siobhan27's review
4.0
I loved this book because it was so incredibly different then anything I had read in YA. Dragons is a topic that isn’t written about very often, if at all. It has this connotation of being gendered and genre fiction, but I think it is a fascinating topic that can be molded to a certain audience. And Sophie Jordan does that in Firelight.
Jacinda was marked at an early age, and she knows that the secrecy of her gift will keep her race alive, but when she gets discovered by the hunters and is threatened by the pack leader, her mother decides to take her and her sister away to live in the desert, where they can forget about their gifts and live a normal human beings. But for Jacinda that isn’t possible, she can’t seem to forget who she is, even if her mother wants her to. That is until she meets Will, he releases a part of her that was repressed the moment then moved to the desert, but when she finds out why, it will change her life forever.
Jordan is a bright new face in YA fiction, and her originality will only lead to bigger and better things, and I cannot wait to read her follow up to Firelight, Vanish, which is on store shelves now. Please read this novel, it will open your eyes to a new concept in YA fiction and it can only help this growing genre get better and better.
Jacinda was marked at an early age, and she knows that the secrecy of her gift will keep her race alive, but when she gets discovered by the hunters and is threatened by the pack leader, her mother decides to take her and her sister away to live in the desert, where they can forget about their gifts and live a normal human beings. But for Jacinda that isn’t possible, she can’t seem to forget who she is, even if her mother wants her to. That is until she meets Will, he releases a part of her that was repressed the moment then moved to the desert, but when she finds out why, it will change her life forever.
Jordan is a bright new face in YA fiction, and her originality will only lead to bigger and better things, and I cannot wait to read her follow up to Firelight, Vanish, which is on store shelves now. Please read this novel, it will open your eyes to a new concept in YA fiction and it can only help this growing genre get better and better.
annelives's review
3.0
Ok, so I'm kind of pissed off. This had so much potential. At the start of this book it was hovering around a four star rating, slowly declining to a 3.5 and stopping at 2.75. (I round up so my official rating is a 3.)
I don't understand why so many YA books portray love the way they do. There's always a triangle and of course there can only be one true love. Love that is equated with ownership and creepy stalker like qualities. Somehow that's romantic. I don't get it. It's not based in any sort of reality. Dude, guy breaks into your house - you should be calling the police not making out with him.
Let's not forget that the heroine is willing to give up everything, her dreams, well being and safety, to stay with our hero. Hell she puts her family in real danger for a guy she's known a whole month or two. Cause this love is real, yo. Are you freakin' kidding me?
I enjoyed the story itself, but the portrayal of love in this dampened my enjoyment. I'll probably read the second one. I'm interested enough to want to see the repercussions of the ending, but I'm wary of disappointment.
Oh and on a side note, I read part of this and listened to parts as well. The narrator of the audiobook is pretty good.
I don't understand why so many YA books portray love the way they do. There's always a triangle and of course there can only be one true love. Love that is equated with ownership and creepy stalker like qualities. Somehow that's romantic. I don't get it. It's not based in any sort of reality. Dude, guy breaks into your house - you should be calling the police not making out with him.
Let's not forget that the heroine is willing to give up everything, her dreams, well being and safety, to stay with our hero. Hell she puts her family in real danger for a guy she's known a whole month or two. Cause this love is real, yo. Are you freakin' kidding me?
I enjoyed the story itself, but the portrayal of love in this dampened my enjoyment. I'll probably read the second one. I'm interested enough to want to see the repercussions of the ending, but I'm wary of disappointment.
Oh and on a side note, I read part of this and listened to parts as well. The narrator of the audiobook is pretty good.
holly_tree's review
3.0
Firelight= Angst-a-plenty. Once I finished it, I realized I enjoyed it, but for the first 2/3, I was feeling pretty depressed. Jacinda's life sucks. Her mom is trying to kill the draki--- dragon--- inside of her, her twin sister hates her and has a major inferiority complex (although no one can really blame her), and she's in love with a boy who's family hunts her kind. There seems to be no options for Jacinda, no release, and it's pretty depressing. The makeout scenes that do pop up between her and Will are brief but finally do add some positive energy to the story... until jacinda starts freaking out, flip-flopping between her all-consuming love for the hunter, and her need to protect her family and her race's secret. It gets tiring after a while. Once Will finally figures it out, the plot freshens up and turns into great reading--- I just wish the angst hadn't lasted so long.
I really enjoyed the character of Will. (Although I wish we could have learned of his secrets earlier! Great twists, and I'm excited to see how they eventually play out!) It was a refreshing break from the bad-boy type that seems to plague the love-interests of popular YA these days, and I loved the confidence he exuded when he came after Jacinda again and again.
Sophie Jordan was able to create a deep, mature love between this unlikely pair that wasn't cheesy, and seemed real and lasting--- something that stretches beyond regular high-school relationships, something that everyone tries to write, but few succeed. I applaud Sophie Jordan for that!
I hope in the next book(s), we find the angst take a backburner, and the amazing potential of a unique, refreshing story florishes and breaks through.
I really enjoyed the character of Will. (Although I wish we could have learned of his secrets earlier! Great twists, and I'm excited to see how they eventually play out!) It was a refreshing break from the bad-boy type that seems to plague the love-interests of popular YA these days, and I loved the confidence he exuded when he came after Jacinda again and again.
Sophie Jordan was able to create a deep, mature love between this unlikely pair that wasn't cheesy, and seemed real and lasting--- something that stretches beyond regular high-school relationships, something that everyone tries to write, but few succeed. I applaud Sophie Jordan for that!
I hope in the next book(s), we find the angst take a backburner, and the amazing potential of a unique, refreshing story florishes and breaks through.
jenbsbooks's review
3.0
3.5 stars. I liked this, it was a quick and easy read. There was the usual YA insta-attraction (although also a possible explanation behind it). I probably would have continued on to the second book immediately if it had been available from the library (it was checked out). I do plan on picking up the story again ...
First person. Present tense.
First person. Present tense.
danholmes's review
2.0
2/5
Ok.
Yo leí esto en 2016, en su momento, me gustó, creo que hasta le daba 4 estrellas. Pero ahora le puse 2 por el cariño. El mundo de los drakis, está OK, pero los clichés y los personajes: iu.
Ok.
Yo leí esto en 2016, en su momento, me gustó, creo que hasta le daba 4 estrellas. Pero ahora le puse 2 por el cariño. El mundo de los drakis, está OK, pero los clichés y los personajes: iu.
oerlemans's review against another edition
2.0
Just won a Dutch translation of a book via a Goodreads Giveaways. So I'm one of the 5 people who get an ARC. I'm honored, although I don't really know if this is my kind of book. I'm going to read it ASAP and will post a review here.
trysarahtop's review
4.0
The exceptional thing about Firelight by Sophie Jordan is that it is so different from all the other paranormal romances that bombard Young Adult shelves. The world that is created is unique and mesmerizing. I would love to be a Draki. It sounds way fun, and dangerous.
Jacinda is a Draki, and she has a twin sister who never gained the ability to manifest. After certain events Jacinda, her mom and sister move away from the Pride. While there Jacinda encounters Will, who awakens her Draki like no other person.
I was captivated and intrigued through out the entire novel. It ends on a cliffhanger so be careful, and it's one of those cliffhangers where you want to yell and throw the book but re-read it all at the same time. I'm very excited to dive into Vanish.
Jacinda is a Draki, and she has a twin sister who never gained the ability to manifest. After certain events Jacinda, her mom and sister move away from the Pride. While there Jacinda encounters Will, who awakens her Draki like no other person.
I was captivated and intrigued through out the entire novel. It ends on a cliffhanger so be careful, and it's one of those cliffhangers where you want to yell and throw the book but re-read it all at the same time. I'm very excited to dive into Vanish.
bluuejeans's review
2.0
The story was nothing new or special. All the twists and turns were extremely predictable. It wasn't that entertaining to read. Also it was extremely agonizing to read about her promising to herself over and over that she was " going to stay away from him" blablabla
After the third trial and error one might think she'd either sacrifice some morals or just get over the guy. But nope.
After the third trial and error one might think she'd either sacrifice some morals or just get over the guy. But nope.
book_whispers's review
4.0
Thought:
Firelight sucked me in with its gorgeous cover, the promised Romeo and Juliet love story, and dragon shifters. For those of you worried about it being a Twilight copy, get over that idea. It really isn't and every book is going to have similarities to others, but this one is not a Twilight reincarnate with dragons. (For those of you that are not fans of Twilight, breath easy!)
That said, this is a pretty cute romance, and a very conflicting intense one at that. Where the hunter and the hunted meet and fall in love. Truly you have to leave you skeptic at the door for this one, but then again you kind of have to for all romances.
This book is pretty fast past, no time is wasted allowing you to sink into the story swiftly. Jordan gives us time to adjust to life as a dragon, and makes it easy to understand. Her words are very simple--almost too simple at times--giving readers the brash and scary reality that Jacinda lives in. Dragons are hunted, ripped apart and the pieces sold. No one knows that dragons can shift into people and that is the one thing keeping them alive. The dragons live in guarded communities that still rely on a King and elders to rule them. Dragons are dieing out, whether from defunct children who can't shift, to hunters taking them out one by one. Jacinda is the first fire breathing dragon to be born in ages, making her a prized possession in her Pride. A Pride that has scary plans for there "property."
Jacinda heart ache is so sad to watch. As her mother takes her away from her Pride to a desert where her dragon will slowly die out. Then the sad realization that her Pride will do anything to use their prized possession as nothing more then a breeding mare. This all accented by Jacinda's growing love for the hunter Will, who she knows she should not love.
The characters interact well in this book. From Jacinda's mother who is not proud of her dragon heritage and let it die out. To her defunct twin who finally gets to be normal in there new human life. This is a different take on twins who have lost each other, but still love one another. Sometimes Jacinda's mother and sisters willingness to let her dragon die is almost sickening. Will's family life and his connections to them are also stark and some times a little scary. Leading to the question are the monsters the ones with scales and fangs, or are the true monsters those who hunt them.
The love between Will and Jacinda has a magic pull that draws them together. Jacinda needs Will because he's the only force keeping her dragon alive and he has clues to get her to other Prides. In the end the romance builds up nice and slowly so that the reader feels like the two come together for more reasons then magic and necessity. That's one of the main things I look for in a romance, I want the characters to realistically fall in love.
Bottom Line:
We get nice plot twists and turns, with a fun love triangle mixed in. While the writing is a bit simplistic, it works for this story. Go into this expecting a cute romance, because in the end that's what this is. One of those grab you by the throat-teary-eye kind of things.
Rating: 4/5- Great! Really enjoyed
Firelight sucked me in with its gorgeous cover, the promised Romeo and Juliet love story, and dragon shifters. For those of you worried about it being a Twilight copy, get over that idea. It really isn't and every book is going to have similarities to others, but this one is not a Twilight reincarnate with dragons. (For those of you that are not fans of Twilight, breath easy!)
That said, this is a pretty cute romance, and a very conflicting intense one at that. Where the hunter and the hunted meet and fall in love. Truly you have to leave you skeptic at the door for this one, but then again you kind of have to for all romances.
This book is pretty fast past, no time is wasted allowing you to sink into the story swiftly. Jordan gives us time to adjust to life as a dragon, and makes it easy to understand. Her words are very simple--almost too simple at times--giving readers the brash and scary reality that Jacinda lives in. Dragons are hunted, ripped apart and the pieces sold. No one knows that dragons can shift into people and that is the one thing keeping them alive. The dragons live in guarded communities that still rely on a King and elders to rule them. Dragons are dieing out, whether from defunct children who can't shift, to hunters taking them out one by one. Jacinda is the first fire breathing dragon to be born in ages, making her a prized possession in her Pride. A Pride that has scary plans for there "property."
Jacinda heart ache is so sad to watch. As her mother takes her away from her Pride to a desert where her dragon will slowly die out. Then the sad realization that her Pride will do anything to use their prized possession as nothing more then a breeding mare. This all accented by Jacinda's growing love for the hunter Will, who she knows she should not love.
The characters interact well in this book. From Jacinda's mother who is not proud of her dragon heritage and let it die out. To her defunct twin who finally gets to be normal in there new human life. This is a different take on twins who have lost each other, but still love one another. Sometimes Jacinda's mother and sisters willingness to let her dragon die is almost sickening. Will's family life and his connections to them are also stark and some times a little scary. Leading to the question are the monsters the ones with scales and fangs, or are the true monsters those who hunt them.
The love between Will and Jacinda has a magic pull that draws them together. Jacinda needs Will because he's the only force keeping her dragon alive and he has clues to get her to other Prides. In the end the romance builds up nice and slowly so that the reader feels like the two come together for more reasons then magic and necessity. That's one of the main things I look for in a romance, I want the characters to realistically fall in love.
Bottom Line:
We get nice plot twists and turns, with a fun love triangle mixed in. While the writing is a bit simplistic, it works for this story. Go into this expecting a cute romance, because in the end that's what this is. One of those grab you by the throat-teary-eye kind of things.
Rating: 4/5- Great! Really enjoyed
rosann's review
4.0
A little bit different twist from the vampires and werewolves that run rampant right now... dragons that live among us because they can take human form. I liked that while there is still the seemingly required love triangle, the female characters had a backbone and stood up for themselves. A quick read