REVIEW : Firelight by Sophie Jordan
Author : Sophie Jordan
Publisher :
U.S. : HarperCollins
Indonesha : Atria
Source : Bought
Pages : 200
Summary from Goodreads :
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.
Cover Glimpse :
I have to say I'm really disappointed with the cover of translation version, since the first thing that made me want to read this book is the original cover.
2cents :
I was pretty excited and wanted to read Firelight so bad because, well, despite being dragged by some reviews, the premise sounds really unique about a girl who is dragon-shape-shifter. I was thinking like : "wow, DRAGON GIRL? This gonna be a bad-ass story!" or something like that. And I was captivated by the original cover which is so pretty and really match to the story perfectly (girl's face with slightly scales and dragon eyes, bad-ass!!!). One day I realized one of publisher here released the translation version of this book, not wasting time abruptly I bought it of course and as my bad habit, I put it on the shelf for quite a long time. Then at one day because of a guilt (lol) I decided to read it and... well... I have to say I was kinda... disappointed. No, it doesn't mean the story is that bad, interesting though, but maybe my expectation was a little too high /:.
To be honest, I expected this book would have a 'fiercer' storyline or some good action scenes since, well, you get the word 'dragon', but I didn't get it. I still appreciate what Sophie Jordan decided, but in my opinion, the story could be developed to be more intriguing and interesting, more than just emphasizing the teen drama-like and love story only. I felt the story just move around, not forward. Many people said the story is slightly like Twilight and well, I realized it too. But so strange, I did enjoy and love Twilight very much. And this one? I don't hate it nor love it because it leaves no remarkable thing at me. Just too bad.
Jacinda has a admirable characteristic actually. She's knows well about who she is and she loves her family so much. She goes through the hardship because she doesn't want to let down her mother despite of her longing to stay as herself and I could imagine how hard it is. But as I tried hard to understand her circumstances, I found it was tiring to read all her whines and her back-and-forth over some decisions she has made. Her inconsistency almost stopped me from reading this book. Once she decides one thing, then in the end she loses it. It's like reading the same thing over and over again until I almost couldn't hold my rage like "GIRL IF YOU REALLY WANT IT JUST GO AND GET LOST, OK". Really, I was like that almost for 3/4 book.
The love line between Jacinda and Will is an example of insta-love and a bit shallow for me. Will does do several good things to Jacinda but I didn't get it why in sudden she falls in love with Will although she barely know about him. Usually I always like a hero with mysterious and dangerous feeling like Will, and sometimes he does stalking a girl he likes. But strange, I feel nothing to him. Will still doesn't impress me much and his character isn't really stand out. I was more intrigue with Cassian who shows up just a moment but leave deep impression with his strong character as the alpha-male and the third person between Jacinda and Will.
Overall, don't let my 2cent bother you. I might be disappointed with this book, but you who love light romance and a Twihard perhaps, might not. The idea is brilliant, I have to tell, because at first I quite interested with the explanation about Draki community and the power of each kind. But then most of the rest was like a turning down, because it was far from I've imagined. I'll read Vanished though, because nevertheless I still curious about what happen next on Jacinda, her twin sister Tamra, Will and Cassian.
I think you should try to read this because it offers a different idea of paranormal story (although the love story seems really common these days). Happy reading! =)
I was a bit disappointed in this one too when I read it .. I look forward to know what you think of Vanished though to know if it's better than the first book. Great review Elisa :)
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