{Review} of Fire by Heather James

Fire by Heather James
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Fantasy
THEME: Elements/ Romance
RECEIVED: Author
BLOG: Heather James' Site

BLURB:

Is control over the elements a gift, or a curse?

Roxy thinks that she is in control of everything: with flames flaring at her fingertips and an equally fiery attitude, what more could she need? But then she meets Brae, a prince from a rival Realm, who turns her assumptions of superiority upside down.

Jasmine has none of Roxy’s confidence or intensity. But she does have a secret - and Brae - and she’s not going to give either up willingly.

REVIEW:
I love stories that have focus on the natural elements earth, wind fire and water. Another reason is because I loved the Avatar the last Airbender and Captain Planet. Fire is a fun twist to our world that similar to Avatar where there are realms with people who can control each element. It was an exciting and action packed adventure story of young adults who learn the right and wrongs of the elements that they can control.

Fire follows Roxy, a young Helian who has the gift of controlling fire. She lives in a realm that is selfish and only wants to gain power. She is also the princess and is trained to follow orders, though she is a rebel. Jasmine is from a rival realm, the tArcans who control Air. She has also lived her life not knowing her parents, with recent changes in her appearance she is now more determined to find out where she’s from. Together these two young girls meet, while in the middle of trying to prevent a war that will affect them both.

Jazz aka Jasmine was the star of Fire. I absolutely enjoyed following her in wanting to save her friends and discovering more about who she is. She is the only character in the story who doesn’t know which realm she’s from, she has a little bit of each realm in her and I’m super excited to find out more on where she’s from in the next book. I liked her personality too; she was always very kind and devoted to her friends and family. She is determined to follow her instincts and protect her friends, going to great lengths to do so.

Roxy aka Rox is definitely a princess; she is very confident and spoiled. In the beginning I didn’t care much for her and hope that she would redeem her errors. I did like her development as all the realms gathered to hers, she was able to see that their rivals really shouldn’t be considered rivals. I don’t want to give away much about her character in specific since she is the one who changes a lot of the major plot. But in the end I’m curious as to her next step after what she does.

Brae the prince of Arcans and best friend of Jazz, he was what I call too perfect. I felt that he was too nice, too forgiving and really needed to see through the lies. I liked how he finally listens to Jazz, though it took a bit of convicting. I though as his best friend he should have taken her word a little more than he did. His relationship with Roxy was a nice addition, combing rivals into friends who learn from each other. I’m also curious about his father, there is a lot of trust pushed on to such a young prince and want to know more about his relationship with his dad.

Overall this was a fun read, though sad to say it felt a lot like avatar the last airbender. Fire realm being the bad guys, going against the water, air and earth realms, it was a bit too similar that it distracted me. Jazz’s character was what made me connect to the other characters, and sucked me more into the world that James created. I also was curious as to how young all the protectors were, I want to see older protectors and what the young ones can eventually get too in gaining more control. But in the end I can’t wait to continue with this adventure and exciting world. My favorite part was that the readers get to follow two very different strong female protagonists and together they make a big difference in their lives and realms.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel that will make the readers wish they could control the elements. Fans of Witch Song by Amber Argyle and The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking will enjoy the adventure and colorful characters in Fire by Heather James.

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