Monday, July 25, 2011

Review: Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Wildefire
by Karsten Knight
Publication Date: July 26th
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9781442421172

Where to Buy:
Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository
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. - Goodreads

I was really excited to start Wildefire. Everyone that had read the book had loved it, and I was really looking forward to seeing what the fuss was about.

The main character, Ashline, left me a bit confused. One minute, she was a kick ass chick that I was beating the pulp out of the most popular girl at school. But then her badass sister comes along, and does the exact same thing, and Ashline thinks it’s wrong. Hmmmm. It goes this way pretty much throughout the book, with Ashline being kickass one minute, and then the next minute, being… not so kick ass. I liked a lot of the secondary characters more than I liked the main character.

The book is packed full of action and mystery. The plot was interesting and pretty easy to follow. The ending of the book is not just one cliffhanger, but multiple cliffhangers. Just when I thought one was over, another one started. The Mythology in the book was also interesting; I just wish it had been a little more detailed. I have not heard of some of the gods and goddesses that were in the book, but I would love to know more about them.

Overall, this was a book that I liked, but didn’t love. I will definitely check out the sequel, however, to see where the author is going with the story.

14 comments:

  1. I have been hearing a lot of good things about this one too! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it! :)

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  2. I have seen lots of people planning to read this but I think you are my first review of it. Thanks for the feedback - I have been curious.

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  3. I just finished this and am getting ready to review it as well. There was so much going on! I feel the same way about the book and like you, I will read the sequel to see where the author is going with the story.
    NC
    Truly Bookish

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  4. I also just finished this and should hopefully have a review up today or tomorrow and felt similar that I liked it but that it was missing something that would have brought me over from like to love. The mythology usage was great, and I thought Ashline was a strong female MC.

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  5. So the main character thinks it's ok when she does things, but when someone else does the same thing it's not ok? I know people like that in real life.

    This synopsis sounds AWESOME. I hadn't read a review for this yet and was curious. I might check it out, but it'll be one of the ones I get to when I have the time. Thanks for the review.

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  6. I really enjoyed this one. Ash was a little two-faced...especially in the first chapter. But after that I don't think she was doing things to be mean and her sister was. Oh, I don't know!

    Anyway, great review!

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  7. Yikes. A contradicting main character that is hard to like and multiple cliffhangers! Maybe this book isn't for me after all. Thanks for the honest review, Christy.

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  8. I see what you mean about the main character, I've seen that in books before. Still, I love the sound of this one, and I'm glad you liked it even if you didn't love it - thanks for the review!

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  9. I really liked the action bits but found some of the characters to have less distinct personalities that made them a bit confusing to me. I did love the different gods and goddesses introduced even though I didn't know much about them.

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  10. Hum, interesting! Was she just being hypocritical or did she not even realize what she was doing? Didn't anyone point it out to her? Love the cover and I'm looking forward to reading it! Like but not love books are still awesome. :)
    Mary @ Book Swarm

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  11. I cant wait to read and find out myself if I like it or not. Great review

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  12. Thanks for the comments everyone!

    @Mary, I don't know if she realized she was doing it or not, and no one pointed it out to her. lol!

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  13. It's kinda funny, I just got through reading Truely Bookish's review and she said pretty much the same thing (you know, about Ashline being kick ass one minuet and then the next being not so kick ass) Now I'm really curious. Great review. :)

    ♥ Trish
    Just a YA Girl

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  14. I'm reading this right now. I haven't formed an opinion yet, but love the fact that it's about something different.

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