This review contains spoilers for “Broken Flames.”
“Broken Flames” is a book written by MK Ahearn that is inspired by “Zutara,” a fandom ship from the television series “Avatar the Last Airbender.”
Zutara refers to a pair of characters named Zuko, a fire bender, and Katara, a water bender, who start off in the show as enemies. As “Avatar the Last Airbender” continues, the relationship between the two changes. These changes led some of the fandom to hope that the pair would end up together.
However, Zuko and Katara do not end up together in the show, which left some fans a little upset. “Broken Flames” takes Zutara as a basis and morphs this into something uniquely its own.
The book follows a water bender named Koraine, who is the daughter of a well-known general in the Morwen kingdom, and a fire bender Bellamy, who is the prince of the enemy kingdom Abelon. The two are forced into an arranged marriage to end the war between their kingdoms. However, there are sinister powers at work to end Koraine’s life before the wedding.
“Broken Flames” has a slow beginning, and the constant reminder that Bellamy and Koraine only agree to marriage for the good of their kingdoms makes it hard to get into at first. Nonetheless, the book is still magnificent.
A delightful part of the book is when Nyla, Bellamy’s younger sister, trusts Koraine early on in the book. The same could be said for Koraine’s trust in Nyla. The two of them quickly become close friends, and their relationship is charming.
Two fantastic scenes where they show their trust in each other are when Nyla introduces Koraine to her dragon and when Koraine introduces Nyla to her sea serpent. Both beasts pose a threat to the other, but neither of the ladies falter or grow fearful.
When Nyla promises not to let her dragon roast Koraine and Koraine promises not to let Nyla drown on the back of her sea serpent, the trust between these two women is clear.
Another fantastic part of the book is the plot twists. They are shocking and absolutely unpredictable. The plot twist I never saw coming is the truth surrounding the queen of Abelon’s murder.
However, the best part of the book is Koraine and Bellamy’s relationship. It is not a cookie cutter replication of Katara and Zuko’ relationship, but that is part of the reason their relationship is so great.
Also, Bellamy and Koraine are truly enemies that become lovers, and their relationship doesn’t feel forced at all. It is simply because the more time they get to know each other, the less they can see the other as the monster they originally pictured.And once that prejudice is removed, they are able to fall in love.
Both Bellamy and Koraine fight their growing feelings for each other until they can no longer deny their love, and it is simply so beautiful.
In the end, while “Broken Flames” is inspired by Zuko and Katara’s relationship, the two stories truly cannot be compared because they are not the same. They are both incredible in their own right, and I would highly recommend this book even if you aren’t a fan of Zutara.
