*This title will be released on September 7, 2010*
Book Description
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
Book 1 in The Firelight Series
Sophie Jordan’s FIRELIGHT is about to do for dragons what Stephenie Meyer did for vampires. Dragons don’t get a lot of love in the paranormal YA genre (Carrie Vaughn’s recent Voices of Dragons is a rare exception) and I’m only just beginning to understand what a shame that is.
Jacinda is a draki, an evolved dragon who has the ability to Demanifest and appear human. Amongst her cult-like Pride, she is the only known fire draki, prized and guarded for a future she doesn’t want but cannot escape. When she steals a moment of freedom and comes face to face with a draki hunter, her mother seizes the opportunity to flee with Jacinda and her twin sister in order give them a chance at a new life. In the human world. In high school.
Torn between a life amongst the controlling draki and one where her mother is forcing her to abandon that part of her forever, Jacinda begins to shut down. The metaphor of her draki self forced to remain hidden underneath her human skin coupled with the discomfort and alienation she feels from most of her peers is one that every teenager can relate to. And when her draki begins to whither inside her, it made perfect sense to me that Jacinda would be drawn to the one guy who brought that hidden part of her to life: Will, the hunter who saved her life.
The relationship between Jacinda and Will in FIRELIGHT reminded me a lot of the early relationship between Buffy and Angel except in the reverse where he is the hunter and she is the enemy. They are drawn to each other despite knowing that their families are mortal enemies. Their forbidden meetings, stolen kisses, and very real fear of discovery was a delicious drug that hooked me from the first chapter.
The FIRELIGHT mythology, while not as explored as I would have liked (I’m very curious to learn more about the nefarious enkros), was vivid and creative. The draki are broken in up by various talents from the common Verda draki (plants/herbs) to the rare Shader (mist)draki. I’m hoping that more will be divulged about the Pride in subsequent books.
The only bad thing about FIRELIGHT is the ending. The cliffhanger is a killer! I know that Sophie is planning more books in this series (see the video below) but so far info is scarce. For my sanity and yours, I hope we get a sequel very, very soon.
Sexual Content: Kissing.
My Rating (out of 5):Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from FIRELIGHT
Previous books in the series:
- N/A
Product Details
Reading level: Young Adult - Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins (September 7, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0061935085
- ISBN-13: 978-0061935084
- Cover Art: N/A
*Disclosure: I received this book courtesy of HarperTEEN
OMG - awesome review, I SOOOO cant WAIT to read this book!!!
ReplyDeleteI have this book on my list of books to read. Great review!
ReplyDeleteGreat Review! I have really high hopes for this one and the subsequent books in the series. I'm really looking forward to reading it with my daughter. We read YA together. Mother daughter bonding over dragons... Things that make you go... Hmmmmmmm!
ReplyDeletelOL!! Yes, for our sanity give us another book really soon!=)
ReplyDeleteI agree. This story is fascinating on various levels: romance, mythology, relationships, etc.
Before Firelight I was searching for a dragon shifter novel. I bought one adu;t title but have not read it yet and then got an ARC for Firelight and read it first! AMAZING and I want more!=) This title and Nightshade are my newest favs for 2010!
Here's my review:
http://lll808.blogspot.com/2010/08/arc-review-firelight-draki-1-by-sophie.html
now I reeeally want to read this one :)
ReplyDeleteBook Crazy Jenn - Well you won't have to wait long. Less than a week to publication :)
ReplyDeleteJustpeachy - There is a strong mother daughter relationship in FIRELIGHT that I didn't get to talk about in my review, but I think you and your daughter will love it.
LLL - Do you know anything about the sequel? I emailed Sophie & will post if I find out. I'm so glad you like Nightshade too, its my next read :)
Bella - You won't be disappointed. FIRELIGHT is a great fun read.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, it definitely makes me want to pick up this book.
ReplyDeleteChotti - Then mission accomplished :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I want this one so much!! I've been waiting to read a good dragon UF.
ReplyDeleteThe Jennifer Scales series is pretty cute about weredragons, beaststalkers, and werespiders. You might want to check them out.
Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace
I have read the book too, and its great. Do you know when the next part will appear?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you didn't pan this one Abigail, because I'm looking forward to reading it this month. That cover is gorgeous. I love it when the wrapper matches the book inside.
ReplyDeleteShera - That's the series by MaryJanice Davidson right? I read about them years ago but never picked one up. I might have to now. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteSoleil - I wish I did. If I had to guess I would say summer 2011.
Rebecca - The cover is lovely. From the fire red hair to the slit pupil...so beautiful. And the book was a lot of fun too. I'l be interested to read what stood out to you in your review.
If you find yourself getting hooked on dragons, you might want to look for "The Dragon DeleSangre". It's an older book and doesn't really have any sex in it, but it was the first series I read that brought dragons to modern times.
ReplyDeleteMarty - I'll have to check that one out. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDelete