Literary Analysis: Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Hope you enjoy my Romance Novel Literary Analysis series!

To kick us off, we are starting with Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews and the topic of Social Privilege vs. Social Responsibility. (There are SO MANY spoilers ahead, so be ye warned.)

[ilonaandrews]

Thank you so much for reading the book. It is so kind of you to discuss it. I really appreciate it.

[texemo]

Being married to a rugged military man I find the men in Ilona Andrews stories relatable 😄 A common issue I have with other men in books is how soft or teenage girlie they seem. I have read & listened to all the Andrews books dozens of times. Do I like books with over controling, over emotional men? Heck no! But books with men who will remove bad guys & not bat an eye...absolutely.

[Nobody-shpu]

YESSSS i HIGHLY recommend the Hidden Legacy series. i love the story, the FL (Nevada) and ML (Connor) both as individual characters and as a pair (badass battle couple) . i also love all the side characters, even the antagonists to an extent. the magic system isnt too uncommon, but it was depicted in a way that you can see the power difference between all chars and still feel balanced

+FL has agency and shapes the story rather than having things happen to her
+ML falls first and falls harder
+the Baylor family has one of THE BEST family chemistry ive ever read in fantasy romance

[sorryman]

One note is that the serum was distributed to *everyone* who would take it. It also was not something that made stable individuals so it wasn't the wealthy alone who took it. Those who had more stable powers were the ones who then were elevated to the status of magical nobility.

[Hrafnskald]

Great review, always fun to find another member of the Book Devouring Horde :)
One of the things I love about House Andrews is how they never fall into the trap of equating Power and Goodness. They have heroes and heroines of all levels of power and wealth, and they consistently show that one can be powerful and ethical. Also, I'm a sucker for Found Families, and Nevada's growing group of family (many of who are not related biologically) are a great example of this trope done well.

[hchiu]

Nevada's family is amazing and i love this series. The Book Devouring Horde is crossing their fingers for Arabella's trilogy!

[mariamizhys]

I am biased when it comes to Ilona Andrews, I adore teir books. I would love to seean analysis of Innkeepers "Sweep in Peace " and its approach to different cultures and the conflict between said cultures and what can one fo to create peace. It feels oddly relevant now

[chelleyroberts]

I love this series. Love Kate Daniels, too, but of all their series I think Hidden Legacy has the most adaptability if they were to go film. Setting is basically modern day with a twist, so settings shouldn’t be hard to do and it would be familiar enough for those who don’t know it can follow along.

[soren]

2: Recovering from Exploitation. (Also, on future pieces, you may want to sticky a post at the top of the comments specifically for voting, so you won't have to scroll through the entire thing just to take a tally.

[lieslfeldman]

I'm a strong fan of Team Andrews. All their books explore what happens when there are great power imbalances. They also work through many different "family" type issues. There are parents and siblings and friends. Gray characters abound in their worlds and the actions scenes can be quite exciting to read.

I think breaking cycles of violence is a very appropriate theme given the ongoing battle with Hamas and Israel. It seems hopeless but it's potentially easier to see both sides and possible solutions when fantasy removes it from our world and makes it less real.

[katendress]

Honestly I'm going back and forth between which one I want next but I want this ENTIRE series, analysis is so much more interesting than simply ranting.

[maryhughes]

I’m a massive Ilona Andrews fan- one of the BDH. I also love romance novels. I don’t consider this a romance. It’s an urban fantasy with a strong romantic subplot. The reason is: you can effectively describe the plot without mentioning the romance, as you did in this video.
This is definitely one of my favorite IA books, and I love Nevada and Rogan’s relationship and chemistry, but I don’t think it qualifies as a romance novel.
Obviously, this point is up for debate. It’s still an active discussion among fans.

[rayevarney]

I came here for the book and just realized you are Book Goblin! I love your content!

[shanividal]

That was so good! Please make longer vids like this one! I know it is time consuming from your end but I love hearing your analysis. I wish they were longer❤

[Nerdygoddess]

2. Recovering from Exploitation
I know a woman that went through a Villain Origin Story level breakup. Never wants to date again, but heard me and my boss talking about romance novels. She likes how we were talking about them, but couldn't get through ACOTAR. That she can remember. Bonus points if its modern sapphic not in the male gaze.

Willing to accept other recs.

[theredmushroomproductions]

Thank you for the video. This is one of my favorite book series. I have listened to many times. These stories do have often been poo'd on b/c it is labeled as a romance novel. But they do have underlying serious missed b/c people only sees the romance. My fave line is " When you see me, I'm the boss." I liked this book b/c it was a series in which the heroine had a family, multiple members, she didn't have go out and find one. Not to say she didn't get more friends, who became family. Also Pancakes is Mad Rogan's best friend.

[mediabunny]

So happy you decided to spotlight an Ilona Andrews book, esp Hidden Legacy, which doesn't get so much recommended in the fantasy realm since they are more romance than some of their other books (and probably because of the horrible old covers)!

I agree with the other commenter that the title of the video is a bit misleading, tho - l think if you put the book title in the video title, that would make it clear that it's the analysis of a particular book rather than a particular theme. (With the current title l would expect more emphasis on the theme rather than the plot of the book, and maybe references to other books and how they deal with that theme, compare and contrast, etc).

Look forward to the next video!

[marlene]

Omg omg omg omg this is my fav books. 😍 I feel like no one ever talks about this series

[sylvanaire]

Aside from the initial kidnapping, this is my favorite of Ilona Andrews’ books. I hope you’re not too harsh with them, lol. 😉

Phew! So glad you like the book. Not that I need you to like the book so that I can still like it but I enjoy sharing things. I enjoy with other people.

I think Connor kidnapping Nevada and chaining her to the floor in his basement is a little problematic, lol. But she holds her own and doesn’t give him the information he wants so despite initial appearances, the power imbalance isn’t that great. And she shows him throughout the rest of the book that she can keep up with him & be his equal.

The politics of this world is a little strange. You have all these primes who could wreak havoc on those who are less talented magically and yet there’s not much of that. Pierce seems to be an outlier. I suppose the Houses must be afraid that if they’re too blatant in their displays of power, the non-magical will rise up like what happened in the French revolution, lol. Still, it’s a fun world that I enjoy visiting time & time again. 😊

P.S. I’d be interested in choices 1 or 2. The last one makes my belly squirmy. 🤷‍♀️

[ValarMorghulis]

The Hidden series was my introduction to IA and I’m hooked to their writing style. This is my personal favorite series by the authors and secondly the Innkeeper Chronicles. But ALL of their series are good.

Ps. Kate is fabulous as well.