 | Title: Firespell Author: Chloe Neill Series: Dark Elite #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Reading level: Young Adult Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Signet (January 5, 2010) ISBN-10: 0451228863 ISBN-13: 978-0451228864  Source: Bought Reviewed by: Abigail |
Book Description
New Girl.
New School.
Old Evil.
From the author of the Chicagoland Vampires novels.
A new series about a boarding school filled with something worse than homework.
Lily's parents have sent her to a fancy boarding school in Chicago filled with the ultra-rich. If that wasn't bad enough, she's hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophie's creepy campus. Her roommate, Scout, keeps her sane, but keeps disappearing at night. When one day Lily finds Scout running from real-life monsters, she learns the hard way that Scout is involved in a splinter group of rebel teens.
They protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and dark magic users. It's too bad Lily doesn't have powers of her own to help. At least, none that she's discovered yet...
Review
Once again set in the city of Chicago, author Chloe Neill starts a YA series about a group of magical teenagers who secretly battle the forces of evil. Great dialogue, an intriguing mystery, and likable characters make up for a few shortcomings.
The first half of FIRESPELL was a little slow for me. Too many hints dropped about the school, the students, Lily’s parents etc. over and over again with very little provided in the way of answers. Once Lily does learn the truth—most of it—things picked up noticeably.
The dialogue was sharp, smart, and rapid-fire quick from start to finish. Another high was the private girls school of St. Sophia’s that was very reminiscent of the school Rory went to on Gilmore Girls, Chilton, even with the same snooty girls and crazy hard academics.
The romance, what little there was, felt tacked on. Lily spoke only a handful of sentences to Jason, and knew even less about his personality before they both started acting like a couple. The book might have been better off if the entire romantic subplot had been pushed to the next book.
HEXBOUND, the second book in the Dark Elite series, is available now and I’ve been drawn in enough by the mysteries surrounding Lily (and the snarky fun exchanges between her and Scout) that I’ve already got it on my shelf.
My Rating:
3/5
Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.
Click HERE to read an excerpt
Previous books in the series:
- N/A
I'm really interested in this series!! It looks super good ;) You'll have to let me know how you like the rest of them. Great review!
ReplyDeleteEmma - definitely bent to a younger audience, but the dialogue is really fun.
ReplyDelete