Synopsis: To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
Category Archives: Firelight
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
Firelight, Book 1
Synopsis : 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.
Review : I couldn’t wait to read this novel but unfortunately, once finished, I was mixed about it.
Jacinda and Azure are both drakis. Their clan has forbidden them to fly during the day. But one day the two girls decide to break the rules and so leave the protected area in order to shift into the draki form. Soon, they are stalked by their enemies : the hunters. Azure manages to escape but Jacinda is injured. Surrounded on all sides, with no way out, she ends up taking refuge in a cave but she is soon found by Will, a young hunter. Curiously, he doesn’t deliver her to the other hunters and thus saves her life…
The beginning was promising : the author takes us into the action from the very first pages. But later, the story becomes slower, we return to more traditional things, found in all Young Adult novels, which is a pity because there are enough to make something more original. We wanted to learn more about the world of the Drakis which seems very interesting: How did they emerge? How many categories of Drakis are there in total? What are their talents? How exactly the drakis evolve in dailylife? Etc. In addition we don’t learn much more about the enkros who are with the hunters the worst enemies of the Drakis. I think all these issues should have been more exploited. But instead of that the author choses to focus on the love story of our two main characters! So we end up with a girl who arrives in a new school where she tries to integrate herself and there she meets a handsome and mysterious boy who will occupy all her thoughts! In short, nothing extraordinary and I confess I expected more.
Regarding the characters I have to say I was very disappointed by Jacinda. I didn’t find her touching at all. In a sense, she acts just like her twin sister. Indeed, Tamra acts like a kid, she’s a selfish person but at least she has an excuse, she has always been unhappy among the others drakis. Jacinda on the contrary was always the favorite because of her talent as a fire-breathing. If things are not going so well for her in the clan it’s mostly her fault because she disobeyes the rules all the time!
I also think that Jacinda is very ungrateful towards her mother. Her mother has done everything possible to protect her and avoid the sad fate that awaited her and instead of thanks, she blames her. The situation is difficult, they don’t have money to live, her mother is forced to work hard to support themselves. And instead of taking everything on it and try to fix things, Jacinda only makes them worse, all under the pretext that she is primarily a Draki and she wants to stay a draki! So rather than staying hidden and keeping a low profile, Jacinda prefers to be very imprudent. She just wants one thing : to shift into the draki form to keep her draki’s side alive even if it means to put her family in danger! She is a selfish and immature teenager. Moreover, she doesn’t know what she wants: on one hand she is in love with Will, but on the other hand she wants to run away from him and her family to return to the protection of her pride!
Moreover, her relationship with Will isn’t convincing. They don’t have the behavior of young lovers, I have the impression that they yield to an impulsion more than anything else! The other characters however seem to me a little bit more interesting. I like Catherine, she’s very friendly. Xander is the archetype of evil and cruel character. But the character which touched me the most is undoubtedly Cassian! He tries to get closer to Jacinda but she despises and rejects him systematically. I hope he will be more present in the next books because yes, I intend to read the sequel although I didn’t like the first one! I know I’m crazy but it must be said that this book isn’t all bad: the style is fluid and it’s still very readable, like any Young Adult book. And although I didn’t appreciate some things I read this novel in less than two days and the end… the end is horrible and terribly frustrating! Sophie Jordan managed to revive my interest in this series and finally, despite my very mixed review, I still really want to know what will happen next.