Burn Her They Said

by Cherish Wright

Imperial Grand Witch Tasch, born the strongest in emotional influencing magic during a time of great environmental changes, is one of the few known Anomalies of Ampara Deicra. Wielding power the Emperor covets, he entraps her to manage his moods under threat to those she cares about most. In recognition of her value, the Emperor assigns five Anomalies to protect her unique abilities–each one the sorcerer strongest in their magical form. Guards who ally with Tasch to one day free every citizen, with the aid of their bonded Dragons.

One sorcerer changes everything.

Varic’s magic surpasses Tasch’s Lead Guard, angering the Emperor who hides him away in the Imperial Army, where Varic is commanded to strengthen his magic beyond his control, resulting in the worst magical catastrophe in history. Emperor Aldritch sends Tasch to rehabilitate Varic, believing her magic alone can heal him. They forge a strong connection away from the Emperor’s direct command, and fall in love, which aids in Varic’s healing. A love so forbidden, the consequences of it being discovered are unlivable.

Oppression forms unbreakable bonds.

Attacks from bordering lands increase, requiring resources the Emperor hoards. Fearing the worst, Emperor Aldritch appoints Varic over Tasch’s Guards. Varic’s presence is so disarming, it proves impossible for them to hide their feelings—and the signs her magic is fading. All when the citizens demand the Emperor name an heir, while he chooses to believe the Imperial Grand Philosopher is on the cusp of discovering the answer to immortality.

In a land where Dragons are revered like Gods, a witch and her Guards must risk it all.

Dragonfall meets A Discovery of Witches in this dark fantasy, forbidden romance between Imperial Grand Witch Tasch whose magic is fading, and Varic, the sorcerer she saved years earlier who is bound and determined to return the favor. Family, power, and magic collide in the first of this series as the race to save Tasch and the citizens becomes ever more dire.

Genres: Fantasy Romance, Fantasy

Kindle Edition

Expected publication July 24, 2026

Reviews

[Selene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Ok for starters this baby is THICK but even so it doesn’t drag. Dragons, witches, sorcerers a ruler you wanna throat punch me a really endearing slow burn romance. The writing feels like a high fantasy. The idea of sharing and taking emotions was really unique and the world building was superbly done, it’s similar vibes to game of thrones and I’m really looking forward to book two. Thanks to Cherish for my copy!

[Laura Krause · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite not enjoying this novel, I would like to thank the author for providing me with an ARC for the purposes of this review. The core of this novel was set up for me to love and I truly think there is potential for a great story here. We are just so far from it in the current stage.

I have no idea, how this book was SO LONG, yet practically nothing happened. 75% of this book is our gorup of main characters sitting in a room together, yearning for each other, and not understanding each other's feelings despite having a character who is actively reading everyone's emotions 24/7 and imbuing them with her own emotions so there can be no mistaking how she feels. Not to mention they literally write their feelings down on paper in plain words, use terms that call each other "my heart, my soul," yet still down to the very last chapter are constantly wondering if those around them feel the way they do or are acting out of love rather than a different emotion. I understand that the characters are meant to be neurodivergent-coded, and a common trait amongst many neurodivergent people is having a hard time interpreting emotion/body language, etc. BUT IT IS LITERALLY WRITTEN DOWN FOR THEM, THEY CAN FEEL EACH OTHER'S EMOTIONS IN REAL TIME AND ARE CONSTANTLY SENDING EACH OTHER THEIR EMOTIONS IN REAL TIME, AND STILL SOMEHOW ARE DOUBTING/MISINTERPRETING??? It drove me up the wall.

I could probably write an essay on all the things that tempted me to DNF this book (and would have if it hadn't been provided as an ARC), but I will try and be succinct (unlike this novel).

Issue 1 - I love yearning, I ADORE a good yearn and a slow burn, but that is all this book is. There is no build or growth to the yearning as well. Our characters hit the soulmate status immediately and stay there the whole book. It feels like the author is trying to stoke the sexual tension when they desperately want to touch but can't but this only works for so long, not for LITERALLY the entire novel. We finally get one kiss as the LITERAL LAST SENTENCE OF THE BOOK, but just the sentence saying it finally happened. We don't even get the catharsis as a reader of getting to know how the characters finally felt and reacted to this long awaited kiss (literally hundreds of pages).

Issue 2 - I'm dying for a plot. There are attempted plot threads in the background of the romance(?) happening for 90% of the book, but often they are introduced and then either dropped on the floor or used as a means to an end with no explanation how they occurred. For example, and probably my biggest pet peeve of this book, early on (like 10-15% in), a plot point is started where our FMC has manipulated a General into bringing her this super secret mystical book which is somehow important to help them bring down this corrupt empire. How? Why? What's in this book? Where did he even get it from? couldn't tell you. This apparently does not matter as really this meeting was just a tool to put the characters in a certain place at a certain time so an important death could happen. They then hide this book because it is TOO IMPORTANT for the Emperor to know they have it, and they hide it somewhere we already know it is practically inaccessible and will never come up again. This book doesn't come back up again until literally 80% (or maybe even 85) through the book. I literally made a note saying "Oh so we DO remember this plot thread." And yes, the author remembers it, but still does nothing with it. The book comes back into the picture, and by the end of the novel I STILL don't know what's in it, why they got it, where they got it, what the plan is to use it for.

Issue 3 - The author seems to have a way of writing that aritificially extends every scene. Once a thought is expressed, most of the time it has to be expressed 2-3 more ways afterward. Nothing new is added, we are just re-hashing what was just said with different words. Often these also felt like sentence fragments.

Issue 4 - Somewhat related to the previous point, at a line level this book still needs so many edits. Halfway through reading (and after sending my own notes for line-level edits to the author since an email was provided to do so), the author uploaded a revised copy claiming that the initial one sent out had incorrectly applied her editor's notes. Once I started reading this revised copy, the frequency of the text issues was definitely lower but still frequent enough to truly get on my nerves. The only reason for this was because of the author's note. The note mentions this book has not been proofread yet (so I expected to find the occasional error) but has been through a few rounds of edits so far including a copy editor.

Issue 5 - The ever-changing and inconsistent magic system. At first explanation I ADORED the way magic worked and it is a very powerful metaphor for all the emotional labour expected of women and the burden most of us carry. However the way magic was categorized was just straight-up incorrect. "Force magic" was absolutely the wrong name, the "telekinetics" were also doing telepathy for the first third of the book so that had me confused as heck, and just a medley of other minor issues that brought down what could have been a great system.

Issue 6 - The absolute hypocrisy and controlling nature of the MMC/main love interest. One of the first things he does that endears our FMC to him is stick up for her when someone is trying to limit her agency/remove her ability to consent. He does this many times throughout the novel and one of his main missions is to supposedly help restore the agency she hasn't had since she was a child. But then multiple times in the book he ignores her consent and treats her like a material possession. For example there are two instants (if I remember correctly) where he is grabbing her arm, borderline painfully, and she is asking him to let go and he refuses. Yet he becomes borderline murderous if anyone else does the same thing. Make it make sense.

Last but not least, the repetition. If I had played a drinking game for every time the phrase "his impossibly bright brown eyes" was written, I would have been a frequent visitor to the hospital. If I never read those words again it will be too soon.

[Grem Reeds · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ARC was freely provided to me by the author - thank you!

My enjoyment of the IDEA of this gets around a 4.5 star. The execution bumped it to a 3.25.
Don’t get me wrong - I liked Burn Her They Said. I spent fourteen and a half hours reading it, and I’ll be watching for the next in the series.

⭐⭐⭐ (3.25)

I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a conflicting read before. The following are all true, in my experience: BHTS is a good story. The messages behind it are both brutal and beautiful, and so needed. The story did not need to be even half as long as it was. The writing isn’t bad, but most sentences could have been wrapped up in a quarter of the amount of words, without losing any meaning. Some parts are repetitive, painfully so. The plot was - not bad. But with everything else taking so long between the overly wordy writing, and the pacing of scenes, I often found myself forgetting what the point was? Other than the Romance? The word “slog” came to mind multiple times while reading. The first time at 6%, which is painful af to realize. 😅

That sounds awful. I know it does. I STILL liked this, though. Not even as a guilty pleasure, or ‘junk food,’ it’s just GOOD. If the writing had been more condensed while being as expressive as it was (ik I’m a huge hypocrite as a rambler, but I’m a reviewer lmao) this would have easily been one of my highest rated reads. I think some readers will HATE it, some will devour it and savor the slow pace, while more still - like me - are kinda in the middle. Don’t love it, but it doesn’t completely overshadow our enjoyment of the story.

It’s got a pretty interesting plot for a foundation; the world and magic are interesting. My first impression was that it was a deeply misogynistic culture, militarized, with fraught politics. I wasn’t wrong, and Wright knocks it out of the park with the first two. As for the politics, I’m a bit torn. We get a good setup with Tasch’s Empire, but when we eventually see a differing culture on the Continent, it seems - like a flat wash of “Good” versus the Empire’s obvious Evil. I expected more nuance there, and there may be - we didn’t spend much time there in book one, and I have reason to believe our group will revisit soon.

I do have quite a few reservations that I had as BIG issues in the book, but I think (expect) Wright to touch on each later in the series. Like how dystopic Tasch and her Guards’ lives are. She does, but her Guards never sleep: the harm on their bodies are healed, and the harm on their minds from not - y’know - RESTING are also healed… by way of taking the emotions away? Or something. I wasn’t super clear on that.

Speaking of, the magic system has great bones. As it’s presented in the first half or so of the book is pretty simplistic, but not bad. As we get deeper into the story, more comes to light that really fleshes it out and makes it way more interesting - but as of the end of this book, we don’t actually get any answers. Looking back in my reading log, not a SINGLE thing I questioned was answered clearly.

Or, like, any answers at all. We finish on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. On one hand, I loved it. It was beautiful. On the other… I expected more of the story to be wrapped up? We got plenty of “ooh, the plot thickens” moments throughout the book, but at the end none of them were really… There were few developments, everything still hanging over Tasch and her Guards’ heads. I guess I’m just used to a different cadence in storytelling? I didn’t hate it, but it still felt odd and a bit unfulfilling.

ALL THAT SAID… This is very much an eldest daughters’ story, and while I no longer consider myself a daughter, oof. If an Atlas personality, parentification, and/or enmeshment sound familiar - well. There’s a reason. That is Tasch’s every day, and has been since childhood. Her story is absolutely brutal, horrifying, and especially gut wrenching when you, as a reader, go - oh, that reminds me of… Like, this book made me write down notes to bring up with my therapist. 😂

I have so much more to say about this story, and I may come back to ramble more, but for now, I have it end it here. What a fuckin' story, I'm so glad Wright is sharing it with us.


Please keep in mind that although ARCs don't often change much, if at all, before publishing: it is possible, and this review is based on pre-released content. Burn Her they Said has a planned publication date of July 24, 2026!

[the bookish syd]

thank you to the author for providing me with an arc!

unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me, and i ended up dnfing at 12% (around 120 pages).

i really wanted to like this book, but i ran into several issues that made it difficult to continue. first and foremost… why is this book so long? at 120 pages in, it felt like almost nothing had happened. the pacing was incredibly slow, and i couldn’t convince myself to push through another 800+ pages hoping things would eventually pick up.

i also struggled with the writing style. there were multiple times where i had to reread sentences because they felt unnecessarily complicated. the word choices/phrasing often felt overly elaborate, and some sentences seemed more concerned with sounding poetic than actually communicating what was happening. not every sentence needs to be beautifully lyrical, and at times it made the reading experience frustrating rather than immersive.

another issue was how confusing the story felt from the very beginning. i constantly felt like i had been dropped into a world i was already supposed to understand. events, terminology, and character interactions were presented with very little context, leaving me unsure of what was actually happening for much of the first 100 pages.

the sentence structure didn’t help either. some sentences went on forever.. at one point, an entire paragraph on my kindle was a single sentence. combined with scenes that felt unnecessarily drawn out despite very little happening, the book became a chore to get through and i didn’t want to pick it up.

and if i ever read the phrase “my being” again, it’ll be too soon. there has to be another way to say that phrase.

overall, i think this book needed stronger editing, a clearer setup, and more direction early on. the premise had potential, but the execution left me confused, disconnected, and ultimately unwilling to continue.

[Krista Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A will they wont they romance that burns in the slowest but yet best way, especially since it’s a guard x the person they’re sworn to protect romance.

Tasch has spent her life under the emperor’s thumb as his prized witch since her power over emotion was discovered as a child. She spends her days trying to placate his more violent emotions and keep her kingdom safe. But when one of her high guards life is lost after an attempt to assassinate her, he is to be replaced by another powerful sorcerer who she has a past of feelings for. Against her wishes, he takes the oath, bonds a dragon and becomes the leader of her guards. Now forced to be around the man she cares for every day, it becomes hard to hide her true feelings and continue to keep up her loyalty for her emperor who continues to force her to do his bidding, all while expanding his empire and searching for immortality.

I always enjoy a guard romance and especially one where they had a history before hand. I enjoyed all the flashbacks to previous interactions and also the internal monologue the FMC had that really showed how much she is struggling with all she’s endured under this emperor. Dragons are my favorite so also getting that aspect along with some awesome magic and found family of those guards meant to protect her, this book had a lot of my favorite tropes. I cannot wait to see how this storyline will continue to unfold, especially with a few reveals at the end and what will be next for this group of guards and Tasch. My rating 4.3/5!

Thanks to the author for the gifted copy, all opinions given are my own!

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The more I find the opportunity to touch her, the more contact I want. The more I breathe her in, the more I want every breath I take to be made of her scent. And that's just it - I need her. Not shwat she does, but who she is, and why, and how."

Varic is an anomaly discovered after he destroys a compound and is then trained by the Imperial Witch Tasch. They have an instant connection that they try to hide for years, as Tasch is owned by the Emperor, but once Varic is placed in her Imperial Guard, there is no hiding their bond and attraction. Tasch continues to siphon emotions for the evil Emperor as he plots to gain more power, and Varic and her other imperial guards must stand by and watch her continue to weaken, even as they try to protect her and plot a way out from under his thumb. With the aid of their dragons, they end up planning an escape amidst a devastating attack on the palace.

There's only one word to describe this book: YEARNING! And so much of it. She's CHONKY, over 1200 pages. This would probably have been a four-star book for me if it weren't so long. There's a LONG time in the castle after Varic becomes her guard, and it details each day of traveling to Annovia, really not necessary.

What I liked: Unique magic, the anomalies all have their own, but some can have multiple even though it's illegal. The yearning, the dragons, Tasch's other guards are very found family.

What I didn't like: No way this needed to be over 1200 pages.

[Jessica Kostrab · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to be on the ARC team for Burn Her They Said. I wish Cherish all the best in their journey as a published author and all thier future books!

This book is a solid 2 stars for me. Please note that just because this book wasn't for me doesn't mean it's not for other readers.

I love the premise and the idea behind the characters. In fact, I love how the characters were described. I love that it gives high fantasy vibes, like LOTR meets When The Moon Hatched in terms of writing style. I love the forbidden, almost fated feeling, romance between gaurd and ward. I love the magic system. It is an ambitious story with great promise.

But where this book got me was in that it was dry. Each time I read a chapter, I hoped for something to happen to grab my attention, and it didn't. It was really repetitive. There were several opportunities for our FMC and her party to just seize control and head towards the happy ending... and yet we got more repition of the same old same old.

I also feel like the description of the relationship between the FMC and MMC in the promotional material was not what we got in the book. I walked away from this book wondering where this relationship was because what we got was underwhelming.

I also found that this book was too long. I never drag through books like i did through this. This story could have benefitted from being two separate books instead of being nearly 1000 pages and 90 chapters.

[Reading . Current · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you for the ARC to both Cherish Wright and WhimsyWordsPR,

I love that we have a pronunciation guide at the start of the book though of I'm being honest I pronounced it the way my brain assumed and only changed the names to their suitable pronunciations after. 

Emperor Eldritch is eternally furious and is immediately established as cruel. The main example of this is that one must address each other by their given title then their name which if negated would lead to execution on the Emperor's orders. I will say that the emperor prides himself on 'owning' the highest magical power which is the Imperial Grand Witch, Tasch and when he find out that a teen boy has more power than her, he enlists Varic in the armed forces at the front line. Of course this leads us to see the emotional damage both Tasch and Varic have endured at the hands of the emperor. 

Our protagonists as a result of the emperor are in need of constant reassurance which can be repetitive but I understand it's essential to the story.

I do appreciate that thw protagonists are navigating love in their  thirties as we have a time jump that leads to  Tasch who must decide whether to keep serving the throne or risk everything for the people she loves, including the one person she was never supposed to fall for.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for me.
Imperial Grand Witch Tasch with a great power is used more and more by the Emperor.With her Guards she sees freedom but it's near imposible as the Emperor owns them and there seem no way out.When Varic join as the lead Guard there's connection betwen him and Tasch they formed before and now it's harder to stay away from the person that is everythig for her,but the Emperor don't let Tasch have any relationship.Forbbiden love and fight for survival it's only a beginning.Will Tasch ever be free?

It was a interesting and unique plot with magic and Guards that are very protective yet a slave's all the same for Emperor.I liked the characters and my heart breakes for Tasch and the way she was used and tortured for her magic.I liked the world building and the emotional parts of the story.It ws a very clean ands low burn romance,I think in second book we may get more of it. While I liked the story for me it as unnesseary to long,and I was hoping that at least someone will put Emperor in his place.That being said I really want to now what will happen now.My first book by this author and hope to read more.

Thank you auhtor and Whimsy words PR for arc,my review is honest and my own.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cloaked as a body guard romantasy, Burn Her is really a look into what happens when everything that makes us unique is held captive by a narcissist.
Tasch is a witch with an ability to exert power over others emotions. She’s held captive and this power is abused by the emperor, who takes her all over and uses her to keep everyone in his empire in line.
Tasch is thus forced to hurt and threaten complete strangers, while the emperor abuses her to the point of near death on a nightly basis. All while keeping her surrounded by a group of sorcerers who act as her guards.
This is a very over simplification of a really complex and heavy story.
I really enjoyed reading it and l frankly have been in a bit of a book hangover since I finished!
The story is complex but enjoyable and thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the next part of Tasch and Varic’s journey.
“We do this for them”

[Miss E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story took me about a week to read in dribs and drabs and anyone who knows me is aware even a chonky boy is a 2 day max usually but i struggled to flow with this sadly.

I do not want this to put anyone else off because the bones of the story are fab, there are so many elements we know and love from our beloved fantasy reads and i imagine this will become a fast favourite with many i just felt it was very ‘wordy’ for the amount of story we have.

The emperor angered me with his narcissistic nature but our FMC i did really feel a connection with and i would read more from this world and story however i would struggle if the next instalment was as lengthy a read.

If a person wants a slow burn forbidden romance with magic, dragons and great & hugely intricate world building then this is the book to try.

‘You’re worth it,even when you’re acting as stubborn as a dragon. It is an honour to call you my friend.’

[Ashley (andtheniwasbookish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was fascinating.

The push and pull of SO MUCH YEARNING kept me reading. Our characters have already been through so much by the time that we meet them, and then they keep going through it throughout the book.

It's definitely a story where resilience, strength, and overcoming evil is front and center.

I really enjoyed Tasch and her entire guard. Their little found family is so endearing that I'd read a book with just their banter going back and forth. I want to know everything about everyone in that group, and I look forward to getting to see more of these characters in book 2.

I really liked that we KNOW who our villain is from the beginning. And WOW does he make it easy to hate him.

I'm invested in this series and look forward to book 2.

Overall: recommend
Spice: no spice

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good for a first book are you KIDDING ME?!??! This was long (about 1k pages) but literally every chapter held my interest, and that’s very rare for my adhd brain lmao. I loved the concept of Tasch’s magic and the mental health and neurodivergent representation in this. The love between her and all her guards, not just Varic, felt so genuine that even I love them all 😭. If you liked the emotion magic of empire of flame and thorns, the dragons of fourth wing, and the Stockholm Syndrome of gild (don’t hate me for this one, I’ll change this once I find a better word for it lmfao), this is definitely up your alley. And lastly, F THE EMPEROR.
Thank you to the nerd fam and the author for the arc!!

[Angela Hankins Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW - given of my own free will in exchange for a digital copy of this book.

I absolutely devoured this book. Is it a chonky book? Yep. Did I care? Not even a little. 😂

The writing had me completely hooked, and I struggled to put it down. Watching Tasch navigate everything thrown at her alongside her guards was such an emotional journey. And don’t even get me started on the tension and connection between Tasch and Varic… the slow build had me glued to the pages.

More than anything, though, my heart broke for Tasch. Everything she’s been through made her feel so real. Her story is a reminder that we never truly know what someone else is carrying behind the scenes. Sometimes people hold it together until they simply can’t anymore.

This was an easy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me!

[Ashley Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I have mixed feelings about this book, I was really excited reading the excerpt and how it was a metaphor for the mental load of a woman. The magic system is so interesting and different from what I’ve read so far. But I think the book was a bit too long, the story could benefit with more brevity. I do appreciate the angst and yearning, but it didn’t seem to develop and build into something greater. I think we deserved more for all the work we put in reading this beast of a book.

Thank you so much to the author, Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book to read!

[Vanessasbooksta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew! At 991 pages- this book is a beast!!

There’s gothic angst, slow burn, yearning. world building, dragons and witches!

its heavy themes are handed with incredible care, including disability, mental health, and chronic illness rep (including hEDS and CPTSD).

It is a cathartic and emotionally intense read with main characters in their 30s fighting an oppressive system. 🎉

🌎 World building
🚫 Forbidden bodyguard romance
🐉 One bed AND one Dragon
🩹 Emotional & physical wound tending
🚪 Closed door- with slow burn

[Sonica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a captivating dark fantasy book that blends political intrigue, powerful magic, dragons and a compelling forbidden romance.

The relationship between Tasch and Varic develops from healing and mutual understanding. This book is an engaging blend of epic fantasy and forbidden romance, with a unique magical system, rich worldbuilding and themes of loyalty, sacrifice and freedom.

Perfect for readers who enjoy slow burn romances woven into larger political narratives.

[Victoria Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this!! This was so fun! I'm a sucker for a bodyguard trope but seeing it done in a romantasy area was as amazing as I'd hoped. So much tension, I can't explain enough how perfectly done it was. I also loved the dark gothic world building and the magic system (the part emotions play - very interesting). I'm so excited for book 2!!

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is high quality fantasy. When I seen how many pages it has I was in my element because I love a good long thick book. And this one truly feels like every word is needed. Some characters I loved and others I wanted to punch. With witches and my favourite dragons the romance is slow building. It isn't hard to get into and I am excited for the next book.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up

This is a THICK book, but goodness I love the characters in this so much! Tasch and Varic have my heart in a chokehold with the yearning, and this is 900+ pages of a slow burn for sure. The side characters are endearing as well. And ofc what’s a good fantasy without dragons? Absolutely cannot wait to see what’s next in this series.

🫑

[De Rijdende Boekenwurm]

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