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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
4 stars
Maia lives in a world where phantoms, that eat people, appeared in the 1800s. To combat them are 4 girls with elemental powers called Effigies. When one of the girls dies, another appears. Maia has just become the fire Effigy. When a strange boy, with the powers of an Effigy shows up and starts controlling the phantoms, everything changes. And he's after Maia.
I liked this book. The world is fascinating. Its quite similar to ours, but some of the tech is different and cities have disappeared. I really want to know more about the phantoms, especially what created them and the Effigies. I thought Natalya was so cool and I like the other girls because they didn't feel flat to me.
I am hoping for a history lesson in the next book.
Maia lives in a world where phantoms, that eat people, appeared in the 1800s. To combat them are 4 girls with elemental powers called Effigies. When one of the girls dies, another appears. Maia has just become the fire Effigy. When a strange boy, with the powers of an Effigy shows up and starts controlling the phantoms, everything changes. And he's after Maia.
I liked this book. The world is fascinating. Its quite similar to ours, but some of the tech is different and cities have disappeared. I really want to know more about the phantoms, especially what created them and the Effigies. I thought Natalya was so cool and I like the other girls because they didn't feel flat to me.
I am hoping for a history lesson in the next book.
3.5 stars.
I'm an Indigo employee, and I received an advanced reading copy from Indigo Books & Music, in exchange for honest feedback from Indigo Books and Music.
I absolutely LOVED the concept, the execution could use a bit of improvement, but I'm definitely excited for the next book. I picked up this book because I needed a pick-me-up, and I was in the mood for a good, very 'teen' fantasy, and that's exactly what I got with Fate of Flames. The concept of 4 badass females with superpowers was supercool, but the concept of the Phantoms they fight was absolutely (pardon my French) effing awesome.
Saul was a really cool idea for a villain, and I'm curious to see more of his(?) history and back story shape up - but he fell a little flat for me. I really liked the books, but there is a bit of room for improvement. It had some REALLY cheesy moments, which felt a little out of place to me, because the plot didn't really seem like it would call for any amount of cheese. It felt like the romance was kind of rushed, which was a little frustrating - because it would have felt so much more natural if it hadn't been forced so much with descriptions of 'hard muscles beneath fuzzy sweaters'. I felt like Maia's dialogue and perspective was a bit weak, and I thought that none of the characters (including Maia) seemed really well developed. I get that they all have a mysterious (probably tragic) back story that we will eventually discover, but they felt a little flat and two-dimensional, and their histories (especially Maia's) seemed a bit weak - and honestly, a bit unbelievable (in Maia's case).
And finally, it wasn't until I was maybe halfway through the book when I discovered that Maia is (apparently) half Jamaican. Now I am a HUGE fan of diverse protagonists - as a woman of colour, I crave them, and actively try to read books with diverse protagonists, and books by diverse authors - as often as possible. And I know that the author herself is a woman of colour, but I felt pretty let down that Maia's ethnicity (and diversity) were barely alluded to. In fact, aside from two mentions of Jamaica in the book, the only other indicator that Maia may not be white was during the photoshoot, when an offhand comment is made about using a darker 'sand' shade of makeup on her. I found this pretty frustrating because I as a young woman of colour want to know - I want to know that my protagonists have dark skin, that they are not always fair and white, I want to know that they can and do look like me, and I was kind of disappointed that there was no real confirmation that Maia was a woman of colour (or maybe she wasn't - I don't know!). And I get it, I get not feeling like you want to 'politicize' your book, or 'making a statement' but growing up reading teen/YA fiction, the default I always read is a white protagonist, and i personally feel like if your character isn't white, it's too important a thing not to make clear.
Ultimately though, I really enjoyed the book, and I am definitely excited to read more from the author.
I'm an Indigo employee, and I received an advanced reading copy from Indigo Books & Music, in exchange for honest feedback from Indigo Books and Music.
I absolutely LOVED the concept, the execution could use a bit of improvement, but I'm definitely excited for the next book. I picked up this book because I needed a pick-me-up, and I was in the mood for a good, very 'teen' fantasy, and that's exactly what I got with Fate of Flames. The concept of 4 badass females with superpowers was supercool, but the concept of the Phantoms they fight was absolutely (pardon my French) effing awesome.
Saul was a really cool idea for a villain, and I'm curious to see more of his(?) history and back story shape up - but he fell a little flat for me. I really liked the books, but there is a bit of room for improvement. It had some REALLY cheesy moments, which felt a little out of place to me, because the plot didn't really seem like it would call for any amount of cheese. It felt like the romance was kind of rushed, which was a little frustrating - because it would have felt so much more natural if it hadn't been forced so much with descriptions of 'hard muscles beneath fuzzy sweaters'. I felt like Maia's dialogue and perspective was a bit weak, and I thought that none of the characters (including Maia) seemed really well developed. I get that they all have a mysterious (probably tragic) back story that we will eventually discover, but they felt a little flat and two-dimensional, and their histories (especially Maia's) seemed a bit weak - and honestly, a bit unbelievable (in Maia's case).
And finally, it wasn't until I was maybe halfway through the book when I discovered that Maia is (apparently) half Jamaican. Now I am a HUGE fan of diverse protagonists - as a woman of colour, I crave them, and actively try to read books with diverse protagonists, and books by diverse authors - as often as possible. And I know that the author herself is a woman of colour, but I felt pretty let down that Maia's ethnicity (and diversity) were barely alluded to. In fact, aside from two mentions of Jamaica in the book, the only other indicator that Maia may not be white was during the photoshoot, when an offhand comment is made about using a darker 'sand' shade of makeup on her. I found this pretty frustrating because I as a young woman of colour want to know - I want to know that my protagonists have dark skin, that they are not always fair and white, I want to know that they can and do look like me, and I was kind of disappointed that there was no real confirmation that Maia was a woman of colour (or maybe she wasn't - I don't know!). And I get it, I get not feeling like you want to 'politicize' your book, or 'making a statement' but growing up reading teen/YA fiction, the default I always read is a white protagonist, and i personally feel like if your character isn't white, it's too important a thing not to make clear.
Ultimately though, I really enjoyed the book, and I am definitely excited to read more from the author.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a little more action/battle focused than I prefer. The world building is very thin and leans heavily on existing knowledge of Sailor Moon (Magical Girl) tropes to make sense of the world. Although set in New York there is not authenticity to the location. Maia reads a little young which makes this a great YA that can be read down by younger readers but also made some of Maia's motivations and choices feel off. The jacket copy gives away A LOT clearly introducing the villain despite there being some suspense around that in the actual story. Serviceable plot driven story with high action but often unsatisfying.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I ended up reading this book because I saw it at the library, read the first couple of pages, and thought that it would be amazing. I wish that I would have taken the time to look at reviews of it first because I didn't end up loving it as much as I thought that I would. The book does start off pretty well with sirens going off because a phantom has appeared near Maia's school. The author was able to set the tone of the book by making it seem like a tense filled moment. The book does not continue down this path for long before Maia begins to show her true colors as a coward and a fangirl. I would have liked this book so much more if Maia was different. Her fangirling over the other effigies was super annoying. There were so many confrontations between her and the other Effigies and she still manages to be surprised every time they end up being less than perfect. I mean seriously! Quick putting them on pedal-stools already! This topic seemed to be what was focused on with her character.
I thought that the story itself was intriguing. i liked the idea of monsters coming out of the woodwork and a group of girls have to fight them using elemental powers. I also thought that it was clever to have a girl take the place of an effigy when she dies. There were so many good aspects of the story but I wish that it would have been executed better. Although, I think that I could have forgiven the flaws if the main characters was less annoying. Maia was not the only character that i had issues with.
I feel like a lot if plot points weren't explained well enough. By the end of book it still wasn't explained where the Phantoms came from and how they cane to be. When the characters discuss it, they come to the conclusion that no one knows and the discussion ends there. I felt like that was such a cop out. Also, what is up with the villain? I feel like his purpose for destroying the world was really odd. Something like that needed to be explained thoroughly early on in the book so that it was established that things like that are possible in the universe that the author created. The way that it was done in the book makes it sound ridiculous and unrealistic.
https://fictionedtodeath.blogspot.com/2018/02/fate-of-flames-effigies-1-by-sarah.html
I thought that the story itself was intriguing. i liked the idea of monsters coming out of the woodwork and a group of girls have to fight them using elemental powers. I also thought that it was clever to have a girl take the place of an effigy when she dies. There were so many good aspects of the story but I wish that it would have been executed better. Although, I think that I could have forgiven the flaws if the main characters was less annoying. Maia was not the only character that i had issues with.
I feel like a lot if plot points weren't explained well enough. By the end of book it still wasn't explained where the Phantoms came from and how they cane to be. When the characters discuss it, they come to the conclusion that no one knows and the discussion ends there. I felt like that was such a cop out. Also, what is up with the villain? I feel like his purpose for destroying the world was really odd. Something like that needed to be explained thoroughly early on in the book so that it was established that things like that are possible in the universe that the author created. The way that it was done in the book makes it sound ridiculous and unrealistic.
https://fictionedtodeath.blogspot.com/2018/02/fate-of-flames-effigies-1-by-sarah.html
That started with a LOT of emotions, but I'm glad I stuck it out cause . Interesting.
Spoiler
it gains all kinds of Victorian Avatar vibes and all kinds of political intrigue
A lot of questions unanswered, interesting concept but some parts I didn’t like, for example Maia’s fangirling urked me. I might continue the series cause it was still an interesting read.