Hey everyone! Today is my stop at the blog tour of Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz. Thanks to Hear Our Voices Book Tours for having me in this tour.
Book title: Blazewrath Games
Publication date: October 6, 2020
Author: Amparo Ortiz
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Pages: 368
How I got the book: Sent for Review; the publisher provided me an ARC in exchange of my honest review.
Synopsis
Experience the World Cup with dragons in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which riders and their steeds compete in an international sports tournament.
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.
But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.
Review
Are you ready for my fangirling?! OMG, this book... this book is just AMAZEBALLS AMAZING! This is the debut novel of Amparo Ortiz and I just can't wait for more. Seeing a Puerto Rican main character in a book made my whole year! Blazewrath Games is one of my favorite books; and I'm talking about top 3, ok? Enough with the fangirling and let's get to the details. I was really excited to read this book because of the boricua Lana Torres, but also because of the dragons. Who doesn't love dragons? (No, honestly, who doesn't love dragons because I'm going to revoke you my friendship card). I even asked Ann Jewelry Collection to make me some dragon earrings inspired in Blazewrath Games. Just in case, I'm not obsessed with dragons, although this post may show you otherwise. (My real obsession are mermaids).
Photo by Ann Jewelry Collection
Anyway, this book is pure magic and I love it! Wait until you meet the Sol de Noche Dragons... and the rest of the dragons as well! You are probably going to fall in love with all of them. And the Sire? Wow, such a great character development. I love hating him, you know? I hold Lana near my heart because of the struggles with her identity; I felt instantly drawn to her. Blazewrath Games have a lot of characters! For me, that was a little difficult. But it is something you can work through. One of my favorite things, besides the dragons, was the relationship between Lana and Samira. It made me think of my relationship with my friend, Andrea Carolina; we are always joking around! So yeah, the fun relationship between them was so relatable.
I think I haven't read a YA fantasy novel with such a perfect world building as Blazewrath Games. I was able to see and imagine everything on my mind! Actually, can we get a Blazewrath Games movie, please? Also, I loved the presence of a lot of cultures. Especially everything about team Puerto Rico and all the little details, like the Puerto Rican flag, their pride, and the musical instruments (like we always do cheering our teams!). I felt I was there chanting with the rest of the Puerto Ricans!
Team Puerto Rico all the way!!! ¡Yo soy boricua, pa' que tú lo sepas!
I admire Amparo Ortiz because her writing style is so SO good. The details in every page were gracefully crafted. If this book sounds like something you would enjoy, be sure to add it to you TBR!
Have you read it yet? Let me know so we can talk about it ;)Amparo Ortiz' interview
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
First of all, thank you so much for participating in the tour and for reading BWG!! As for me, hi! My name is Amparo and I'm an author living in Puerto Rico. I currently teach ESL to college students, but I was almost a clinical psychologist, then I was almost a lawyer. I'm very happy with how things worked out, lol.
What inspired you to write BLAZEWRATH GAMES?
DRAGONS. I wanted to write something with the most badass mythical creature known in the fantasy genre. I just wanted to make it Puerto Rican. And to center its existence around a magical sport. It took many years to flesh out the sport, its rules, and how my main character fit into this specific story. Trial and error times a thousand, lol. But seeing someone who shares my cultural heritage in some capacity in a fantasy novel was what drove me to keep going.
As a Boricua, I got really excited (and I'm still fangirling) with this book because it has a Puerto Rican main character. What can you tell us about the importance of representation in books?
It's crucial. I can't tell you how touched I've felt whenever readers tell me they saw themselves in Lana, or in other characters/aspects of the book. And this book has been on shelves for about two weeks. I can't imagine the kind of hunger there was for stories such as this. I certainly needed this story growing up, so I write it instead of waiting for someone else to do so. Zero regrets.
How did Sol de Noche dragons came to life in your imagination? Tell us about the creative process.
I knew my dragons were going to have black scales simply because black is my favorite color. I also knew they could set their bodies on fire, and they were the only species that's capable of doing so! But that was pretty much all I knew. It wasn't until I started drafting that everything became clearer regarding how their magic would evolve and how they would use it on the Blazewrath field. Any scene with a Sol de Noche is such a joy to write. I dare say nothing will ever bring me that much happiness as a writer.
Who is your favorite character and why?
NO FAIR.
But also let's pretend I have two favorites, since Lana--my main character--would obviously win. I also adore writing anything with her best friend, Samira! She's just funny and ambitious and hopeful in a way that Lana never could be. That contrast between them was so lovely to explore for me.
And just for fun, name 5 random facts about you.
1) I am a Capricorn Sun, a Libra Moon, and a Scorpio Rising.
2) I don't know how to ride a bike!
3) My BTS biases are Jin and Jungkook.
4) I've traveled to 16 countries.
5) I once stood behind Chris Evans for about five or six minutes and never plucked up the courage to talk to him.
Ok, this was fun! Thank you so much for your time, Amparo! It was a pleasure having you on my blog.
More about the author
Amparo Ortiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and currently lives on the island’s northeastern coast. Her short story comic, “What Remains in The Dark,” appears in the Eisner Award-winning anthology PUERTO RICO STRONG (Lion Forge, 2018), and SAVING CHUPIE, her middle grade graphic novel, comes out with HarperCollins in Winter 2022. She holds an M.A. in English and a B.A. in Psychology from the UPR’s Río Piedras campus. When she’s not teaching ESL to her college students, she’s teaching herself Korean, devouring as much young adult fiction as she can, and writing about Latinx characters in worlds both contemporary and fantastical. Her debut novel, BLAZEWRATH GAMES, hits shelves on October 6, 2020 from Page Street Kids.
Again, thanks to Hear Our Voices Book Tours and Page Street Kids for this wonderful opportunity!
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