Firelight

By: Sophie Jordan

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

A hidden truth. Mortal enemies. Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a drakia descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy. Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

©2010 Sophie Jordan (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

9 hours of crying

Only half of a book. This book has to break some record for cry baby for over nine hours. If you like to listen to a teenager cry about her life for nine hours this is the book for you.

Overwrought. Overwritten. Vapid.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think a younger audience might like this book, but I don't want to recommend it to tweens or teens because it holds up the terrible Twilight fantasy that the ONE MAGICAL BOY is what makes life worth living.

The book suffers from inconsistent and incomplete world-building (does she have hands or talons? do all dragons have hair?) and frequent repetition of Jacinda's angst about returning to her people, her romantic interest, her love of her mother and her sister. The simply cycles through these feelings until it reaches the moment when all is revealed (a twist that can be guessed halfway through the novel).

What do you think your next listen will be?

Look, I'm a fan of YA. But this is terrible YA. Worse than Twilight by a factor of 10. Please, please, please delve into another series.

Dragons, highschool angst, and teen romance, Oh my

What would have made Firelight better?

Some progress to maturity in the main character.

Would you ever listen to anything by Sophie Jordan again?

No.

What does Therese Plummer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voice of the main character.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

First person narrative of a young girl ( and a very self-centered, and immature one at that) set against a faint magical background that is not well defined. No growth in the main character. No sign that any of the disastrous actions that she makes has any effect on her at all.

The reader did a nice job with the material she was given, the recording was well done, sound quality nice, and the small bits of Michael Whelan music were welcome.

Neat Concept

What did you like best about Firelight? What did you like least?

I was not expecting a romantic novel when I bought this. This ought to be labeled as romance/... The novel could have been half as long with just as much substance were it not for the raging hormones and emotions that I didn't want to hear about. The concept of the half dragon species is really neat though and there could be a lot more done with it.

Has Firelight turned you off from other books in this genre?

I am now very cautious when I purchase anything from a genre other than non-fiction. Please have a "romance" warning/label in the information for these books.

It's yet another special snowflake teen romance

I couldn't get through this book because it was so very similar to Twilight and Hunger Games and Divergent and and and . As for the story it wasn't too bad I'm just burnt out on the premise and I feel it's been done better elsewhere. Mercedes Lackey Elite series for instance.

Try hard

What would have made Firelight better?

Its seems a little try hard, like it's trying to get the same market as twilight and vampire academy, but it doesn't do as well. Also it's trying to hook the reader into a series but could definitely leave it.

What could Sophie Jordan have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Character development and different characters, less of the forbidden love

Did Therese Plummer do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I felt she did a great job

My Mistake

What was most disappointing about Sophie Jordan’s story?

I often enjoy YA books eg. Hunger Games, however I do get tired of the same old plots in different scenery filled with angst and girls who like to think they are strong and have it all together but are indecisive and scatterbrains and can't decide which boy they will love.

From the beginning this book was travelling on a downward spiral and I was disappointed because the concept was a new one for me.

Yes, my mistake - I should have looked into it a bit further before buying it. The biggest mistake was that I bought both books in the series at the one time on special. Oh Well - lesson learnt.

What about Therese Plummer’s performance did you like?

The only thing that saved this book from refund was Therese Plummer's excellent narration.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not for me.

Fluffy romance only

Would you try another book from Sophie Jordan and/or Therese Plummer?

The characters interact too superficially and unrealistically for me. The story lead me down a path that I couldn't accept - meaning that I can't fathom why a logical person would make these decisions. I felt myself fighting the stupidity of the characters when I should have just let go an enjoyed the story. I did try, I just didn't succeed. I blame myself and not the author. My expectation should have been for a fluff romance with no other relevance - that's what this was. I like to think that I can handle an embedded romance if the is some passion and realistic relationship with a storyline, but I can't handle when the romance is the story.

Narration by Therese was okay, but slow (listen at 1.5x). I think she did a pretty good job representing Jacinda, but her personality seemed to be imprinted on every character. I'll definitely read reviews by other listeners since obviously the narration plays a part in the enjoyment of an audio.

So will I try another book from S Jordan - likely not.

Do you think Firelight needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, because it doesn't make any difference one way or the other.

Teen Novel

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A little more plot

What was most disappointing about Sophie Jordan’s story?

Long boring repetitive story geared toward teenage girls.

What didn’t you like about Therese Plummer’s performance?

She did the best she could with what she had to work with

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Firelight?

A little less repetitiveness about the teenage crush idea

Any additional comments?

Let the reader know the age of the audience the book is targeting

Swing and a miss

The idea of shape shifting dragon people sounded cool, but this Dragon Twilight. Wasted opportunity.