Tagged: will
Hidden by Sophie Jordan
(Cover picture courtesy of The Teen Bookworm.)
A dangerous journey.
Shattered bonds.
Undying passion.
Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the “prince” of their pride. But she resisted long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian’s sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.
The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there’s no guarantee they’ll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning….
Loyalties are tested and sacrifices made in the explosive conclusion to Sophie Jordan’s Firelight trilogy.
In some ways, Hidden by Sophie Jordan was much better than the second book Vanish. Yet in other ways it was much worse. How so? Well…
The problem is that Sophie Jordan raised more questions than she answered. Who are the enkros? Why do they study dragons? What is the meaning of the term ‘enkros’ and how does it apply to them? What are the motivations of all of the scientists involved in studying the draki? How can they not know about their transformations into humans? What will happen to Cassian and Jacinda’s bond as they part ways? Is Will ever going to grow up and stop with the whole possessiveness thing he had going on throughout Hidden?
I mean, despite all of these questions the plot was reasonably paced, there were some twists and some characters acquired more depth. Jacinda, however, was not one of them. I felt like all she did in the whole book was allow herself to be captured in the noble sacrifice trope and then gets rescued and sort of mopes around indecisively for the rest of the book. The person who did acquire depth is Cassian, though. You can feel his love for Jacinda growing even as she spurns him and we learn he is absolutely willing to give his life for her. His decision at the end of the novel makes sense because of his characterization, but I still hated that his storyline wasn’t as neatly wrapped up as it could be.
Sophie Jordan has great descriptions and such vivid imagery at times. I love her writing style in general, but the fact we were stuck in Jacinda’s head the whole time made Hidden not nearly as enjoyable as it should have been. The world-building in the Firelight trilogy had the potential to be ground-breaking in terms of adding to existing dragon lore, but there were just too many loose ends by the final chapter. Overall it was an okay read, but I certainly won’t be reading any other Sophie Jordan books if I can help it.
I give this book 2/5 stars.
Vanish by Sophie Jordan
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
An impossible romance.
Bitter rivalries.
Deadly choices.To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
Unfortunately, Vanish by Sophie Jordan suffers from Book 2 Syndrome: it does nothing but set up the third book. Seriously despite my love of Firelight all that happens in this book could have essentially been told over 100 pages, not nearly three hundred. Of course there’s a lot of pressure on YA writers to write trilogies these days, but in all honesty Sophie Jordan probably could have just cut down on the fluff and made a longer sequel that concludes Jacinda’s story.
You can’t in all honesty call the plot of Vanish fast paced, but I suppose you could call it consistent. Consistently boring, that is. There is a little character development to make up for the complete lack of action, but the disastrous attempts at a bizarre sort of love triangle as well as Jacinda’s general moping around make it a painful 294 pages. All that happens in this is that Miram gets kidnapped and Will shows up again to learn that something mildly terrible has happened to Jacinda because of Cassian. Did I mention that there’s a lot of moping about Will? It’s like one big pity part here: all Jacinda does is pine after Will, give Cassian horrible mixed signals and get jealous about her sister’s new powers.
We do learn a lot more about the draki and their primitive attitudes and tribal structure, but that’s about it. Sure, Jacinda’s life in the pride does genuinely suck at some points (the ostracism, Tamra’s new celebrity, etc.) but the angst does get tiring after a while. Even though Sophie Jordan is awesome at writing highly emotional prose, there can only be so much angst in one book before I feel like throwing it at the wall. At least by the end Jacinda is starting to almost accept her life back in the pride and sees Cassian is maybe not all that bad, Tamra deserves a bit of celebrity and maybe she should stop moping. Of course with such a cliffhanger at the end of the novel I’ll still read Hidden, the last book in the trilogy. I’m just hoping that Sophie Jordan pulls it together for the concluding book.
I give this book 2/5 stars.
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
(Cover picture courtesy of Reading Revels.)
A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.
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 forces 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 the gorgeous, elusive 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.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.
Despite the amazing cover, when I read the blurb I was both full of hope and cringing at the same time. With a concept like forbidden love between predator and prey authors can either write a really awesome story or completely ruin it. So what was Firelight? Well, surprisingly, it was the former.
Sophie Jordan’s world of draki and Hunters is incredible! I love how she incorporated old dragon lore into her story and put her own twist on it, making the draki both human and dragon believably. You see, Jacinda is drawn to her draki heritage and has to control things like her manifestation (transformation into a dragon) when she’s angry or aroused and has to fully manifest regularly or she loses her ability completely. She has the temper of a dragon at times and has to control the fact that she’s a firebreather, a draki that can breathe fire. Did I mention she’s the first one in many generations to be able to do that? Kind of cliché, but minor compared to the fact Sophie Jordan actually used her imagination to create the draki.
Unlike most Insta-Love, you don’t have Jacinda or Will proclaiming it love at first sight, merely an interesting attraction. They’re drawn to each other for some odd reason and the excuse isn’t fate at the end, as we find out. There’s no prophecy hanging over their heads, but a reasonable explanation for why Will is both drawn to Jacinda and one of the best draki trackers out there. They have a stormy relationship as they both try to figure out their feelings, but by the end you get the feeling that it actually is love between them. With the threat from Cassian and Tamra’s dangerously reckless behavior, there’s even more added tension.
I love this new series! It’s unique, well-written and fast paced. What more could you really ask for in YA right now? With such a cliffhanger at the end of the novel, I can’t wait to read Vanish.
I give this book 5/5 stars.