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andromeda_1998's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Torture, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
corvicore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Torture, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Minor: Biphobia
plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
What I wasn’t such a fan of, though, was the uneven pacing in the first half of the book vs the second, the rather rushed events in the last third of the story, and just how chaotic things ended up. In the last 100 pages, it felt like there was too much going on, like Soria wanted to fit too much into too few pages, and more than once I had to reread paragraphs to grasp what exactly was happening. I think the best solution here would’ve been to either add a few chapters to the book or split it into a duology. Either one would’ve allowed for a bit of breathing room between action sequences and room to further flesh out the story and characters.
ETA:
The ending was satisfying, I’ll give it that, but as I write this review, my brain feels muddled. I’m not sure if that’s because of the time (it’s almost 4:30 a.m.) or the book or my alarmingly small number of brain cells or all three. Whatever the case may be, even if Fire with Fire didn’t end up being the spectacular urban fantasy I’d hoped it would be, I do recommend it. Soria has a lot of potential if she can figure out her pacing, and I look forward to giving more of her books a try in the future.
Representation
- bisexual Mexican protagonist
- Mexican protagonist with anxiety
- side characters of color (includes Latine and Black rep)
- sapphic side character
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Violence
The tags “animal cruelty” and “animal death” are there because of the treatment of dragons in some scenes of the book.foreverinastory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Rep: Half-Mexican, half-white bisexual female MC, half-Mexican half-white female MC with anxiety and panic attacks, Black male love interest, white Scottish love interest, Latine male side character, white questioning female side character, Mexican-American female side characters.
CWs: Alcohol consumption (underage and legal), animal cruelty, animal death (both towards dragons), blood, death, fire/fire injury, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, mental illness (anxiety), panic attacks, torture, violence. Moderate: grief.
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Grief
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
However, this is where my cons start to come in. The first one being the romance.
Another thing I didn't like was the execution of the plot. The pacing was really strange, and I feel like
Finally, I thought the side characters were underused. Frankie, Tomás and Sadie were all so interesting and could have added some real colour to Dani's activities. Overall, these significant cons meant that although it was a pretty enjoyable book, I couldn't give it more than 3.75 stars.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and War
spinesinaline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved the humour in this one, which started right from the first page. But along with the constant humour and sarcasm in the dialogue, it’s also quite a serious story as it looks at the dangers of fighting dragons, but also the struggles of and coping methods for people with mental illnesses and handling others’ perceptions and demands of you, as well as the beautiful and honest depiction of the relationship of these two sisters.
It’s a quick read despite its length (over 400 pages!) so I don’t want to give too much away beyond what the blurb offers (and you’d be fine following along by skipping the blurb altogether). I will say that I felt the representation the author offers felt very real, and while I can’t speak from an own voices perspective, it felt true. Dani, the youngest sister, is proudly bisexual and directly combats biphobic assumptions and stereotypes. The eldest, Eden, deals with anxiety and panic attacks and there are very detailed descriptions of these attacks and their impact on her life.
The characters are endearing and funny and still have their (sometimes significant) flaws, the story moves quickly and easily so you get sucked in, and it’s a creative modern take on dragon stories that incorporates Mexican mythology.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, and Murder