Review: Firelight

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Genre: YA

My rating:  4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Says: 


A hidden truth. 
Mortal enemies. 
Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki, a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

3.5-4.0 Stars

Upon finishing the book I was at a 4 star rating but as I slept on it I think it’s more of a 3.5 star rating but I keep going back and forth on it. Such is life.

The fact that this YA was about dragons or descendants of dragons gave me enough of a reason to want to read it. The fact that I have the final book in the trilogy motivated me to bump it up on the dreaded TBR list.

I liked:

1. Sophie Jordan’s writing style. She knows how to put together words that will place you in the middle of a very mystical place with very real dangers lurking about. From page 1 she set the tone for the rest of the book. I often found myself thinking this would make a great movie because it played in my head just like one.

2. The concept of the Draki, a mystical people who are descendants of dragons. The lore is intriguing and you can’t help to want to learn more about it. LOVED IT.

3. Jacinda- She’s a 16 year old who might be having problems adjusting in the human world but knows who she is as a Draki. She’s comfortable in her own skin and isn’t afraid to stand up for who/what she is. I really liked her and could relate to her struggles.

4. Will- 18 year old Draki Hunter who falls for Jacinda in both forms. He’s a very likable character. He’s not like his family and has his own issues with them. He’s forced to go hunting but doesn’t really agree with it. He went from trying to understand Jacinda with an open mind to being accepting of Jacinda… Yeah, I likes him.

5. The forbidden love aspect of this story.

6. The ending. A very very very good ending. Yes, it’s a cliffhanger. Yes, I hate cliffhangers. Yes, I already started the next book.

I did not like:

1. Jacinda is in constant turmoil over Will. Understandable. He’s a hunter after all. She was warring against the connection they felt and the obvious, that he could end up killing her. Although I was understanding of all this I found the repetitive warring a bit much. I just don’t like books that constantly repeat things word for word every 10 pages or so. We get it… we don’t forget… honestly, we don’t.

2. Jacinda never told her mother or Tamra that Will was a hunter. Ok, I get it. You don’t want to tell them that you’re falling for a hunter. Ok. Jacinda didn’t mention that they were living near hunters at all. There were a crap load of them all over the place. (Not saying anything is not realistic even in a non-realistic place.)

3. My biggest issue with this book is that you don’t really get much of the Draki lore. I would have loved to get more information on them. The author also mentions another species called the Enkros but we don’t get much on them either.

4. Come to think of it… there are a lot of loose ends. A LOT. Don’t like this at all. (They are all spoilers so I can’t mention them. Sorry.)

Overall, I liked the book. I did. It has a lot of elements that can make it a spectacular series and I’m hoping the next two installments make it happen.