Firelight by Sophie Jordan (Audio Review)

Firelight
Sophie Jordan
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Narrator: Therese Plummer

Rating: 4.5 stars

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 draki—a 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.

I waited so long to read this one, and I'm a little sad that I did. I found a book that was absolutely brilliant. I loved Firelight, with it's unique twist on mythology and epic plot.

The world of Firelight was a lot of fun, which made the plot that much more fun. The plot was super intense, especially in the final chapters of the book. There were so many moments when I would be sitting there just holding my breath, thinking oh my gosh, what is going to happen!? I found certain elements to be a bit predictable, but overall it was so much fun to see where the story would go.

The characters were a big split for me. I really liked Katherine and Jacinda. They were both super great characters! I love Will - he really helped bring the story to life. Even though I feel like I shouldn't have liked Xander and Angus, something about them was just hilarious to me. I loved the scenes with them, as the just brought this element to the story.

Tamra and Jacinda's mom both drove me nuts. Tamra was way too immature for me, the way she had to tattle every chance she got, and was like ultra witch number 1. For someone who claimed it was all about Jacinda all the time, it was definitely ALL about her and she made sure of it. Anything that happened, no matter what is was, she would have a fit and say something "You did this. You don't want me to be happy. It's all about you".  Jacinda's mom just making horrible decisions for others saying she has their best interest at heart. I couldn't stand either of them.

I would have liked to know more of the mythology behind the whole story and more about the hunters and the encrose. I'm hoping that's something that will be revealed in book 2. There were so many mentions of Will's eyes and how they kept changing color. After awhile, it almost became a bit comical.

Therese Plummer is a brilliant narrator. I super loved her narration. I definitely would love to pick up another book narrated by her. Something about the way she read Firelight made it feel like the pages flew by at a crazy pace. Sometimes with audios at a really intense part I'll sit there wishing I could make the voice talk faster or something, but that was not the case at all here.

The end of Firelight is a killer! I am so happy I have Vanish already, so I wouldn't have to wait an entire year to continue their story. I am curious to see how some of the predictions I made throughout the book will play out, if I was right or not. I was not too crazy about some of the decisions made at the end of Firelight, so seeing how they play out will be interesting.

This is definitely one I would recommend While I wish some things were fleshed out a bit more and I wasn't too crazy about some of the characters, I still just fell in love with the story and I am very excited to hear more from Jacinda's brilliant world in Vanish.