Firelight by Sophie Jordan - Okapi's Review

Title: Firelight
Author: Sophie Jordan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Target Audience: Teens
Pages: ARC - 323 pages
Release Date: September 7, 2010

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. - Summary from Goodreads


As a fan of dragons, the premise sounded promising - a hiatus from vampires, werewolves and angels while still lingering in the paranormal zone. Curled up in my bed for a couple hours, I read this novel in one sitting, my attention constantly tethered to the rapt and engaging plot. But alas, my eyes uncovered a paltry, watery novel that washed through my mind and caused me to forget about it soon after.

I love the concept of draki, the descendants of dragons, morphing into human, and their customs are interesting. However, I wish the author included more draki lore and history, along with their feud with the dragon hunters. For example, Jacinda mentions an "evasive flight maneuvers class", which sounds interesting, and I would like to learn more about. Jacinda barely spends any time with the dragon pride, and the reader merely experiences them through her memories. Reading this book would be a much more enthralling affair if we actually encountered the pride alongside her, gaining background information about drakis and enriching myself, thus making the rest of the novel more enjoyable.

The majority of the characters are lifeless and perilously flat. Will, who I've now nicknamed as "the Wallflower", fails to be mysterious and sexy as the author intends. He only snags my attention when Jacinda begins pining and whining over him, and though many other reviews claim their love to be intriguing and captivating, all I see is another paranormal romance that bores me. Their love is unbelievably instantaneous and predictable, lacking any depth. When Jacinda's inner draki flares to life around Will, it is the definition of cheesy, especially since the author reveals no explanation of Jacinda's fascination of this bland child. Many other reviews state their relationship to rival the romance in Twilight, but while I'm not a fan of that book, at least the author explains Bella and Edward's love. The romance in Firelight flounders to grapple my regard.

Jacinda's remarkably selfish twin sister Tamra and mother are extremely irksome and undeveloped. Her mother forfeited her draki spirit and eschews draki culture seemingly without any reason, and her sister complains about the most frivolous things. They aggravate me using their barely there personalities and do nothing more than set up meek obstacles of conflict for Jacinda to jump over. The character redeeming the rest is Jacinda, since she is surprisingly developed compared to the others; during the novel, my liking for her escalates as she demonstrated selfless, unpretentious qualities. She actually tolerates her irritating family members. I notice some other reviews chastising Jacinda for being selfish, endlessly complaining about the situation that her mother puts her in. However, I would probably react similarly if somebody hacks away part of my soul, just as Jacinda's mother attempts to rip away her draki. Jordan successfully captures Jacinda's raw anguish and the torture of allowing her draki to die, which is the equivalent of losing part of one's soul. She describes Jacinda's quest to maintain her identity using simple, emotional phrases.

"I once saw a show about an amputee who lost his leg and still feels it. He actually wakes up at night to scratch his leg as if it's still there, attached to him. They call it a phantom limb.

I would be like that. A phantom draki, tormented with the memory of what I once was."- page 37

The author's writing is very bland and repetitive, and after a while, I began to tire of Jacinda's distressed musings and cravings for Will. Jordan tends to echo Jacinda's thoughts in an annoying manner, and all her sentences are short and choppy, structured too simply. Though constructed using prose that lacks description, this book still consistently maintains its hooking attribute.

The ending is so annoying abrupt and unsatisfying that I couldn't help but roll my eyes once I was finished, asking myself if somebody had pruned off the real end of the manuscript. Don't get me wrong, I always bask in the afterglow of anticipation after reading a superb cliffhanger, but Firelight left off without any conclusion or thoughts to hold onto whatsoever. When I read a cliffhanger, I run off a cliff, though there are always questions and unsolved mysteries that keep me dangling on the edge. Firelight, however, has nothing sparking further curiosity, so I gallop over the edge and plummet to the ground.

Overall, this typical paranormal romance ensnared my attention for most of its three hundred pages, causing me to dub it as 'mildly addicting' and file it away at the very back of my mind. I'm sure, like many other paranormal romances, it'll acquire a teen fandom when it releases in September, 2010. I'll probably skim the sequel just to see what's in store for Jacinda and company, but I hold very little hope that this series can possibly redeem itself after this slight disaster.

Cover: 2/5 - I'm usually partial to people on covers, and this one's no exception. I dislike how up-close the girl is, and the artificial shade of her hair. However, the golden scales add a mysterious touch.

Rating:

2.5 hoots

Books like this:
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

To view Rica's review of Firelight, CLICK HERE

Firelight by Sophie Jordan - Rica's Review

Title: Firelight

Author: Sophie Jordan

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Target Audience: Teen Girls

Number of Pages: ARC - 323 pages

Release Date: September 7, 2010

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. -Summary from Goodreads

My expectations for this novel were pretty similar to my thoughts of other paranormal romances: as if by fate, a boy and a girl meet, fair amounts of swooning, they fall in love, paranormal aspects prevent their relationship from flourishing, they conquer it together, everything works out, and then thats the end. Knowing this, I still grasped at the faint hope that this book would bring something new and more satisfying. I was relieved from the surge of vampires and werewolves and I hoped reading about dragons would be a refreshing change and just perhaps obliterate my bias on paranormal romances.

My hopes were shot down to a blunder. Personally, this book was the quintessence of ordinary, sprinkled with a few more aspects to frown upon. The story starts with Jacinda in her draki dragon form, cornered by a brutally handsome hunter boy.The two were alone, and the cave was alive with sparks when their touches met. Jacinda knew she could never forget the boy who betrayed his dragon hunting family to spare her life. When Jacinda left her dragon pack, known as a pride, she and her family relocated to a small town in the desert. Jacinda and her twin sister Tamra enrolled into high school. On their first day, as unrealistic as it may be, Jacinda saw the boy hunter who spared her life, Will. I knew this meeting was inevitable, but the pure odds of this happening were so far off, that frustration still managed to tug at me.

Will and Jacinda's relationship was utterly flat and could only be a fictional romance. Their love affair was almost instantaneous. It was as if their relationship had been in fast-forward while I was still at play, unable to be swept into their rhythm. Admittedly, I am usually a sucker for male lead heroes in books, but Will's character was so unrelatable to real-life heroes, that it was hard for me to feel a connection to him. Jacinda was probably the best character out of the lot. She was pretty well developed with a strong, brave, and slightly rebellious personality. She turned out pretty like-able. It was depressing to watch her struggle with her family and surroundings, but it was nice to see her inner draki come to life when in the presence of Will.

Apart from Jacinda, I couldn't care for the other roles any less. Tamra and Jacinda's mother particularly pushed my buttons. The pair were unbelievably selfish. Tamra was born without the ability to manifest, or in other words, morph into draki form. Like Filch for example, born into a wizarding family with no wizarding powers; a squib in the world of Harry Potter. Anyway, due to this stroke of unluckiness, Tamra had never fit in well in the pride, and was always quietly jealous of Jacinda who was the prized jewel in the pack. Unlike Tamra, Jacinda's mother was able to manifest, but she too didn't feel like she fit in with the other dragons. While Jacinda and her draki are one, Jacinda's mom didn't feel such a bond with her draki. A piece of soul, trapped in a reluctant body. So, Tamra and their mom, put their own wishes ahead of Jacinda's, and moved to a desert in hopes Jacinda's draki would wither and die. Throughout the whole novel, the duo consistently ignore Jacinda's pleads and complaints, and instead feeds her with phrases like, "it's for your own good" and so on. Their obtuse minds made them annoying to read about.

It followed the basic plot line I mapped out in the first paragraph, up until the ending. The ending was abrupt, rushed, and as unsatisfactory as getting only a pair of socks for Christmas. I'll put it this way. This book was like a struggling hike up a steep mountain. The trek up the side was more or less uninteresting and at times I did think about giving up, yet my eyes were set on the climax, the most exciting and rewarding part of the journey. Then without warning, it's as if I was kicked down the mountain in an accelerated tumble. The climax was basically the ending of the book. The ending was a huge cliffhanger, one that posed a lot of unanswered questions, one that was conducted poorly. Actually, after reading the ending, I seriously thought that the ARC I read was unfinished somehow. I couldn't believe it was the ending. It was so sudden that I thought a chunk of the ending must've fallen out or something. Normally, cliffhangers make me extremely eager to read the sequel, but in this case, the ending was so shockingly annoying, that all curiosity was sucked out of me.

I really had hopes for this book. Draki were new to me, alluring even. I wanted to know so much more about them. Jordan lacked information about them, the bits that I craved most. The one aspect that was new to YA bookshelves, the author didn't describe as much. Instead, this book was stuffed with a cheesy relationship that failed to touch my heart. I don't doubt that other teen girls will be thrilled with this Twilight-esque novel, this one just didn't impress me. There have been mixed reviews on this novel, and I believe that it does some-what deserve to be checked out. I would probably read the sequel, just for the sake of it and in hope that it would improve.

Cover: 2/5- I'm not the biggest fan of the cover. The close-up girl doesn't appeal to me. Personally, I think it gives it a bit of a more tacky look. Though I like the fire-y gold colors, this cover isn't special from other ones on the shelves.

Rating:

2 Hoots

To view Okapi's review of Firelight, CLICK HERE

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Title: The Dark Divine

Author: Bree Despain

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Target Audience: Teen Girls

Number of Pages: Hardcover- 372 pages

Grace Divine-daughter of the local pastor-always knew something terrible had happened the night Daniel Kalbi disapeared and her brother Jude came home covered in his own blood. Now that Daniel's returned, Grace must choose between her growing attraction to him and her loyalty to her brother. As Grace gets closer to Daniel, she learns the truth about that mysterious night and how to save the ones she loves, but it might cost her the one thing she cherishes most: her soul. - Summary from Goodreads

I had wanted to read this book purely out of the fact that everyone was obsessing over it. I had known it was a paranormal romance novel, but any further knowledge was cut short there. I had never really bothered to read the synopsis and so for this first time, I had to dive in without any faint idea on what I'm about to get myself into. But no worries. The plot was so indefinitely obvious, that I assumed the big "mysterious" truth about Daniel from page 65, and to further clarify, reaching 65 is a matter of minutes. The font is obnoxiously bolded and therefore, each page only consists of a handful of words.

Grace Divine, narrator of the story, is flavored more on the blander side. She's just one of those typical girls abundant in those typical paranormal romance novels. I couldn't help but roll my eyes on a few occasions as I lived through her point of view and read her thoughts. As in all romance books, Grace would sigh at Daniel's sinewy bicepes or marvel at his scuplted abs. This was expected, and I am thankful that Despain didn't go overboard on the swooning like Meyer did in the Twilight novels, which every few paragraphs a sentence like "Edward smelled good" just had to snake their way in. What really got me to utter a sarcastic "wow",was the goody-two-shoes-ness of Grace. I realize that she is the pastor's daughter and therefore must be a model citizen, but her immeasurable integrity was basically a slap in the face. I honestly doubt pastor's kids in the real world are this angelic, and so, I'd say that her character was borderline unrealistic.

The overly simplistic and undescriptive writing was hard to miss, as if a blinking sign blaring the words"slightly amateur" hung over head. The voice was ordinary and unmemorable. Not once did any of her sentences strike me and make me feel envious for not being able to construct a sentence quite like that. In addition, historical facts were skewed to fit Despain's fantasy, leaving me more than unsatisfied with the explanations for Daniel's "issues". The novel is also brimming with religious, "do the right thing" types of messages, which although add an element to the book, I find unecessary. Though nothing great, her flow of words wasn't completely unbearable. The writing is never really the most important part of a novel, and even though it might not be anything congratulatory, if aided with a solid plot and wonderous characters, the reader could still carry on forth.

This book was like a narcotic; simple and addictive. Despite its flaws, I could not put it down. Why? Because of Daniel Kalbi. He is soley the reason why I'm giving this book a 3.5 instead of a 2. Daniel is like the glue that binds the whole book together. Daniel was thrust into the beginning of this novel as a "bad boy" being, but throughout story, readers grow to like him and see that he's not really a bad boy at all. He is merely a boy who was rejected too many times and is desperate to be loved and wanted. His past of being abused by his father had scarred and marred him forcing him to be closed off from the world. And ever since a fateful, tragic, night with Jude, Daniel had fled and left everything behind, including Grace. Now that he's returned, Grace often has flashbacks involving him, and it is semi-sweet to experience them. Though they are saddening, it is truly rewarding to watch Daniel grow as a man and face up to his curse. It was refreshing to read about a character like Daniel, one that is actually likeable and not so overprotective of his lover that it crosses the line and just steps into annoying. Through their past memories, it seems as if Grace and Daniel were destined to be with each other.

Overall, Despain failed with her bland, unrealistic narrator, predictable plot, and juvenille writing, but achieved greatness in her story of Daniel as a problem-proned teen. The side story of his past is intriguing, captivating, and beautiful. It's what makes the book. Personally, I think the book would have been more successful if Daniel just remained a mortal with Grace and the two fight their way through the paranormal together without all the religious aspects. I believe the story would be more unique than the other paranormal romances on the shelves these days. This novel is not for those who long to pick up a Twilight-ish book, but for those who want to read about a strong, individual character's journey through troubled times. And even though I ranted about all of its flaw's, I'm still eager to read book two, The Lost Saint.

Cover: 3.5/5 - I really like the cover. It's mysterious (a lot more mysterious than the book itself) and alluring. The colors contrast fabulously from the snowy, marble white, the dark ominous black, and the eye-catching, vibrant violet. However, the pair of legs don't really have anything to do with the book. Though they might be pretty, I don't even know why they're there. It makes sense that the sash is violet (as you will see when you read the book), but the legs don't correspond with anything in the story. Also, I'll be sure to pick up that color nail polish next time I visit the local drugstore. And as for the cover of The Lost Saint, I really wish the publishers stuck with the brilliant violet theme as opposed for the leg theme.

Rating:

3.5 Hoots

Source: Won from a contest on Squeaky Books. Thanks a ton!

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Hush, Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: Paranormal romance
Target Audience: Teen girls
Length: Hardcover - 291 pages


For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. 

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life. - Summary from Goodreads

After the endless hype, I expected Hush, Hush to be phenomenal. Lured by the beautiful, haunting cover art, I snagged this book with promise in my heart. Unfortunately, this paranormal romance only wasted my time, and left me feeling disappointed and annoyed. Throughout the novel, I noticed strong similarities to Twilight: the two main characters meet in biology (what's so romantic about biology, anyway? The bonding activity of dissecting an onion?), the klutzy girl falls in love with a dangerous angel/vampire, and paranormal forces won't let them be together. However, Hush, Hush is nothing more than a watered down, annoying version of Twilight, and I'm not even a fan of Twilight in the first place.

The romance between Patch and Nora is flat and unconvincing. Though Patch claims to be in love with Nora, it's hard to believe it when he sexually harasses her, frequently makes her feel uncomfortable, and even downright asks if she sleeps naked. His behavior displays lust, not love. Nora makes their relationship even more unbelievable by foolishly running into Patch's arms; she doesn't trust him, knows he's dangerous, and is very suspicious of him, yet she continues to “love” him. It is impossible to follow and root for their relationship when it's based off lust instead of love. The author tries to portray Patch as a bad boy, though I only see him as annoying and arrogant. Under different circumstances, Patch could be a strong, excellently sly character, but the author proudly brandishes him using the wrong plot.

The storyline centers around Patch and Nora's flimsy romance, with a few lazy side plots thrown in at seemingly last minute. Instead of building suspense and mystery, the obscure bandit plot line is weak and concluded poorly, featuring a handful of the least menacing villains I have ever read about. Also, what worsens the plot even further is that two-thirds of the book feature Nora pondering over Patch, musing her suspicions that something about him is awry, and leading investigations, while readers know all along that he is an angel. This slows down the book considerably. Saturated with unfulfilled potential, this book wastes too much time showing Nora brooding over Patch, while it could have featured more paranormal elements – the whole fallen angel concept is fascinating. When the author finally chooses to reveal Patch's true identity, she does so brashly and does not bother to explain the heaps of angel lore she includes, leaving me confused and unsuccessfully attempting to puzzle the pieces together myself.

Though I really wanted to like this book, it was very hard for me to, and in the end, I was nothing more than mildly entertained. I'll probably read Crescendo when it releases, only because Hush, Hush contains unused potential that could possibly be fulfilled in its sequel. Though many people will adore this book, it left a bad impression upon me.

Cover: 4.5/5 – This cover is haunting, eye catching, and (falsely) promises a mysterious paranormal romance.

Rating:

2 hoots

Source: Local library