Firelight - Brennender Kuss

I wanted to like this as much as others did, but I found myself just wanting to get through it. Maybe I'm just burnt out on teen fiction for awhile, but it seemed there was 80% teen angst wanting a boy she shouldn't have, 10% were dragon pack catching up to her and 10% absolute horror at the game she was trying to play with the family of the boy she shouldn't have! It's not a bad story and the writing was fine, but it was more teen love anguish than I really wanted and I was more annoyed at the characters than loving them. And her mother and sister, wow. Talk about family guilting you into not being yourself. Ouch!

Jacinda is a draki (otherwise known as a dragon decedent). But not only is she a dragon, Jacinda's a firebreather which makes her an extra special and rare dragon. Her Pride not only wants to own her, they want to control her. She's forced to leave her Pride with her mother and sister and live among the mortals in a barren desert that is slowly killing Jacinda's draki. Jacinda must deny her true nature and pretend to be human. When she meets Will, he becomes her oasis in a desert. Beautiful, kind and sexy, Will feeds her draki and keeps her alive. But Will and his family are hunters. Their family hunts Jacinda's kind and kills them. They are the ultimate starcrossed lovers - a hunter and his prey.

I liked this story a lot. It was different and fun and Jordan writes heartbreaking and hot romance. I did get a bit frustrated. I listened to the audiobook and Jacinda tends to have lots of thoughts about how she should answer questions or about her real feelings and, listening to the audiobook, it was difficult to tell at times whether Jacinda was really saying something or if she was thinking it. So, I'd get really excited thinking she was confessing her feelings and she was just thinking them. That is no fault of the narrator who did an excellent job. I think the way the story is written it doesn't come across well on audiobook. I recommend reading this book instead of listening to it.

Firelight is another recently-released YA that got a lot of hype. This time, I don’t quite agree. The concept is great, I will grant that. But I felt as if most of the book was a never-ending cycle of Jacinda saying “I want Will but I can’t have him so I don’t want him but I ACTUALLY DO want him—-” over and over. Just a titch annoying.The opening chapter was fantastic— I was immediately sucked in. But then Jacinda and her family went off to have a “normal life”, and things got boring. Let’s go back to Dragon Land! There is more excitement to be had in Dragon Land! C’mon!Though the whole romance with Will, Dragon Hunter, was smoldering, it really had no reason to happen. Okay, there was probably some “soulmate” stuff going on, but in my opinion, that’s a cheap gimmick to get characters to love each other instantly.Alright, those were my negatives. Like I said, I enjoyed the opening chapter, and I also enjoyed the surprise ending involving Will. The land of the dragons looked like it would shape up to be pretty cool, but again, we didn’t see much of it. Jacinda’s mom and sister were interesting plot devices, and I enjoyed becoming quite frustrated with them. The concept of “killing” one’s inner draki was interesting as well.Overall, I’d say Firelight was alright. If it didn’t have Jacinda’s constant attachment-avoidance cycle, I would have been more satisfied, I think. Here’s to hoping the next book will return us to doing more dragonly things (‘cause you know it will…!).(Originally posted to 365 Days of Reading)

Every once in awhile I read a YA paranormal novel that may follow the standard format but still stands out above the rest. This is the case with "Firelight" by Sophie Jordan.Our main character, Jacinda, is a draki, or a dragon type creature. She lives in a hidden pride with her mother and twin sister Tamara. Her mother hasn't shifted to her draki in a very long time and is now mostly human. Tamara has never manifested and is largely ignored and looked down upon by the pride. Jacinda is the prize of the pride because she has the rare (nearly extinct) talent of being a fire breather. But Jacinda breaks a rule and meets a human boy -a hunter- named Will. When her pride determines Jacinda must be severely punished, her mother leaves town with Jacinda and Tamara to begin a human life.There is a very real sense of danger and desperation throughout the book. It creates an urgency that kept me racing to the end of the book. I almost couldn't put it down. The pride, including the leader's son Cassian, is trying to find Jacinda. Jacinda runs into the human boy at her new school. His evil family are hunters. Will's cousins especially have it in for Jacinda immediately.The romance is one of my favorites. It's a tale of forbidden love between a hunter and his prey. Will has obvious distaste for what his family does. He is biding his time until he can get away from them. Jacinda and Will are drawn to each other in a very compelling way. I liked Will from the start. He is a good guy with a horrible family. He wants to keep Jacinda safe when his own family poses her the greatest danger. Unlike in many YA romances, I actually found the relationship between Will and Jacinda to be very believable.The other characters are equally fleshed out. Jacinda's mom wants to do what is best for them, but she resents being a draki and being stuck with the pride. She loves Jacinda but still wants Jacinda to `kill off' her draki. To Jacinda's way of thinking she might as well kill herself as kill the draki part of her. Tamara thrives in their new human life. After always being ignored by the pride, she loves being able to hang around normal people who take a real interest in her. The relationship between sisters is very complex. They don't seem to like each other all that much, but still they are very connected.The book just brings together many common elements and ideas in a way that is bright, unique and fun. If you have missed out on reading "Firelight" and enjoy YA paranormal fiction, I encourage you to remedy that right away!

I want to yell and cry! I can't believe the ending, even if it was good and had me on the edge of my seat, I still can't get over how it turned out.Am I disappointed? Not in the least, just surprised.Now I have to get a copy of the next book.... I have to know what happens next.... what do they do to Jacinda??? Oh, the burning questions in my mind....Yes, if you haven't read this book, get a copy. I mean, who isn't fascinated by dragons?! And this is like no other dragon story out there, it's waaaay cooler than that!I don't know which I liked better, the adventure/fantasy aspect or the romance. It was a great blend of both and very exciting!

Jacinda Jones is a draki - a descendant of dragons - and is the only draki in her pride to have the ability to breathe fire. This makes her something of a "hot" commodity (pardon the pun), but when she breaks one of the pride's rules, her mother, twin sister, Tamra, and Jacinda flee the pride to avoid the consequences of her actions. While trying to adjust to a completely human existence, she meets Will, a smoldering boy at her school, who makes her want to manifest into draki form. There's only one problem: Will is a hunter, the draki's main predator. Jacinda knows she should stay away from him, but soon realizes that this is impossible, as Will is the only thing keeping her draki from withering away and dying.So, this book. I read the synopsis and my initial reaction was, "Yay, something new that isn't angels/vampires/werewolves!" And then I saw the mixed reviews and thought, "Hmm, maybe I'll be one of those who loves this!" Oh, silly self. While this book isn't terrible, it reminded me pretty significantly of "Twilight" and "Hush, Hush", which I've read more recently. And I don't say that as a compliment. Overall I found myself irritated with Jacinda, and only reading the latter half of this book just to finish it. Not what I wanted at all; to say this was a disappointment would succinctly sum up my thoughts.I'm not going to go on and on about what I didn't like, but here are a couple of brief summations: Jacinda was unbelievably indecisive. "I need to stay away from Will. I can keep my draki alive myself." Then on the next page, "I couldn't do this myself. I needed Will." Lather, rinse, repeat. Also, we have another case of insta-love, in that Will sees Jacinda in the hallway and is instantly interested. And Jacinda's been smitten with him since she first met him in her draki form. It was all a bit too much. Will is a bit of a stalker, too - he watches her from afar, visits her house late at night (and never mind that he convinced the school secretary to give him her address), picks her up unannounced for school one morning, etc. The one thing I will say about their relationship is that Sophie Jordan definitely knows how to write make-out scenes; Jacinda wasn't the only one bursting into flames at Will's touch. :-PThis entire book was one big, "I want to be with him but I CAAAAAAAAAAAN'T because we're ENEMIES, but I NEEEEEEEEED him and can't live withOUT him,"-fest and it got really irritating after a while. The only interesting bits were when when Cassian (who is the next alpha-in-line of the pride) showed up; he helped move the "plot" along, at least. But overall I was left with the impression that this book was a bit too long and far too heavy on the "forbidden love" theme. I would have liked to see more about the drakis and their world, instead of being thrust into a high school setting where the new girl gets the hot (and previously uninterested-in-dating) guy. I wanted more struggle for Jacinda to hold on to her draki ancestry, not an easy and sudden fix once she starts spending time with Will. I don't know. This book just really didn't do it for me.Also, there were a few lines that made me think immediately of "Twilight", and I will share one of those: "He's an addictive drug to me that I can't quit." Hmm, sound familiar? As if we needed MORE to draw the comparisons between the stories.Anyway, to wrap this up, this wasn't a great book by any means. I found the main character irritating, the plot pretty formulaic and the surprises completely not. Portions of it were enjoyable, but the things I didn't like definitely outnumbered the things I did. Definitely not going to rush out to read the sequel.

I don't know how to rate this book, on one hand the author has created a unique world that sets it apart from other YA books, on the other, I felt that in some parts, it doesn't make sense..Maybe it's because Jacnida is so confused, too confused to my taste. As usual, the love was too quick, not even a first date. A real conversation would have been nice before Will and Jace had these "hot" kisses. It's wasn't a bad read. I enjoyed it, but I do hope the next book, it would make more sense.

Mini Book Review: Really love the premise on this one, but was a wee bit disappointed in the execution of the story. The writing is good and the storyline is interesting and fast paced, its just the story is definitely more suitable for a teen audience. There is way too much angst for my enjoyment and I wanted to slap the heroine for being so wishy washy and self involved. If you are a teen or enjoy this sort of angsty stuff than this is a fabulous story for you. No offense to the author on my lower rating (but hey 3 still signifies a good book by me) nothing to do with her talents, the rating is just based on my enjoyment of the story. Of course I am still going to read the rest of the books in the series because it interested me enough to want to know what happens and hopefully the character will become more likeable. 3 Dewey's My kids babysitter lent it to me

Firelight by Sophie Jordan was one of those books that had been sitting on my bookshelf for months and months, one that I'd always been meaning to read, but that I'd never gotten to. Now that I've finally read it, I feel like I should be banging my head against the wall demanding to myself why the heck I didn't read it before!I really loved this book, once I picked it up I could hardly put it down! I've never really read many books about dragons, so reading Firelight was something refreshing, exciting and new! I've always found dragons to be fascinating creatures and Sophie Jordan's unique spin on them made this book different and unique in the best way possible!In Firelight, the draki, descendants of ancient dragons, are able to shift between a dragon and human form, as well as each possessing a special talent, magic or power. They live in large groups together called prides, secluded and hidden from humans as well as hunters. I found the dynamics of life in Jacinda's pride to be quite interesting for many reasons and look forward to delving deeper into the way life works and what goes on in the pride in future books in this series!I also really liked Jacinda, I found her to be quite fierce and spunky. She is so proud of her draki blood and it is such a huge part of her life and who she is. I liked the fact that she wasn't willing to give up such a huge part of who she was even under the constant pressure from her family to give it up and under other harsh circumstances. She did everything she could to fight to keep such a vital part of herself alive and I really respect her for that.Will, our main love interest, who just so happens to be a draki hunter, was also a really great, complex character. I feel like he and Jacinda both suffered from having to deal with their families forcing them to be something they're not. Although there were so many factors that brought these two together, I think that learning about one another, realizing that both of their families were forcing them into lives that they didn't want (lives that would also force them apart), as well as discovering the truth about what each other was and accepting it were the most important points in their relationship.Overall, I really loved everything about this book! The plot was gripping, the characters were intriguing, the love story was enthralling, and the whole dragon aspect was pretty darn awesome! Not to mention the fact that Sophie Jordan's writing was fantastic! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, without a doubt :)

First, the cover is beautiful, really really nice work done here. Second, the book was good. Not amazingly good but good. I don't usually vent about what I didn't like in a book but this time I'm going to make a little tiny exception.I love dragons, that's why I bought this book in the first place. I was expecting a book about the girl who turns to be also a dragon and her fight (real fights, with her Pride and the bad guys, a heroine with no fear) to be with the guy she loves. And I kind of got that... but not in a good way. You see, yes, Jacinda, the main character, is a draki - a descendant of Dragons- and she is even more special since she was born as a fire-breather, the first one in centuries. So not only she is important for the Pride she is supposed to mate with the Pride's heir, Cassien, to "create" more fire-breathers. But she really doesn't care about that, somehow she thinks that she will be able to avoid her destiny and, being the rebellious she is she convinces her best friend to go out off the Pride limits and fly.And so they do. They let their human appearance dissolve and become the drakis they love to be... until draki hunters came for them. And what would they do to them? Well, they would kill them or torture them. So Jacinda and Az ran for their lifes. Luckily for Az she managed to go back to the Pride but Jacinda, who was distracting the hunters, tried to hide and a hunter found her... a handsome guy, just her age, who whispered she was beautiful and went away without alerting the other hunters.When she returns home her mom takes a decision: they have to leave the Pride and run away because they don't only want to use Jacinda to crate more fire-breathers but they even consider the idea of clipping her wings to keep her with them... and to clip the wings of a draki is one of the cruelest things they could ever do. Of course Jacinda doesn't believe her mom and is against leaving but her twin sister, Tamra, who never developed her draki nature and was considered a paria between her kind was eager to leave and start a new life. So the three of them left the Pride hopefully to never come back.Sadly this is when the dragon story turns into a "high-school normal teenager book". In their new city Jacinda runs into Will, the hunter who saved her life. Of course at first he can't tell that that draki and Jacinda are the same person but realizes that there's something odd in her. And now Jacinda has to fight for two things: she needs to keep her draki alive since her mother chose a small town near a dessert with the only intention to kill that side of her (not because she is a horrible mother but because she is scared of the Pride and wants to protect Jacinda... in a cruel way...) and to stay away from Will because, well, he IS a hunter, just like his whole family but the attraction is there and eventually they can't fight their feelings.Yes, I know, the book doesn't sounds that bad and actually you are right, is not that bad but I was expecting an awesome book with almighty dragons, fiercely hunters and love between the main plot. Anyway, I also read Vanish, the second book and it gets better ;)That's why the real rating for this book is 3.5

I was blown away by FIRELIGHT. The mythology, the characters, the writing, the romance...ugh! Just awesome.It's hard to say too much without giving anything away, so I'll focus on the basics. The world Sophie Jordan created is fantastic. It is new, different, and exciting, but also connected to the world we're familiar with. I liked the blending of the two worlds. Even once the basics were laid out for the reader, there were still plenty of twists and surprises along the way. I really enjoyed Will and his role in the story. He has some secrets of his own, just like Jacinda.After reading FIRELIGHT, I'm very excited to read VANISH. Can't wait!

Teaser:"You should stay away from me. Something I already know, but sitting in the front seat of his car, I'm not quite succeeding at that. I wish I could." - pg. 128My Review:Firelight is one of those books that eases you into not wanting to put it down, then leaves you wanting more. It is like hot chocolate on a cold day, you know you want it but once you start drinking it you have no idea what you did the rest of the day cold and without chocolate. Jordan takes a teenage coming of age story and gives it a nice draki twist. The main character, Jacinda, is a rare breed of draki which makes her more of a commodity than a person in her Pride. This is especially evident when the Prince of the Pride, Cassian, deems her as his mate without really caring if she is interested or not. In addition to her complicated Pride life, her father is dead and her mother and twin sister want nothing to do with the draki world. Jacinda's mom's solution is to runaway from the Pride, which means the whole rest of the story is told from living in the human world as a draki. If it is not clear this is a horrible thing for Jacinda who feels she is having to sacrifice who she is to make her family happy. The rest of the story you will have to read the read to book to get the details, but here is some juicy stuff to hold you over: there is another boy thrown into the mix (I'm on Team Will), Jacinda comes face to face with the draki's mortal enemies, and there is a chick fight (love those). You will not be disappointed if you read this book! Things I Liked:First off, I really enjoyed the paranormal change. Do not get me wrong I love me some vampires, witches, and various forms of animal shifters, but being a mythical dragon that can shift into a human is pretty awesome. Secondly, the cover is just tasty. Red heads with blue eyes are such a rare happening, then when I found out twins were in the story I got even more excited. I have an unnatural love of twins and after having read Jaye Wells' Sabina Kane series let me tell you I love a good twin drama. Finally, I love how she ended this book. So many of the people I talked to about this book were complaining about the cliffhanger ending, but I felt like that is where I would have paused the story. It felt natural. Overall, I thought this book was very well done and I cannot wait to read the next book in the Firelight Series, Vanish.My Complaints:I wanted more information about the different kinds of drakis. With this story being predominately in a setting where Jacinda was forced to keep her true self hidden we were not given as much of the draki world as I would have liked. While I do love how she ended the book it is not a stand alone novel, which I always expect even books in a series to be.

Loved it. Unique concept and very well portrayed first, out-of-control love story. Definitely reading the sequel.

In YA paranormal fiction, all too often we have vamps, werewolves and the like thrown in our faces over and over and over again, and for me this can get a tad repetitive. ;) In Firelight, one of the things that instantly drew me into Jacinda's world was that she was a draki... (a dragon) AWESOME right?And come on- the inside flap had me dying to read this... dragons or not, "A HIDDEN TRUTH. MORTAL ENEMIES. DOOMED LOVE."Jacinda is the first fire-breather born to her pride in over 400 years, which makes her quite the sought after commodity. Cassian, the future alpha is determined to have Jacinda as his mate... but at what cost to herself? Jacinda condemns her fire-breathing and her great speed because they make her stand out...Until the day the hunter's unkknowingly break up her already forbidden DAYLIGHT flight, then she is extremely grateful for both of her unusual qualities. Her attempt to escape the hunters does not go as she had hoped... Injured, she jumps into freezing water to take shelter in a cave and a hunter jumps in after her!Too frightened to change from her draki form, she is still very much a dragon as the hunter... Will... approaches her, slowly taking in the amazing sight before him. He reaches out and says one word, "Beautiful." Then he is gone and tells the hunters that he couldn't find her!Cassian is furious when she returns and for Jacinda's non-compliance his father now demands that she is to become Cassian's mate immediately! Her mother will NOT have it, she takes Jacinda and her sister Tamra away in the middle of the night to a city outside Vegas. The dry air and desert heat will supposedly aide in killing the draki inside her.Letting her draki die is the last thing that Jacinda wants, she has decided to keep it alive within her- no matter what the cost! At school, she senses something that makes the hair on the back of her neck stand on end... A hunter... WILL! At once her draki comes alive and she knows what she has to do. She has to be around Will for her draki, so what if his kisses leave her weak in the knees?Above all, she must remember that Will and his entire family have hunted the draki for centuries... it was out of pure terror that she manifested in front of his entire family, and her sister... and Cassian, who had come to take her home to the pride.I read Firelight in the span of a day! Jacinda is a freaking awesome heroine, her and Will completely set the pages on FIRE! (get it?) Sophie Jordan's world of the draki life was depicted gorgeously and was utterly unique to me in every way! Complete perfection!My only complaint was their, "I want you- Get away from me." back and forth, over and over. I get why they BOTH needed to stay away from the other, but I can't tell you how happy I was when Will finally said, "I want to be with you Jacinda." he shakes his head. "I'm done fighting it."4.5 Stars!

This book was fantastic! It was so great to read a truly original storyline. I loved the new mythology that the author created. It was so inventive and truly something I hadn't read about before. There have been many books about people interacting with dragons- but I don't think I have ever read a book that was a person turning INTO a dragon! This book has gotten some slack on the internet- as a thinly veiled copy of a werewolf story. To that, I say- you need to get your head out of Twilight. (cough cough) Do yourself a favor- go read this book. And then go read the summary for the second book here. PS- Did you know this has already been optioned for a movie? So excited!

Firelight is the first book in a series about modern descendants of dragons, the draki. Draki have developed the power to transform themselves into human form to hide from the men who would hunt them to extinction for profit. Jacinda, our narrator, is the last fire-breather of her pride and the victim of her pride's high expectations. She is already promised in marriage to Cassian, the son of an elder, doomed to a life of breeding to produce another fire-breather until one day, after a forbidden daylight flight, everything changes. Cornered by hunters, Jacinda is sure she is moments from death, until the hunter sent to find her spares her. Soon, Jacinda is being swept away from her home by her mother and sister to a place where she is forced to deny her very nature to survive, but when the very hunter who saved her life shows up in her new life, problems aren't far behind. Firelight is a fantastic start to a new YA series. The draki's nature and way of life is cleverly fleshed out. There is, of course, a convincing forbidden love story between two characters with undeniable chemistry. Jacinda makes a great narrator, pulled in so many different directions by all the people around her, yet determined to stay true to herself and her own draki nature. There's plenty of action and suspense to keep the pages turning, but never at the expense of the characters' development. I'm looking forward to reading more about Jacinda and the rest of the draki!

I'm so thrilled I got a chance to read this thanks to Star Book Tours! I was hoping I'd get to review it early. This was a fantastic young adult debut from Sophie Jordan. I enjoyed reading it a lot, and will definitely continue with the series.I wish it had had a complete story in and of itself...but unfortunately it pretty much just ends on a 'to be continued' note so we don't get any real resolution. I understand that you need to give your readers a reason to come back, but I don't think leaving them completely unfulfilled is the best way to do that. That being said, it works. Sure I complain about it, but does it stop me from picking up the next book? No.Other than that, I don't have any complaints. The characters were all engaging and the plot was original and constantly moving the book forward. There weren't any slow points and I flew through the story not wanting to put it down.Jacinda and Will redefine the term smoldering gaze. They lit the book on fire just by looking at each other. As a rule, I'm not a fan of characters coming together without any real build-up...but let me tell you. Sophie Jordan can really capture intensity in her writing. Great stuff!So, don't let my warning of a cliffhanger keep you from picking this up. It is definitely worth reading! Just be prepared for the long wait until the next book of the series is released.

Dragons are just a myth... or are they? The Draki are a descendant of the dragons, with special powers and the ability to demanifest in human form - something only they themselves know about. 16-year-old Jacinda is most revered among these special creatures... for she is the only fire-breather in generations! Because of this, the pride has specific plans set aside for her. On a forbidden daylight flight, Jacinda is spotted and almost captured by the Hunters. What saves her but the one thing she should fear the most, Will. They immediately feel drawn to each other, a special connection neither can deny. When Jacinda returns home to the pride, she faces dire consequences. To escape these repercussions, Jacinda and her family flee the pride in the middle of the night. Her mother takes them to a desert town in Nevada, where the elements take their toll on Jacinda. The lack of vegetation and precipitation cause Jacinda's inner draki to diminish. If she loses her inner draki, she loses herself and will be forced to retain her human form the rest of her life. Her mother hopes the process will be quick, but Jacinda will do whatever it takes to remain a draki... even if it means risking everything and trusting the enemy. Will may be a Hunter, but he makes her draki feel alive.The mythology of the draki is something not often done. It was incredibly unique and fascinating reading about "dragons". I would have liked a little more back-history on the draki, the pride, the enkros... possibly in the next book.I did not like Jacinda's family at all. Her twin sister, Tamra, and her mother wanted her to give up being a draki. I didn't understand how they could force this upon her, force her to give up everything she was. Couldn't they have moved to some lush, green area allowing her to keep her draki while still being away from the pride?I could care less for Cassian. Thinking he can get whatever he wants, do whatever he wants... ugh. Who cares that he will soon be the king of the pride... I sure don't.I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Will. Every time Will looked at Jacinda, I could feel myself in her place... all hot and tingly! :) The end of the story left me sad... And unfortunately, as like every other series I've started recently, I have to wait until next year to continue the story of Will and Jacinda. I'm looking forward to it.

FIRELIGHT, by Sophie Jordan, introduced me to a supernatural creature that I have never read about before, dragons. Or in this case draki. I was immediately drawn to this book by the cover, isn't it gorgeous? The subtle changes in the human form make the cover intriguing and when I heard about it, I just had to read it.I read this book a couple of weeks ago and I have been going back and forth about the review. I wanted to love the book but I couldn't. I did like the book but there were times when I wanted to close it and be done with it.I really liked the creativity Jordan put into her creation of the draki. Since I have never read a dragon book I can't compare it to anything else but I thought the history and way of life was stellar. I wanted Jacinda to let her draki come out more often because I enjoyed experiencing the natural freedom it gave her. I did enjoy the suspense of the story and the cliffhanger ending did leave me wanting more.I did not like how easily the romance blossomed between Jacinda and Will. It seemed to happen too quickly and Jacinda would be hot and cold about the relationship at the drop of a hat. It went back and forth too often and it seemed to me that the relationship was there, just to be there. I don't want to spoil too much, that is why it was tough for me to write the review. I have an idea about why the connection is so strong between these two and it might negate what I just said, but it was not explained in this book so I am actually excited for the next book to answer more questions.Overall, this was a good book. The draki culture really make it stick out to me, but in the relationship department I found myself being taken out of the story too often.

I was excited to read this book and have heard a lot of great things about it. I finally borrowed it from the library. It was a quick read and the writing style was very readable. It is another one of those star-crossed teen stories. It was cool that the main heroine can shift into a dragon but not so cool that the story was very similar to other YA star-crossed love stories out there.Jacinda is a draki and extraordinary among her race because she is a rare Firebreather. Her mother and her sister aren't draki though; and her mother especially wants Jacinda to let her draki part die. Her mother forces Jacinda and her twin sister Tamra to flee the clan and take up residence in a smallish desert town. There Jacinda bumps into a boy named Will, a dragon hunter, whom she is drawn to like no other.This book is set in modern times and a lot of it takes place in a high school setting where Jacinda is dealing with trying to blend into a new high school, pretty standard teen stuff. Jacinda also has to deal with the fact that whenever she is near Will he brings out her draki nature (makes her glow and get all hot...literally). Jacinda starts the story as a spirited character and then kind of turns all plain and boring; she doesn't stand up to her mother or really do anything other than just drag her feet through the book.I found it disturbing that Jacinda's mom wanted her daughter to kill part of herself off throughout the book. This gave the book a very yucky feeling to me and seemed completely counter-intuitive to how a mom would treat her daughter. Definitely not a healthy mother/daughter relationship there.The whole Will and Jacinda relationship is the type of relationship that I hate seeing in YA books. They basically fall in love at first sight; for no apparent reason. Then Jacinda is all "Will stay away from me!" and then a few pages later "Oh, Will I want you." then a little bit later she wants him to stay away again. It is maddening and obnoxious. Will is your run of the mill stalker, and follows Jacinda everywhere...even breaking into her house. How is this romantic? Then of course their relationship is starcrossed because Jacinda gets so hot when she is with Will that she almost burns him alive...how will they ever be able to be together?! I didn't like any aspect of their relationship.The book is pretty much predictable from beginning to end. As for the world-building, there isn't much of it. There is some mention of clans outside of Jacinda's, but not much and there isn't much history given on the draki. The book really just focuses on the social teen aspects of high school and Jacinda and Will's starcrossed relationship.The book ends with a number of things unresolved and really doesn't give any closure on anything. So if you read this, and enjoy it, be prepared to immediately pick-up Vanish (the 2nd book in the series) when it comes out in September to see what happens. Jordan's writing style is easy to read, if a bit too simple at times (no complex sentences or large words).Overall this book was not one of my favorites. I was so excited to read a book about dragons and what I got was yet another mediocre story about high school teen angst and star-crossed love. This is one of those books where the most positive thing about it for me was that it was a quick read. If you are a fan of teen stories that focus on high school life with a couple that inexplicably falls in starcrossed love for no reason and has shapeshifting dragons in it this may be the book for you. Personally I will stick with other more interesting stories. For a great YA read check out Divergent by Veronica Roth, Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready, Nightshade by Andrea Cremer, or Paranomalcy by Kiersten White.

I hate when I read reviews and people have compared books to "Twilight" saying that the book that they read is a blatant rip-off of "Twilight" and whatnot, because a) "Twilight" ain't the most original story out there and therefore it should not be the book that all other books are compared to and b) the majority of the time the book that the reviewer has said is just like "Twilight" isn't. At. All. A lot of time I go out of my way to defend these books because, as mentioned, in the majority of cases they are not like "Twilight" and in my opinion, I think that by comparing them to "Twilight" people who are completely anti-"Twilight" will set these books aside thinking that they are cliche-ridden books with lots of teen angst and sparkly hot male characters and not read them- and I think that in not reading them they are missing out on some really great stories. Now you may be wondering where this is all leading to? Well, I must admit... I found the first half of this book to be entirely reminiscent of "Twilight" (hangs my head in shame, I know, I know... I am totally being hypocritical) and then the second half of the book seemed entirely reminiscent of Claudia Gray's "Evernight" series.Now how was this book so similar to "Twilight"? Well first off, Both Bella and Jacinda move before they feel pressure to do so, second, they go to their new school and meet a boy, a boy who happens to hang out with a crowd that the entire school seems to worship/ hold in awe, the boys family. Though all of the girls at the boys schools throw themselves at said boy he never shows any interest in them until new girl comes along. New girl and boy start to develop feelings for one another, but boy keeps telling girl that she shouldn't hang out with him because he is dangerous. One of one's family members takes a weird interest in girl and tries to intimidate her whenever possible (ie. Rosalie and Xander). Both boys (and their families) disappear from school for days at a time (one uses the excuse of fly fishing, one uses the excuse of camping). When boy is gone from school girl becomes overly dramatic moaning and groaning about how she misses said boy and how her life is a little less bright without him in it.And how is this book similar to Claudia Grays "Evernight" series? Both boy and girl are keeping major secrets from one another. Girl is a paranormal/ fantastical being and boy is a hunter, a hunter who kills said paranormal/ fantastical being. Despite knowing about one another's secrets, both fall in love and all seems doomed because of their families/ occupations. Both girls also have boys of their paranormal/ fantastical race who wants to be with them, pretty much at whatever cost, and both boys get kinda jealous when girl chooses "the enemy" over him.All in all? I think that despite the similarities between "Twilight" and the "Evernight" series this is still a good book, but I just wish that it had been a bit more unique. I must say that I do prefer Jacinda over "Twilight's" Bella because Jacinda actually has a personality, though I prefer Bella's/ Edward's family over Jacinda's family, mainly because, for the most case, Edward's family was supportive of him (I cannot comprehend whatsoever what is going on in Jacinda's mothers head. Yes, I understand that she wants to keep her daughter safe, but pretty much forcing her daughter's draki to die? Not cool. They could have moved to a town like Forks! Where it was always rainy and tree-y and everything, where Jacinda could have really thrived, instead she forced them to move to the dessert where Jacinda was pretty much in pain 99.9% of the time). And the ending? Well, I wouldn't consider this to be a full story whatsoever. There are a ton of loose ends that were not tied up, nor even touched upon! It seriously just ended, probably with one of the worst cliffhanger endings I have ever read before. When all is said and done, I will read the second book in this series, which comes out in September, "Vanish", here's to hoping that it is more unique than this book!

This book is Twilight meets Nightshade. AKA: FABULOUS! This book was fantastic. This is easily one of my new favorite series. I can't wait to read the next book. The story never dragged and was easily accepted as possible. Even when I was forced to put it down I was still thinking about the characters and the storyline. I wasn't sure how I would receive the Dragon concept, but I found the Draki history and details very believable. I never found mayself asking why or how about any of the things they said or did. I enjoyed this new paranormal spin very much. The overall storyline was very complicated without being overbearing and contained a lot of different storylines which developed smoothly throughout the whole book. It was an effortless read. I love Will's character. He does remind me of Edward minus the vampire aspect. He is mysterious, steamy, and passionate, especially about jacinda. When we get glimpses into the real Will it is breathtaking. I can't wait to read the next installment where I hope we get more of Will. This book was mostly focused on Jacinda and developing her character. It is told from her perspective. She is a strong protagonist and easily likeable. The realtionships she has with all the different characters are well developed and very interesting. And they are different with all of them. I love Tamra's part in the story and how she and jacinda interact. I am very interested to get to know Cassian. I think that he is going to be like Ren in Nightshade, resented but interesting and then well liked. I think that Cassian may end up being the character we grow to like and then feel bad for. I couldn't read fast enough with this story. I continually wanted more of all of it. There was not a lot of predictability about it. There was one part towards the end that I saw coming but it didn't develop as I thought just started as I predicted. The only complaint that I have about this book which prevented me from giving it 5 stars was the ending. Fro m an author's perspective I would say it was genius. Form the reader's perspective I found it to be a little unfulfilling. It ended right in the middle of a huge crescendo. Just as the story built and built to the point of climax, it ended. I was left saying I can't believe that's how she ended it. It ofcourse makes me highly anticipate the next installment. I am dying to know what happens next. I want to see Will develop and see what happens to Tamra and Jacinda. I can't wait to read about Cassian and what his role will end up being in Jacinda's story. Bottom line: I WANT MORE!! Can't wait! Right up there with Twilight and Shiver series!

Firelight is a very strange and compelling book. There was something about it that bothered me, perhaps it was the vague similarities to both the Twilight series and another book I cannot remember the name of where the girl sneaks into the boy's house, which is forbidden to her (if you know what book, it's YA fantasy, possibly werewolves, please leave me a comment). Neither of these are necessarily bad things, but it makes reading this book a bit surreal. I enjoyed it and read it quite quickly and I do wish to read the rest of this series -- hopefully there will be a second book. Not great, but good.

One of my best friends recommended this book to me, but she said that the ending was terrible, so I put off reading it until recently. So when I finally picked it up, I was pleasantly surprised. The beginning was well written, giving you enough information to understand the concept of it, but hiding enough to where you want to keep reading. The middle of the book is what bugged me the most. Escpecially Jacinda's constant indecisive behaviour. I mean, as I explained it to one of my friends, "One day she'll be making out with Will on the school stairs, and the next she'll be saying to him 'I've been ignoring you for the past three days, why are you on my doorstep?'" And that constantly repeated itself throughout the middle. But once she finally caved, things began to settle in, taking shape, annoying me a little less. The ending was alright, I suppose. It reveals a huge surprise and opens up plenty of opportunites for imagination and questions. One major question being, "When does the sequel come out?" 

Meh - interesting premise but doesn't really flesh it out. Too much "Oooo he's so hot and he makes me burn" everytime they look/touch/kiss each other, too little world/dragon culture building. Little creeped out that she is constantly morphing into a dragon whenever she's turned on - what, suddenly he's making out with a reptile? Gross, can we say bestiality, anyone?

This book started off strong and really drew me in at first. Unfortunately, it lost that momentum and floundered for a long while, then finally picked up at the end. Jacinda's absolute dependence on Will made me wince. He was the center of the universe and she existed only to be with him. I also grew weary of the constant use of sentence fragments. Like on every page. Completely overdone. Effect lost.

I could be wrong, but it felt as though the story was being dragged out in order to make it into more than one book. Jacinda and Will kiss three or four times (I lost count) and each time, she pulls away because of the fire inside. That same effect could have been achieved with just one kiss and then we could have continued on with the story.

I happen to prefer dialogue-heavy books, since they generally make the reading fly by. Firelight was extremely light on dialogue, relying mostly on introspection, angst, and gazing into one another's eyes.

All that being said, I thought Jordan's word choices were vivid and painted Jacinda's internal landscape well. The story just didn't move fast enough to keep me wanting to find out what happens next.

I loved this great little dragon shifter story and can't wait to read the next one in the series. I really enjoy that the author left off this story at a place where it doesn't feel like a giant cliffhanger, but definitely left me wanting to find out what happens next. I would highly recommend this story to the Young Adult and Dragon Shifter Lovers groups.

The Draki species is original, an idea I truly loved. The first chapter of this book was a fantastic set up. The main character was a fantastic display of a strong, independent woman, her world breath taking, her people nothing short of extraordinary.

It had me hooked right up until her trying to cover up some incriminating evidence against who she really was.

Personally, I thought her relationship with Will was a little to back and forth for my tastes and I didn't care too much for the scene where she opens up completely about her people to him. If it were drawn out a little more, I'd be more accepting to it, but I don't think the scene did their relationship justice. That's most likely why it took me so long getting through this book, despite me listening to the audio book.

I'm giving this book three stars because, much like Nightshade by Andrea Cremer, it was a good start with loads of potential and I'd like to see where Sophie can take her characters.

Sophie Jordan wrote romance novels before foraying into teen paranormal romance for Firelight. There are some definite hints of this in the writing, not too overt and not worse than what happens in a lot of the teen books that are more about romance than anything else. It would not have bothered me at all, had I not had high hopes for the plot of this one. The premise is really great; how cool is the idea of people being able to turn into dragons!

There was one issue I had with the whole turning into a dragon thing though. Jacinda likes Will (Mr. Studly) partially for his ability to awaken her draki. (spoiler of obvious bit of plot point coming) Once Will has found out what she is, she no longer worries about shifting partway while they are making out, even though her face changes when that happens. Umm, what? Besides, do dragons even have lips? Or hands? The hands thing made me wonder too. At the end of the book, she brushes Will's face with her hand while dragon-ed out. That just does not fit my understanding of what a dragon would look like.

The relationship between Will and Jacinda is every bit the typical teen romance of melodrama-filled waffling between "I will love him forevers!" and "I can't be with him, because it's too dangerous!" Needless to say, that gets old, nor does it signal love to my brain. Unfortunately, the focus of the book (romance author) was on Will and Jacinda's relationship, not the cool fantasy story framing it. They make out a lot. And though her breasts don't heave, she does have intense physical reactions every time (dragon awakening).

I give this a resounding meh! It could have been good without the cookie cutter characters and the CW style romance, but as it is it's barely merits attention. Nevertheless, Twilight fans will likely adore it and the inevitable sequels.

Got an advanced readers copy of this, as at work I probably read the most teen fiction.

It was very easy to read through and I actually found the mythology a lot more compelling than the book, characters or romance. In fact, the main character Jacinda is rather annoying at times and the way they frame her as important to the draki and a free spirit seems at odd with a lot of her actions. Still, it made me intrigued enough that I would probably read the next one and while fitting the very formulaic teen-supernatural-romance genre, I like that the shapeshifter character is a bit different from the usual ones you see. 2.75/5