Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Synopsis:
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

My Review:
I totally enjoyed this book! I got so caught up in the story that I completely lost track of time. I have read books about dragons but nothing with draki so that was a twist to a mythological creature. It was interesting to learn about how drakis change and the fact that Jacinda is one of a kind it just increased the conflict in the story. But the author barely scratched the surface in that world which I don’t fully understand yet, but she said she would explain in much more detail in the next book. The author has a knack for increasing the intensity in subtle ways such as the touch of a hand, the look someone gives you, or the charged feeling in the atmosphere.

There were a few things I was not crazy about the book despite how entertaining it was. I thought Jacinda had a right to worry about her situation considering she was taken from her pride, everything she has ever known, and she was terrified of her draki dying. But I think she harped on it in the wrong way sometimes saying her mother did not care about her at all. This was clearly not true since she took Jacinda away from the pride to save her daughter. Maybe Jacinda deserved to be told the truth about how her mother felt about the pride from the beginning but Jacinda acted so self-centered most of the time she was not ready to hear the truth.

The character development of Will, the LI (love interest), also bothered me. I do not have a problem with a rapid connection between the MC (main character) and the LI but I do have a problem when their feelings are immediate and they do not even know each other. Where is the buildup? There is already conflict because Will is a draki hunter and Jacinda is a draki but Will has to live up to the persona assumed by everyone around him. He makes it too easy to get to know him. He is supposed to be this aloof guy that never paid any attention to any girls at the before which was for a reason. Sure he wants to be with Jacinda just as much as she wants to be with him but he made it too easy to be a part of his world. He should have been trying to keep her away because he does not want her to find out his family are hunters in order to protect them and so she will not think of them and Will as crazy and scary.

But despite this issues the pacing was on target, the writing was well done, and in general I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait for the next book!