
Time for another Shelf Control post, courtesy of Bookish Fantasies. Be sure to check out Lisa’s original post to read the instructions, but I’ll also put them here for you as well:
Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:
- Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
- Add your link in the comments!
- If you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
- Check out other posts, and…


Title: Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles #1)
Author: Jodi Meadows
Published: September 12, 2017
Length: 485 pages
Synopsis (via Goodreads):
Before
Mira Minkoba is the Hopebearer. Since the day she was born, she’s been told she’s special. Important. Perfect.
She’s known across the Fallen Isles not just for her beauty, but for the peace treaty named after her, an agreement which united the seven islands against their enemies on the mainland.
But Mira has never felt as perfect as everyone says. She counts compulsively. She struggles with crippling anxiety. And she’s far too interested in dragons for a girl of her station.
After
Then Mira discovers an explosive secret that challenges everything she and the Treaty stand for. Betrayed by the very people she spent her life serving, Mira is sentenced to the Pit–the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles. There, a cruel guard would do anything to discover the secret she would die to protect.
No longer beholden to those who betrayed her, Mira must learn to survive on her own and unearth the dark truths about the Fallen Isles–and herself–before her very world begins to collapse.
HOW DID I GET IT?
Bought it at Barnes and Noble when I saw it on the shelf. I mean, a gorgeous POC on the cover, and a book about dragons? Insta-buy.
WHEN DID I GET IT?
Gotta also be 2017 when it came out, or early 2018. I don’t remember.
WHY DO I WANT TO READ IT?
So at least this one isn’t gonna be like Mermaid… where it wasn’t about a real mermaid. I know this has to have dragons in it somewhere. I mean look at the cover, and the other books talk about it as well. There’s definitely dragons in this book. Plus one of the tags on Goodreads is on mental health, and I’m always looking for books that portray different mental health issues in a good way (not romanticizing them but also not pushing them to the side or vilifying someone for it, if that makes sense). I know I’ll get to this one eventually.

This one looks like I need to get on it ASAP. Who else has already read this and are you willing to let me know your thoughts? Or link me to your reviews? I’d love to know what my fellow bloggers think of this one. Until next time, my friends!

I haven’t come across this book before, but it sounds terrific! Gorgeous cover too.
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I’m obsessed with the cover! I’m hoping I get to read it or listen to it soon. I’ll definitely make it a priority for this year.
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Loved the cover, and I enjoyed the book, but then I read some other reviews. There are some people who have pointed out that the story is a little…. problematic. And I was a little ashamed that I hadn’t picked up on it… The author is white with a POC protagonist that spends a majority of her time imprisoned and trying to avoid being abused. After I realized that I was disappointed that I had enjoyed it.
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I definitely understand that. There are a lot of books out there that are problematic, but you can still enjoy. I don’t think you have to feel disappointed that you enjoyed it if it was a good story. I know I was kind of bummed to see that the author was white, only because I feel like a POC author could have written this, but I haven’t read anything from this author yet so I don’t know if I’ll like her work.
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I personally didn’t like this one and haven’t touched the rest of the series.
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Aww bummer! Did you post a review on it? I’d love to see what you didn’t like about it.
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I didn’t! It was before I got into blogging.
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Oh okay, makes sense. I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about it so I’m kind of wary, but if I do end up reading it, at least I can say I tried.
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