Fire-Breathing Dragons in Firelight | Spoiler-Free Review

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Author: Sophie Jordan
Published: September 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 323 {paperback}

Review on Goodreads

Initial Thoughts Upon Finishing

Honestly, this was fantastic and fun. Sometimes you just need a good ol’ throwback to those insta-lovey, drama-hyped teenage fantasies to have a good laugh. I LOVE dragons and have been told many times to read this. I really want to keep reading to find out what happens next!

Firelight

This is a story about dragon shifters and it’s set in America. Which means DRAAAMA. So we start off in a ‘pride’ which is a group of dragons (a very apt collective noun if you ask me . . . though a Fireball of dragons, or, a Shimmer of dragons, or, a Flap of Dragons could’ve been more fun) where our main character lives.

She’s not super thrilled. The dragons, sorry, ‘draki’, have to live in hiding because humans hunt them for fun. So they’re only allowed to fly at night and have to stick close to the pride for safety. It’s all very controlled and no YA leading lady likes to be controlled.

She’s also a special snowflake. There are many different types of dragons that can exist and no fire breathing dragons have been seen for GenERaTioNS and lo and behold, Jacinda (the MC) ‘manifests’ (which is basically puberty but for draki) into a firebreather. WHICH IS BAD NEWS. Why? Because all the pride wants to do is KEEP her and force her to breed.

Wise mother knows this and says NERP. So they leave. *mic drop* there we have our plot. Buckle up kids for a wild YA ride of fiery romance and much defiance. Oh and cheerleading. Duh.

What I Enjoyed

I enjoyed this for all the superficial reasons. I can’t deny that at my ripe old age of 23 and a half years that I struggle to get properly invested in these young-ish books. I love me some YA, but the true insta-romance YA I now find a bit grating.

Which makes me sad because I remember the flurry of excitement I had reading books like Wings (Aprilynne Pike) *sigh* when you can’t help but get all flustered at the devoted boys willing to DIE for their ladies.

ANYWAY. Taking away all the extra thoughts and over-analysis that comes with being a bitter and lonely adult, I just loved this story for its popcorn-worthiness. I could sit there flicking through the pages in flash of flustered fixation NEEDING to know what would happen next.

The constant tension of Jacinda struggling to control her manifestations in front of the boy who gets her heart-rate up – WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A DRAKI HUNTER – was just swoon-worthy. I also loved that she didn’t question seeking him out even though she knew he:

Killed her kind.
Broke into her house because he missed her.
Stalked her at nighttime.

I love how creepy YA boys are. It’s wonderful.

Summary

If you love dragons as much as I do and need a light-hearted read full of unbelievably drama that you can cackle away at, then this is the book for you. If you’re going to take this seriously and take umbrage over all the problems with it, then definitely sidestep it and fill your appetite with drier reads such as Lord of the Rings.