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A review by taphrina
Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria
5.0
5 stars. At times fun/funny and others heart wrenching, this was a damn good book.
FWF is stunningly grounded in reality for such a magical fantasy. By this I mean: sisters are real, joy and guilt, manipulation and history, generational trauma and new horizons- these are all real things to be found in Fire with Fire
Things I loved (almost everything):
The secret life of dragon slayers and sorcerers in the modern world. Sisters who love each other and yet inevitably struggle to measure up to the other. The badass Rivera family business. Vivid intersections between magic and modern life. The entirely at-odds perspectives of Dani and Nox that assimilate into necessary cooperation. Real and complicated friendship. Magic and BAD MAGIC. And plenty of bad ideas.
And especially: the Mexican-Scottish Rivera family. Eden and Dani are Riveras to the core, and yet have a different connection to their culture than most Latin@s in media. Sure, their mother was too busy passing along the Rivera slayer legacy to teach them Spanish. But they still learned. In fact, they learned the same way I did, by taking Spanish as an elective in school. They can understand all the scattered Spanish spoken by family and friends. To me, seeing that reality reflected probably meant the most.
Also I (surprisingly) liked the rock-climbing elements of both slayer training and Dani's summer job (I'm not a rock climber). It really grounded the vibe of mountain summers and slayer training.
And on a completely unrelated/highly spoilery note regarding a certain Gail Carson Levine novel
My thoughts while reading this:
"I'm only 20% in, and the action is about to heat up and I just... LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK ALREADY.
See: The family dynamics and tension; real friendship; EXTREMELY VALID SIBLING THINGS; and (surprisingly) the rock-climbing elements. I also got a lot of warm and fuzzy feminist feelings from the book, clearly intentional! And as a Latine reader, this book already makes my heart sing :)
!!!
*Chef's kiss* *Chef's kiss*
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH"
FWF is stunningly grounded in reality for such a magical fantasy. By this I mean: sisters are real, joy and guilt, manipulation and history, generational trauma and new horizons- these are all real things to be found in Fire with Fire
Things I loved (almost everything):
The secret life of dragon slayers and sorcerers in the modern world. Sisters who love each other and yet inevitably struggle to measure up to the other. The badass Rivera family business. Vivid intersections between magic and modern life. The entirely at-odds perspectives of Dani and Nox that assimilate into necessary cooperation. Real and complicated friendship. Magic and BAD MAGIC. And plenty of bad ideas.
And especially: the Mexican-Scottish Rivera family. Eden and Dani are Riveras to the core, and yet have a different connection to their culture than most Latin@s in media. Sure, their mother was too busy passing along the Rivera slayer legacy to teach them Spanish. But they still learned. In fact, they learned the same way I did, by taking Spanish as an elective in school. They can understand all the scattered Spanish spoken by family and friends. To me, seeing that reality reflected probably meant the most.
Also I (surprisingly) liked the rock-climbing elements of both slayer training and Dani's summer job (I'm not a rock climber). It really grounded the vibe of mountain summers and slayer training.
And on a completely unrelated/highly spoilery note regarding a certain Gail Carson Levine novel
Spoiler
If The Two Princesses of Bamarre broke your heart, I recommend Fire With Fire as a kind of balm. Where was this book when I finished TTPOB broken hearted!My thoughts while reading this:
"I'm only 20% in, and the action is about to heat up and I just... LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK ALREADY.
See: The family dynamics and tension; real friendship; EXTREMELY VALID SIBLING THINGS; and (surprisingly) the rock-climbing elements. I also got a lot of warm and fuzzy feminist feelings from the book, clearly intentional! And as a Latine reader, this book already makes my heart sing :)
!!!
*Chef's kiss* *Chef's kiss*
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH"