Bright Smoke, Cold Fire (Bright Smoke, Cold Fire, 1)

Sabriel meets Romeo and Juliet in this stunning and atmospheric novel—the first in a duology—from the author of Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound.

When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched.

The heirs of the city’s most powerful—and warring—families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou, share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on the Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan—and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die.

Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding the Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong—killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan.

Mahyanai Runajo only wants to protect her city—but she’s the only one who believes it’s in peril. In her desperate hunt for information, she accidentally pulls Juliet from the mouth of death—and finds herself bound to the bitter, angry girl. Runajo quickly discovers Juliet might be the one person who can help her recover the secret to saving Viyara.

Both pairs will find friendship where they least expect it. Both will find that Viyara holds more secrets and dangers than anyone ever expected. And outside the walls, death is waiting. . . .

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Published Sep 27, 2016

448 pages

Average rating: 5

2 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

siemelle900
Nov 28, 2025
2/10 stars
A retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in a fictional city called Viyara which is surrounded and protected by magic as the rest of the world is in death and ruin. A new thing I am trying for the New Year is not wasting my time and forcing myself to finish books I’m not enjoying and which I know will take me forever to finish because of that lack of enjoyment. I’ve decided to read around a third of a book to give it a chance and if I’m not enjoying it, I’m going to entrust my fellow readers to either show me a majority of good reviews to encourage me to finish and give me hope that it gets better or to confirm that it’s okay to set it aside and move on. The reviews on this book were just average at best as far as I can see. A lot seem to have the same problems I was having with it. This is very bland, very uninspired writing. The magic system isn’t explained very well. What is the actual source of it? Why does it require sacrifices? All in all, it just seemed convoluted. Like there was so much that wanted to be packed in but it failed to do so successfully. This probably would have been a better retelling if it had started at the actual beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s story instead of assuming we would connect with the characters and care about them right away because of the source material. Instead it starts off toward the end of the source material’s story and suffers for it. I’m sorry to those that did enjoy it! No harm meant! I’m going to give this to my used bookstore and hope it will find a home with someone who will love it!

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