbable romance. But Fox longs for freedom, and must decide if love is its own kind of cage.
Ember Eternal Review
After reading The Jasad Heir, I wanted to read something engaging but not as dense. In comes Ember Eternal, a story about a thief who accidentally gets entangled with a crown bodyguard, who happens to be a prince in disguise, while they hunt down a mysterious, magical assassin. Romantasies that are also mysteries are my favorite types of books, so I found the premise really appealing.
Unfortunately, this one was not for me. It took a bit to put my finger on why exactly I found this so lackluster, and I think it’s because there's nothing distinct or memorable about the story, the characters, or the setting.
The characters had absolutely no personalities and their backstories were pretty vague and generic. Our FMC Fox is a servant and thief with no family and no memories of where she came from. Though her lack of memories gets explained near the end of the book, in the meantime, she was devoid of personality, motivations, growth, and a backstory. For me, there needs to be at least one of those things to grasp onto as a reader to stay interested in what happens. The prince is much the same – all we know is that he's different and nice, but we don't know why. There just wasn't enough for me to be invested in either of them.
The world-building was also bare-bones and forgettable, which made it really hard to understand the stakes. The kingdom has tension between the royals and working class, but the emperor’s cruelty is just alluded to heavily – we're not shown it.
This same "tell, don't show" problem pops up again with the romance. The class differences are used to create an enemies-to-lovers/forbidden love dynamic, but it fell flat for the same reason. Our FMC didn't want to get together with the prince because he's royalty and she’s not, but the reason doesn't get deeper than that. When they finally got together, it was strange because they never really talked through their issues enough for them to feel resolved.
And don't get me started on the pacing. The first 30% was interesting, but it then flatlined until about 70% of the way through the book. Admittedly, interesting new stakes are introduced at the end, which makes me a tiny bit more hopeful that the sequel might be stronger. However, there was so much idle time in the plot that I still wouldn’t recommend Ember Eternal.
Overall, if you're looking for an easy, engaging read, there are so many better books out there. This one was just too generic, flat, and missed a lot of details that would have brought this story to life.
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
Ember Eternal FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
-
No, I don't think so. While the premise sounded right up my alley – a romantasy mystery about a thief and a disguised prince hunting down a magical assassin – the execution just wasn't there. The characters were flat with no real personalities, the world-building was vague, and the pacing dragged hard from about 30% to 70% of the book. There are way better romantasy books out there that do everything this one tried to do, but better.
The ending introduced some potentially interesting stakes for the sequel, but that wasn't enough to make up for how generic and forgettable the rest of the book was.
-
The romance is an attempt of enemies-to-lovers but it really fall flat. I feel like Fox and Nik are "enemies” because of class differences and not actual hatred. The tension also gets resolved pretty quickly.
-
I’d rate this a 3🌶️, which is open door. That means we’re present for spice scenes but the descriptions are vague and not in explicit detail.
-
There is some spice and some steamy scenes in Ember Eternal. Chapters with kissing, etc. but no spice are marked with a 🫑. Chapters with spice are marked with a 🌶️.
Chapter 24 🫑
Chapter 31 🌶️
-
It's the first book in a series. As of the publishing of this post, the sequel has not been announced yet.