393 pages, Simon Teen
Every flame begins with a spark.
Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life.
When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them.
To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.
No. Just no.
So I logged onto PulseIt for the first time in weeks to find this book was already up for free, and was like, "Why not?" I love mythology, particularly those types of books that try to put it in perspective with the present - such as Rick Riordan, the amazing guy that he is - and the multicultural aspects that people kept raving about sounded appealing.
All I can say is, I have no idea why I went through with finishing the story.
First of all, a guy writing from a girl's POV (honestly, I didn't know he was a guy until the end) = trouble. No matter how many sisters you have, how close you were with your mom as a kid, you do not know what goes through my mind as a teenage girl, bub. Don't even try to.
Ashline is just a horrible protagonist as it is. So, we start out with her beating up the girl her boyfriend cheated on her with, and leaving the guy practically untouched. She can try to kill the girl for herself, but when her sister goes ahead and finishes the job for her, it's a major issue. Oh, sorry, did you want the blood on your hands for yourself?
I could not connect with any of the teenagers in this book. It was like one major party of underage hookups, freaky blow-ups and...well, I can't think of any ups. Let's just say it was bad.
Yeah. I don't think the author's going to like me after this.
Warnings: Lots and lots of hookups. And not the good "get a worm on your fishing hook" kind. And there's this part where the goddess of trees (or whatever she was supposed to be) tries to assault the god of weather. Yeah.
Final notes:
1. Colorless.
I don't even deign to elaborate on that. As I said before, just no. Don't do it.
3 comments:
Um, this was not for me either. Props to you for finishing it, though! I could only manage the first 80 pages before I skimmed the rest. Such an unlikable heroine. :/
When I read that this book was on Pulse It, I was like Awesome! I've been wanting to read this book since I saw it on someone's Waiting on Wednesday! But now that I know the writer's a guy, I'm not so sure hahaha, especially because I don't think a guy can ever accurately picture a girl' feelings.
I think I might give it a chance though! Thanks for the honest and well-supported review(:
Felicia
A Novel Paradise
Well, that's unfortunate. And I thought the summary sounded so good. I hope you're next read is better!
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