Fire (Elements of Power Series, #1)
Author: Heather James
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Synopsis: 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.
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 had been looking forward to reading Fire based off the synopsis and my love for the fantasy genre. Even
though there were elements I enjoyed about the book and could appreciate what
the author attempted to do in the story, I couldn’t fall in love with it as
much as I thought I would have.
Fire is told from two point of views—Roxy and Jasmine. Roxy is
from the Helian Realm (element of fire) and the granddaughter of the King, and
Jasmine is from the Arcan Realm (element of air). The Helians have invited the
royal delegates from each of the four realms—each realm is divided up by the
four elements—for a summit to discuss peace between the realms. But not
everything is as it seems in the Helian realm. Roxy, along with many of the
other powerful delegates in the realm, have set up a nasty trap to not only
take down the royal delegates of each of the realms but to also take down the
Arcan prince, Brae, who is also Jasmine’s best friend. Jasmine begins to have
premonitions of something dangerous happening to Brae and decides to go to the
Helian realm with her two best friends in order to warn him. But as soon as she
arrives, chaos begins to break out and dark secrets are revealed.
The concept to
the book, although not entirely original, was interesting because instead of
two princes going against each other, it was two girls. The world building was
written well and shown pretty well. There were a few incontinences though, like
when the Arcans have some sort of tablet-look-alike device but never seem to
use any weapons and live in a palace-like structure. The high-tech aspects
never seemed to be able to connect with the old-world type of feel of the rest
of the setting. It just left too out of left field and interfered with the fluidity
of the story.
I didn’t really
like any of the characters. Roxy spends a majority of the book selfish,
self-centered, angry, and could never seem to get rid of her nasty attitude.
Having to endure reading so much of the book from her perspective was
difficult. I did appreciate when she started to change and started to realize
where she had gone wrong and tried to make up for it, even though it was so
last minute. Jasmine was much sweeter than Roxy and far more patient and
understanding. But she was also INCREDIBLY weak. The excuses she uses not to
tell Brae the truth about what’s happening to her weren’t even good reasons,
especially considering how close her and Brae are and how much he cares about
her. Jasmine manages to grow in strength closer toward the end though. Bare is
supposed to be a guy every girl wants—or at least he’s the guy both Roxy and
Jasmine want—but I didn’t really understand why. He barely has a personality. The
supporting characters (Avery, Devon, Imogen, Cinaer) were never developed and
were far too stereotypical to be set apart from the usual best-friend-type of
characters.
The possibility of
a love triangle didn’t come as a surprise. In honesty I rather Brae end up with
Roxy only so he’ll be more challenged and develop a stronger personality for
the prince he’s supposed to portray. I didn’t really feel the connection
between Brae and Jasmine. They’re relationship seemed too flat. On the contrary,
Brae’s relationship with Roxy is far more realistic. Brae challenges Roxy’s ego
and doesn’t put up with her crappy attitude. They’re relationship was built
from the ground up and slowly grew to developing into a friendship that has the
potential to turn into something else, so I was able to appreciate it a lot more.
The pacing of
the book was pretty steady and gradual. There were moments of choppiness. I did
get bored a good deal and had to skim through some parts to keep myself
interested long enough to finish the book. The ending was probably the aspect
that annoyed me the most. The book just abruptly ends right in the MIDDLE of an
ongoing scene, which made absolutely no sense. I don’t mind a cliffhanger
ending but the book didn’t end on one. There was no ACTUAL ending to close up
the first book to transition to the next one.
Fire (Elements of Power, #1) has potential in it. The action scenes
were written and set up well. The world building, despite the incontinences,
was also well-written with enough detail to vividly imagine the world Roxy and
Jasmine live in. Fans of the YA Fantasy genre, preferably younger fans (12-15),
will probably find enjoyment out of this book and the characters.
About the Author: Heather James is a young-adult author who writes about heroines with amazing powers, heroes who will break your heart and fantasy realms that you will want to move to. She works in the attendance office of a South-East London secondary school and spends her school holidays writing, reading, playing flag-American football and wasting time marketing on Pinterest.
Where to Find the Author
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