Review: Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Name: Spark of the Everflame
Series: Kindred’s Curse #1
Author: Penn Cole
Publisher: Self Published
Format: Kindle (through Kindle Unlimited)
Genres: Adult (I believe!), Fantasy, Romance
Spice Rating: 🌶️Glimpses & Kisses

Rating:

Synopsis: Goodreads
In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.

Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.

With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind.

Review:

I have been apprehensive about this book since it got added to my 12 Books to read in 2025 list, because I just kept seeing pretty negative things about the FMC… Well, it turns out I didn’t need to worry about it, because I love Diem. And after that cliffhanger, I’m going to be meeting Diem again much faster than I think I originally thought I would be!

We follow Diem Bellatour, a healer mortal with unusual grey eyes and a sufferer of hallucinations (so she thinks). Her mother goes missing at the start of the book, and so she takes up the healing job and continues to search for her mother though six months pass with no new information and no leads. I adored her dedication to figuring out what happened, but also wanting to protect her younger brother and help keep their family life somewhat normal.

But of course, it’s a fantasy, so that didn’t go to plan. Diem gets torn between the Descended – the offspring of the Gods – and the rebellion alliance, and it’s quickly proving she doesn’t have all the information she needs to make a decision that she’s comfortable with. But she keeps trying, in a desperate attempt to be doing the right thing by her oath as a healer, by her family and her people!

I am hoping for more expansion on the world building and magical rules – we’ve currently only gotten tidbits of information and I want to know more! So, fingers crossed that we get more of that as we go on throughout the series.

I really enjoyed this story, and the characters! Penn Cole has got me well and truly hooked by the promise of a slow burn (I hope that Luther is end game!) and an excellent story that has kept me guessing.

I had theories building up as a result of the two different versions of Luther we were getting, plus the missing mum and suspicious rebellion group… and the ending that we got through all of those theories out. I’ve still got a couple that haven’t been completely debunked by the reveals at the end of the book… So, I am very excited to see where book two goes!

“Survive, my father’s words echoed in my ears. At whatever cost, to whatever end. Survive first, mind the consequences later.”

Reading With Tyler