Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Jan 18, 2014 Christy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-star, animal-companion

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have a huge problem with ignoring book summaries and most of the time, if the title and the cover of a book interest me, I will pick it up based on that alone. That's what happened with this book, I saw it on Netgalley and it just looked interesting so I requested it, without knowing what it was about. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes doing it this way can backfire, big time. However, I feel like since I went into Fire & Flood not knowing what to expect, it made this story more powerf ...more

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Jan 14, 2014 Anasheh Satoorian rated it liked it

Ok this is a hard one for me to rate. The first 200 so pages were not my cup of tea, but the last 100 were amazing. Gotta think this one over a bit before I write my review

It has been really hard for me to write to this review. Because I had significant problems with the first 75% of this book. I was super excited to read this book. Most because I had heard a lot of good things of Victoria Scott's books and had been dying to read one. Secondly this one of the first ARCs I had actually received f Ok this is a hard one for me to rate. The first 200 so pages were not my cup of tea, but the last 100 were amazing. Gotta think this one over a bit before I write my review

It has been really hard for me to write to this review. Because I had significant problems with the first 75% of this book. I was super excited to read this book. Most because I had heard a lot of good things of Victoria Scott's books and had been dying to read one. Secondly this one of the first ARCs I had actually received from publishers thanks to the wonderful people over at Scholastic.

The first few pages of the book started off promising. The story is about a teenage girl Tella who has moved with her parents and her sick brother. As she is dying in the boredom that is now her life when one day something happens that will change her life forever. One night Tella finds a surprise package on her bed that reveals a headset with a cryptic message. She is invited to be a contender in the Brimstone Bleed, a race that is she wins she gets the ultimate prize; a cure for her dying brother. The story up to this point was rather interesting. Tella starts off a little annoying but super funny. And her love for her brother is very moving and heart felt.

Things started hitting a plateau for me once Tella arrives as the meeting point to start the race. Here is has to choose an egg that will become her Pandora and assist her in the race. The reason that this story started becoming hard for me to read, was because it was way to similar to the Hunger Games with the Pandora being so similar to Katnisis' bow and arrow. But so many people who I spoke with on Twitter and reviews that I read on Goodreads kept raving about this book and told me to keep reading. So despite my hesitance I did continue reading and frankly I am glad I did. Frankly despite the slow start the end of the story was action packed and very enjoyable.

Even though I was getting to the point where if I read the word Pandora one more time I would scream. (In all fairness there was a page where the word Pandora appeared 9 times). But the love and affection that Tella showed for not only her own Pandora but everyone elses was really sweet. Even though the situation was hard and obstacles many, Tella kept finding the strength to go on by remembering what all of the struggle was for; curing her brother.

Then enters the love interest Guy. I was find of skeptical at first about this character. The authors starts off by introducing him in a light that makes you swoon., but then he kind of starts acting like a douche. However he does end up making up for some of his not cool behavior. What ended up winning me over was the big reveal over the true origins of the race. Unfortunately this reveal did not come around until the end of the book. I would have liked to see it come around somewhere towards the middle. But it was enough to make me want to continue on with this series.

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Dec 28, 2013 Kirstyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-authors, sci-fi, waiting-for-the-sequel-will-destroy, swoon-worthy, e-arc, ya-awesome

I am so happy I read Fire&Flood, because they seriously weren't kidding when they said it was fantastic for fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and all my other favorite books. What sets this book apart though, is the stakes are more personal than the others. Tella's brother is dying from an illness no one has a cure for..or even knows what it is.. She is invited to the Brimstone Bleed to compete for a cure. They will fight across various ecosystems, with horrible obstacles, enemies, etc.-much ...more

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