Reviews

Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria

theknightgarden's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

3.25

dormilona's review

4.0

3.5.

thems0kitty's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

fakewalagui01's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

hclaire_spence's review

I was on board and enjoying it until the 200 year old man kissed the 17 year old girl.  I'm so sick of the "they're immortal now so it's okay" and the "he looks like he's young so it's fine".  Gave up right then and there. 

heyheather's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I had high hopes for this book but something about it just didn’t hit home. It felt slow to start and then rushed towards the end but I did enjoy it enough to finish and I enjoyed the concept

biancagraey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

a_devine_read's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Finding out she has a soul bond with a dragon would be pretty awesome if Dani didn't come from a family of dragon slayers. The very beast she is meant to kill is now connected to her. Add in the fact that her sister somehow gets tangled up with some sorcerers and life is pretty hectic. Her parents? Oh they are off chasing down another dragon. Dani must figure out what to do on her own.
Opinion
This book was a fun adventure from the beginning. Add in dragons and I was hooked. This book was pure fascination as Soria created a world in which dragons exist around us. 
There were many layers that would appeal to different readers. Between love interests, dragons, magic, and general teenage angst, there is something here for almost anyone.
I think my favorite part was the mysterious Kieran, who was another person with a soul bond to a dragon. Learning about him and his situation made the book that much sweeter.
Many thanks to Net Galley and to Clarion Books for providing me with an ARC of this book and many apologies for the late review.

thebooklovingpanda's review

3.0

"I'm not like you," Dani said. "I fight to win."
"So do I!" [said Eden].
"No, you fight to be perfect. It's not the same."

[All quotes are from the ARC (advance reader copy), subject to change in the final version.]

3.25 stars

Content warnings (spoiler-free):

Spoiler

animal-coded abuse and death; anxiety and panic attacks; blood, injury, violence and death; torture

'Fire With Fire' was quite funny with great, energetic dialogue - I highlighted quite a few banter-y passages and snappy comebacks - and it's also very readable. I'd get through quite a few chapters in one sitting! However, I did feel like I lacked a deeper connection to the main characters, and at one point I actively disliked Eden, but I did really like a few of the side characters, for example Dani's best friend Tomás, her aunt Frankie, the dragon Nox, as well as new characters like Kieran and Zephyr. I wish at least the dragons could have had a POV! I think the POVs being limited to just the two sisters also made one of the romance subplots a bit unbelievable and cringey, though I really loved the friendships in this book.

The antagonist is glaringly obvious but perhaps deliberately so - it definitely made it even creepier and more discomfiting to watch what felt a bit like Eden being groomed. There is also a nice contrast in scenarios before and after a pivotal moment in a sort of 'descent-into-villany' arc, which made the changes in character and personality all the clearer (and more unsettling).

That being said, I did get a bit confused about Eden's character arc, specifically with

Spoiler

her sorcerer characterisation. I think she was 'meant' to become more 'human',

but it kind of flip-flopped depending on the plot context rather than seeming organic.

I was disappointed by the ending, because firstly it was confusing and the time jump felt a bit trite. I also kept expecting at least some kind of explanation to come, which never happened. The alternatives to how it ended also seem way more interesting to explore. I'm talking about perhaps

Spoiler

Eden still soul-bonding with Nox while still remaining a sorcerer, Dani having repercussions from literally dying and the necromancy...

The possibilities are endless.

All in all though, this was an entertaining and inventive read with some really great action scenes - especially the Final Battle™! I also really appreciated the mental health rep with Eden's character, the normalisation/de-stigmatising of medication and that Eden isn't weak or broken because of her anxiety. An engaging book and I'd recommend if you're looking for books about dragons, sibling rivalry, magical conspiracies and tense action.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an eARC for an honest review.

tinybookwitch's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense 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

4.0