Review: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Title: Firelight
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 2010
Pages: 323
My Copy: Won from Book Lovers Inc.

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.

Before my obsession with wolves developed I was crazy about dragons and still am to a certain extent thus I was very excited to read Firelight. My only experiences with dragon literature to-date comes from fantasy novels so this was my first young adult adventure. This story is very different from the ones I’ve read but in a good way. I enjoyed Sophie Jordan’s take on dragons and her writing style flows nicely. Jacinda and Will are great characters whom I loved from the get-go. The teen agnst side wasn’t overdone and contrasted nicely with the young woman’s struggle to find her place in the human world.

Sophie Jordan’s approach to dragons is original and very detailed. Her wold-building skills are impressive and interesting. I liked how she included key draconic lore such as gemstones, pride life and different breeds. The draki element is also a great addition. Not only does it make for great camouflage but not everyone who’s born into this life actually sprouts scales. This fact becomes very important later on in the book and is the main cause behind some of Jacinda’s biggest problems. The various pride members also have very different opinions on what it means to be a draki. Some see it as a blessing while others see it as a burden. All of the dragons have different gifts depending on their breed as well.

The villains are especially loath-worthy in this tale and they’re split up into two distinct groups: hunters and fellow draki. The hunters I expected and their goals are similar to most poachers’. They relentlessly hunt down these beautiful creatures for their blood and skin. They reminded me of Cruella from 101 Dalmations in that they want everything they own to be made from something draconic. Surprisingly, Jacinda’s other nemesises are her fellow pride members, especially Cassian. His priorities are warped and he wants to be mated to her for entirely selfish reasons. He made my skin crawl from the very beginning and the feeling grew more pronounced as the story progressed.

I pitied Jacinda for almost all of the 323 pages of this book. Everyone keeps pulling her in different directions while thinking that they know what’s best when in reality they’re only thinking about themselves. Her own mother and sister are among them. I found her mom to be a very poor excuse for a parent; encouraging Jacinda to kill off the part of her that makes her unique instead of embracing her differences. What kind of role model does that? Not a very good one in my opinion! Will finds himself in a similar situation except that he’s human. He’s a real sweetheart who’s perfect for Jacinda. If I wasn’t so dead-set against not developing fictional crushes on Young Adult characters, Will would definitely be on my list!

Firelight is an entertaining read that also incorporates some important problems that all teenagers face. I enjoyed Sophie Jordan’s dragons and her characters are endearing. The ending annoyed me a little; I understand that the author needed to leave room for the sequel but I think it could have been done differently. Other than that though, this book was a pleasure to read and I look forward to reading Vanish in the fall. Be sure to check out the cover if you haven’t done so already, it’s gorgeous!

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