Review: Wildefire

Title: Wildefire
Author: Karsten Knight
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Goodreads

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Every flame begins with a spark. 

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. 

But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. 

To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

Review:

I really wanted to LOVE this book, so very badly. Wildefire is one of the books that I was looking forward to reading the most this year.  I'm sad to say that I was a bit disappointed. I really did LIKE it, but not as much as I was hoping.

First, I think I must talk about the cover. It's amazing! The book itself is so gorgeous in person. It's feels a bit soft, too. It's one of the prettiest book I have ever seen. I am so stoked that I own a lovely copy to place on my shelf!

One thing that kind of bothered me a bit was the violence. I'm not completely against violence in books, but something  about it rubbed me the wrong way. Also, I'm kind of disappointed that I knew ahead of time what Ashline is. The back of the book completely gives it away, even though most of the book Ashline is trying to figure it out. It would have been nice for there to have been a bit more mystery.

I loved when it started getting into the paranormal part. The beginning is a bit slow, but Ashline's story is needed before getting into the good stuff. I loved that we got to know the other character's background stories, too. There are so many other paranormal books out there, but this one was definitely unique. I've never read another book that has what Ashline is. I loved that she was Polynesian, too!

Whoa, the ending is crazy! I'm so intrigued about what's going to happen in the next book! The very last bit is what totally  made this book, for me. There were a few surprises that I really enjoyed.

So, after much thought (you have no idea how long I spent trying to figure out exactly what I thought of it), I really did like this story. I've had a few days after reading it to kind of absorb the story more, and I'm liking it more than I initially thought I did.  I have high hopes for book two.