Name: Kiss of Fire
ISBN: 9780988483705

Rebecca Ethington

"Joclyn is hiding a scar that appeared when she received a stone from her estranged father on her 16th birthday. Now she is being stalked by a tall blonde man, and is miraculously throwing her high school bully ten feet in the air. When best friend finds her scar, he knows what it means and who will kill her because of it."--Publisher's description.

Kiss of Fire

It was one kiss... ... and it very nearly ended my life. Secrets are dangerous, and sometimes they can kill. My secret may not be that bad, but it sure has put a wrench in my high school plans. I am in love with my best friend. I know, I know. It's every teenage girl's big confession, but most of them at least have a chance. Cute boy next door and all that. Not me, I just so happen to have a crush on a guy that is way out of my league. Ryland LaRue is insanely hot, insanely rich, and way too nice for his own good. It's clear I can't have him, and not just because his evil, overlord father hates my guts. My crush on Ryland is not my only secret. I'm hiding something bigger than that. It's the reason my dad left, and I am pretty sure it's why his 'magical' cult is now following me around. The only problem? Ryland has a secret too, and his just happens to have all the answers I need. Which bring us to that kiss...

Jamieson

"You have very pretty eyes" he said softly. "They look like diamonds"


 This book .... THIS BOOK. I truly, truly don't know how I feel about it. Do I love it, do I hate it? I just do not know (Which, btw is a pretty shit opener for a review. Hello, today I will be reviewing a book I both loved and hated) 

I just ... I just don't know. THERE WERE BITS AND PIECES I REALLY LOVED and then there were bits that literally made my eyes roll into the back of my goddam skull due to how cliche they were. 

This book is  definitely  one for fans of The Mortal Instruments ! It follows much the same premise. A young girl is thrown into a magical world hidden from the eyes of regular people, whilst finding out she is unknowingly one of these magical people. 



  THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK


 ✦ it was free on amazon. Yeah, whatever. I'm a cheapskate, and I'm broke. Free books are good books
 
 ✦ The set up of the magical world. I liked that the centre/origin of the world was in The Czech Republic and that the characters traditionally spoke Czech. It just felt like it was something new and refreshing in an area that has been really overdone and explored. 
 
 ✦ Ilyan. I loved his characters, he was my favourite. However, I do think he could have used some further development tbh

 ✦ I liked that bad shit happened because I feel it raised the stakes and generally made the story more intense

 ✦ I also really liked Wyn as a character - and Ovailia 

 ✦ I feel like it set up the series well, and I am genuinely excited about where this goes even if the first book by itself wasn't my favourite, I feel the series as a whole has great potential 


 



  THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE AS MUCH


 ✦ I'm sorryyy but I just hated the main character so much. She was so whiny, and just ... urgh!  she was so frustrating. 1: Has intense guilt about something that obviously isn't her fault. 2: Is a beautiful girl but thinks she's ugly 3: She's such an amateur but acts like she's a master and I'm like GIRL pls respect your elders

 ✦ There is a lowkey love triangle and I am NOT DOWN

 ✦ It was really tropey and cliche. I didn't like the romance much, it was just too much at times and idk how to feel about it. I went from really liking Ryland to literally cringing about him every few minutes and it was frankly exhuasting 

 ✦ Mean Girl Trope™ I hate it. Its the worst freakin trope. I SINCERELY HOPE OVAILIA GETS JUSTICE PLS MAKE HER MORE THEN JUST A MEAN GIRL PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE  

 ✦ The baddies were too much. They were just too over the top evil for me to take seriously. I didn't feel like they were complex villians, they were more the insane, murderous, sterotypical hitler style villians. They were just too over the top for me to engage with u know? 

 ✦ Found the writing style a tad too simplistic sometimes


 

TRULY this book is a conundrum. Maybe it's because I went in with low expectations that were definitely surpassed - but I don't know how to feel. 
I think it's one of those books you just can't take too seriously, it's sort of fun and fluffy but not really well developed in any aspect. It felt like characters, world building, plot were all good and yet they needed something to make them better

I think I will continue with this series, because it seems to be set up really well to have good potential. I'm hoping that there will be lots of character development, since I think that was lacking lots in this book. 

Overall, I give this a 3.5*. It was much better then I expected going in, and for a debut novel I really enjoyed it. I will be continuing this series !

Flavia Louise

2.75 stars
OMG I am SO conflicted about this book. It was just so hella trope-y, especially in the beginning and I almost DNFed it and I don't DNF books EVER so I continued reading and at times actually really enjoyed it, so...2.75 stars it is. I have book 2, not sure if I'll read it...

Kiss of Fire

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