REVIEW : FIRELIGHT

 Firelight by Sophie Jordan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret. Good Reads




Ahhh! Dragon's! From the beautiful cover, positive blogger buzz,and my personal love of Dragon books buying Firelight was a given. :)


THE GOOD


The book has a dramatic opening sequence. Jacinda and her best friend Azure are breaking the rules, having some fun in their dragon forms. We learn a lot about the clan Jacinda is a part of: It's restrictive rules, her status in the clan. Cassian. We also are immediately introduced to the hunters. They are well equipped and always on the lookout always ready for the kill. Trapped, her fear keeping her from returning to human form Jacinda is trapped in a cave as a human comes to hunt her.


Here we meet Will a young boy who is mesmerised by her dragon form and who lets her live by not reporting her presence to the other hunters.


Jacinda's act of rebellion has stronger repercussions than she expected. Soon she and her twin sister Tamara are escaping from the pride and Jacinda's heritage.
Jacinda's mother relocates the family to a small important in the desert town of Chaparral. It is here that the pace of the book slows and we really get a sense of what Jacinda is facing.

THE BETTER


Once the family reaches Chaparral the pace of the novel slows. It seems deliberate on Sophie's part. I love Sophie's vision of the Dragons. That they are tied to the earth: to clear waters, deep green grass and woods. I really love the connection she makes with the dragons connections to jewels. Creatures of the earth of course they would resonate with gems,the purest manifestation of Earth itself! :) Since the death of her husband Jacinda's mother has let her dragon "die" and Jacinda's sister Tamara has never manifested as a Draki.

This isolation from her pride's home causes Jacinda to loose touch with her Draki's powers. Sophie does such a great job at portraying Jacinda's angst. I felt her pain as she wonders why who she is is not ok with  her mother.  Her  fight to keep her Draki  alive is almost overshadowed with guilt. How can she take risks that hurt her mother and sister who are now experiencing the normal life they have always wanted?    A reunion with Will and their subsequent romance feeds a passion in her that helps her Draki stay alive. She risks everything being with Will because he is the hunter she met in her Draki form, the pride of his hunting family due to his amazing tracking abilities.

Jacinda is pulled in so many directions: wanting to make her mother and sister happy, trying to remain Draki, and bargaining with Cassian to not give away their location to the pride. Will also has a dark secret that has the potential to tear the two of them apart.


THIS ONE THING: The only problem I had with this book is the ending, I definitely am on board with reading future installments of Jacinda's adventures but the ending seemed a little rushed and the action seemed forced. I know this is a problem with some trilogies but it felt a little forced. All in all a great new series that I will definitely follow.


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