Firelight by Sophie Jordan **Review**

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Series: Firelight #1
Pages: 288
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release date: January 2010 (original)
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones

Add to Goodreads

Goodreads 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.

This book is something I've been looking for for a while now. It's a totally unique, fresh spin on the YA fantasy genre. I put off reading this for so long, and now I'm wondering what on Earth was going through my head! Not only does it involve characters that are descended from dragons, it has an equally smouldering romance and a fast-paced, thrilling plot to add to the excitement!

The beginning of the story does not hang around. Straight away we're in the middle of the action, getting to know our protagonist, Jacinda, right from the off, as her and her friend Az prepare to break the rules and go flying outside the security of their pride's protected home. I felt an instant connection to Jacinda's character and although we'd only just met, I found that I liked her instantly. I was immediately sympathetic towards her, even though I didn't yet know her story, and I wanted to get to know her more. This is a great sign – especially when it happens in the first chapter!
I was less sympathetic towards her family – her sister and mother – who took her out of the only home she's ever known and into a harsh desert town without any real explanation, knowing that it would start to cripple and kill her draki. At first, Jacinda's mother's reasons for doing this are unknown, so I felt all of the injustice that Jacinda felt, and I couldn't help but hate the place they ended up in.
But then things started to get interesting. The hunter that we meet in the first chapter – the unnaturally merciful hunter – turns out to be a student at her new high school, and the connection between them is instant and unwavering. This is the beginning of probably one of my favourite star-crossed romances of all time! I actually can't get enough of it, so I know it won't be long before I dive into the second book in the series!

Not only did I love Jacinda and the breathtaking romance that she finds herself unexpectedly and reluctantly a part of, I also loved the world-building and the concept of the novel as a whole. That Jacinda and the rest of the Draki are descendants of dragons that have evolved in order to protect themselves and are now able to take on human form is seriously awesome. And although we don't get too much in-depth detail about Jacinda's pride, we get enough information to get a feel for the pride and what it's like to live there. Hopefully in the second book, I'll get a bigger glimpse of life inside the pride and how it differs to the human world.
I would also like to learn more about the world that Will is reluctantly a part of; the world of the hunters. I feel like there is so much more to it than we see in this first book, and I feel like their world is so much more dangerous than we already know it to be!

So it's pretty clear that I fell head over heels for this book. I have to admit that I was a little sceptical at the beginning, but those worries were long buried by the end of the first chapter. Firelight is intense, fast-paced, compelling and fiery! I highly recommend it to any fan of YA fantasy or Urban Fantasy.