Review Comparison: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Review Comparison: Firelight

Review Comparison is a new feature I'm trying out where I am pulling out the pros and cons of the featured book mentioned in my review and other bloggers' reviews. Please let me know how you like this new feature and if you have any suggestions on how to make it better. I'm still playing around with the format.

Click for my original review: 

Firelight by Sophie Jordan
Rating: 2 out of 5
Team: Cassian

The following bloggers kindly allowed me to include their reviews in this feature: 

Mindful Musings

Rating: 4 out of 5

Team: N/A

Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading

Rating: 4 out of 5

Team: Will

Bookworm1858

Rating: 4 out of 5

Team: (emphatically) Will

Paranormal Indulgence

Rating: 4 out of 5

Team: Will

Avery's Book (and Other Fun Stuff) Nook

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Team: Will

Splash of Our Worlds

Rating: 3 out of 5

Team: Cassian by default of "Not Will" 

A Tapestry of Words

Rating: 3 out of 5

Team: Undecided

Annette's Book Spot

Rating: N/A

Team: Will

A Backwards Story

Rating: N/A

Team: Will

Please click on the links to read their full reviews!

~Conclusions~ 

While overall impressions appear to be mixed, reviewers were almost unanimous on their positive feelings for the unique development of draki mythology. Will was a generally liked love interest, though feelings on Jacinda (the MC) were mixed. The romance is of the hot and insta-love variety and also met mixed responses. Four reviewers mentioned similarities between Firelight and other YA paranormals, particularly Twilight. Almost all reviewers cited dissatisfaction with the cliffhanger ending.

 
 

        

 ~Writing/Pacing~

• “Fast-paced, held my attention the entire time” (Mindful Musings)
• Engrossing (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
• “I liked Jordan’s writing. It easily takes you in the book.” (Splash of Our Worlds)
• Unique, entertaining, “From the very first couple of pages this book grabs you” (Annette’s Book Spot)
• Unique, exhilarating (Paranormal Indulgence)
• Refreshing, “…sucked me in right from the start” (A Backwards Story)
• “The imagery and detail is vivid” (A Backwards Story)
• “[The] writing style was great” (Mindful Musings)
• “[The writing style] tended to interrupt the flow of reading” (A Tapestry of Words)
• “The first half of the book is quite slow-moving” (A Tapestry of Words)
• “Excessive stage setting…It felt like the book was unnecessarily stretched…even if there isn’t enough substance here to justify a complete book” (Small Review)
• “The story is not developed enough” (Splash of Our Worlds)

 

 ~Characters~

General:

• “I had a few issues with the characters” (Mindful Musings)
• “The characters were in a normal level, acceptable” (Splash of Our Worlds)
• A little disappointed, “I didn’t get to really know the characters…I turned up not liking most of them” (Paranormal Indulgence)

Jacinda:

• Loyal, “I often admired Jacinda” (Mindful Musings)
• “One of the best things about Firelight is the fact that it’s the female main character who is the mythical being” (A Backwards Story)
•  “I liked Jacinda at the very beginning...[but] she began to start irritating me” (A Tapestry of Words)
• “She did get a little repetitive…but it didn’t really bother me all that much” (Mindful Musings)
• “I thought Jacinda was a bit annoying with her back and forth. She was so indecisive and whiny.” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
•  “Jacinda’s indecision was dragged on for so long that I lost all sympathy I had for the character…” (Small Review)
• Angsty, indecisive, “Jacinda repeated all of her worries about her problems so often I got sick of them and my sympathy for her decreased” (A Tapestry of Words)

Will:

• “I wasn’t in love with him, but I did like him. I think I would like him more if I knew what he was like before he met Jacinda” (Mindful Musings)
• “I loved Will. What a swoon-worthy guy” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
• “I love Will” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
• “…a much easier character to like” (A Tapestry of Words)
• “If there was something I didn’t like about Will, it was perhaps that he was just too sweet” (A Tapestry of Words)
• Not a lot of depth, “…wasn’t all that remarkable or standout-ish” (Paranormal Indulgence)
• “He didn’t really stand out to me beyond the stock paranormal romance guy” (Small Review)

Cassian:

• “I didn’t enjoy him as a character…too arrogant and possessive…[but] I saw a hint of underlying sweetness” (Paranormal Indulgence)
• Ambiguous, intriguing, “…another character I liked, because he isn’t wholly good or wholly bad.” (A Tapestry of Words)
• One of my favorite things about the book (Small Review)

  ~Plot~

Romance:

• “A very nice romance…When I have a reader ask for a romance with a supernatural element I will hand her Firelight” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
• “Most of [the book] is around the love story” (Splash of Our Worlds)
• “Romance was the primary focus…and I wasn’t feeling this romance at all” (Small Review)
• “This I-guess-you-could-call-it-that love triangle didn’t score too high with me” (Paranormal Indulgence)
•  “The romantic scenes between Jacinda and Will are hot and steamy” (Annette’s Book Spot)
• Intoxicating, “…a sizzling romance that sparks in the midst of all that angst and danger” (Paranormal Indulgence)
•  “The initial attraction…is well-done, with their chemistry sizzling…but once they actually declare themselves the romance tends toward slightly too sweet and cheesy” (A Tapestry of Words)
• “…their passionate scenes were wonderful, but how often did this couple actually talk and discuss things” (Paranormal Indulgence)

Mythology:

• “The story idea was FABULOUS! Talk about original! The whole draki idea was just awesome.” (Mindful Musings)
• “The mythology of the draki greatly interested me” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
•  “…the best part…was learning all I could about the draki…a constant source of fascination” (Paranormal Indulgence)
•  “…a paranormal creature unlike any other” (Annette’s Book Spot)
• “This is the area that Jordan really shone. I appreciated all the thought she’d put into the draki race and the way she made it work with traditional dragon lore.” (A Tapestry of Words)
• “The draki is such an original and clever idea…but in the book, you really don’t get much of it” (Splash of Our Worlds)
•  “Thoroughly engrossing mythology surrounding the draki…[but Sophie Jordan] only scratches the surface in this book” (Small Review)
• “I would have loved more world-building involving the draki pride” (A Tapestry of Words

Originality:

• “I found the first half…to be entirely reminiscent of Twilight…and the second half seemed entirely reminiscent of Claudia Gray’s Evernight series.” (Avery’s Book Nook)
• “…still a good book, but I just wish that it had been a bit more unique” (Avery’s Book Nook)
•  “While it was interesting, at the same time it reminded me of Twilight…there were scenes that I felt like I was reading Twilight” (Splash of Our Worlds)
• “There were a couple elements that reminded me of Twilight and/or typical YA paranormals” (A Tapestry of Words)
•  “…some of the scenes were so reminiscent of a handful of other YA paranormal romance books that I felt like I had already read this book” (Small Review)

 ~Ending/Sequel~

• “I did like the cliffhanger!” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
•  “I look forward to reading more of her writing in the future!” (Mindful Musings)
• “I am eagerly anticipating the second book” (Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading)
• “There are many mysteries still not answered and an amazing ending, which really made me wanna get the next book” (Splash of Our Worlds)
• “There are a ton of loose ends that were not tied up, nor even touched upon! It seriously just ended, probably with one of the worst cliffhanger endings I have ever read before.” (Avery’s Book Nook)
• “…a complete cliffhanger. Right in the middle of everything THE BOOK JUST ENDS! …This didn’t feel like a cliffhanger, it felt like a printing error” (Small Review)
•  “I don’t mind cliffhangers, but I just felt like the ending kind of popped up out of nowhere…wasn’t a satisfying closing” (Paranormal Indulgence)
•  “…ends with a shattering, unfulfilling climax” (Annette’s Book Spot)
• “…Feels more like it just sets up the rest of the series…I’ll probably read the next book at some point, but I won’t be rushing out to buy it” (A Tapestry of Words)
•  “I’m not necessarily anxious to get to the sequel, but I’ll be excited for its release nonetheless” (Paranormal Indulgence)
•  “I’ll give the next book a chance, but if I’m not hooked early on then I’m DNF-ing it” (Small Review)

 

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