Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Fire with Fire

4.5/5 RTC

Rep: Half-Mexican, half-white bisexual female MC, half-Mexican half-white female MC with anxiety and panic attacks, Black male love interest, white Scottish love interest, Latine male side character, white questioning female side character, Mexican-American female side characters.

CWs: Alcohol consumption (underage and legal), animal cruelty, animal death (both towards dragons), blood, death, fire/fire injury, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, mental illness (anxiety), panic attacks, torture, violence. Moderate: grief.

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emily_mh's review

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adventurous medium-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

3.75

This book was by NO MEANS bad, but unfortunately I found myself a little disappointed by it. One thing I loved about it was the dragons and how they played such a central role in plot, but also how they were characters in and of themselves. The magic system that went along with this was interesting, especially the concept of soul bonds. Another thing this book had going for it was Dani and Eden. Their character development was really strong, they provided great POVs to follow, and I also loved the sister dynamic between them. Finally, the pop culture references in this book were actually UP TO DATE!! It leant realism to the teenage perspective and was generally really refreshing.

However, this is where my cons start to come in. The first one being the romance.

The first half of the book is spent setting up a logical, chemistry-filled second-chance romance with Sadie, but then this is ditched for one with Kieran. Dani and Kieran had nooooo chemistry, and he isn't even in the book until halfway through. It was just so jarring, especially when you have the added factor of viewing Sadie and Tomás as just friends for the first half, and now have to wrap your head around them being into each other. ALSO, Kieran is 200+ years old. It's annoying to me that we still have adult/minor relationships in YA in 2021 masked by the defense that "they look like a teenager."

Another thing I didn't like was the execution of the plot. The pacing was really strange, and I feel like

the original issue of hatching the eggs fell to the wayside in favour of the sorcerer Eden plotline. But then THAT plotline was conveniently resolved because Eden ended up being sorcerer AND human. Therefore half the book felt kind of redundant.

Finally, I thought the side characters were underused. Frankie, Tomás and Sadie were all so interesting and could have added some real colour to Dani's activities. Overall, these significant cons meant that although it was a pretty enjoyable book, I couldn't give it more than 3.75 stars.

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alixe's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted 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

4.5

This book is about snarky dragons, slaying sisters, and sexy sorcerers (the author’s own words) of course it was going to become a new favorite of mine!
Special mention to Sophie, the cat who inspired my favorite character aka Nox and makes me love this book even more!

The ending still felt a little to much like a cliffhanger and
I also want more of these characters so I wouldn’t mind reading a sequel now :))

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