Before reading this novel, I was impressed by the tagline on the cover. ‘A hidden truth. Mortal enemies. Doomed love.’ This is definitely a whole new unique story with very well written characters. It caught my attention from the main character, Jacinda. She is a draki, the descendant of dragons with the power to shape-shift into human form. With her rare ability to breathe fire, she is favored and cherished among the draki, but she hates being trapped and has to follow everyone’s rules, lacking freedom and independence to make her own choices. Firelight is a magnificent romance which perfectly depicts teen love between a draki and a human.
Their race is often hunted for their skin and bodies. Jacinda breaks a rule in the pride to sneak off at dawn, almost revealing her people to hunters. Her mother dreads for her safety and moves Jacinda and her sister Tamra to the desert before anything perilous happens. It is quite normal for a draki to enjoy its lifetime in the sky. It is a pity that she is even forbidden to try how the early morning light will taste on her skin. The story begins with a hidden truth about the secret of the whole draki family but rapidly turns glorious when Jacinda meets Will without knowing he is a hunter.
Jacinda once meets a mysterious boy, Will when she went to her brand new high school. Will and his family are draki-hunters. Although Jacinda is able to shift into human form, she still fears that her identity will be discovered by Will, a boy she loves. She is definitely a conflicted creature and they should be mortal enemies for sure, but there is a mutual attraction between them. Many other draki has reminded and even warned her not to be so close with Will as he will harm her and her family. Nonetheless, Jacinda treats Will as her refuge, someone who knows everything about her, likes her anyway. She enjoys the time with Will. Jacinda falls in love with Will and is willing to sacrifice everything in her life to be with him for eternity, even if that means she has be left as a human forever. He brightens her existence with companionship, laughter, love and romance. The idea of a hunter and prey falling in love, forbidden love, is thrilling and enticing.
When Will brings Jacinda to his home, she once again finds herself surrounded by danger.In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Will and her draki ability. Will however awakens her Draki. If her inner draki is slowly slipping away and dies, she will be a human thereafter. She will do anything to prevent that even if it means she is getting closer to her most dangerous enemy to keep her ability. Jacinda keeps wondering why Will is so sympathetic to her. She thought he was going to rat her out for sure and hunters are not big on mercy. Will is different from the hunters who see draki only as prey, a subspecies to be broken and sold for profits. Will is unsparing although his tone is so serious when they are in danger. The doomed love between them drives them crazy for each other. To be irrevocably in love with a mortal enemy is fantasy into a dangerously heightened reality for Jacinda.
Above all, I have to say how much I am fond of Sophie Jordan’s luscious writing style. The captivating plot is splendidly done. I find it so easy to get lost in the world through her words. Striking and remarkable characters are extremely intriguing and amazing. I appreciate her work from a literary standpoint. She brings the story to vivid life, and pulls me right into the action. She is capable to illustrate and bring emotions to live. Even though there is not a lot of action in this book, it still fixes my eyes on. The whole ‘draki-human’ idea catches my mind. It was more engrossing than most of the stories of vampires, werewolves or faeries.
Firelight is a magnificent romance which perfectly depicts teen love between a draki and a human. I like the starting arrangement as it is heart-wrenching to read. The author is naturally good at writing Jacinda‘s worries and woes. Danger lurks everywhere, bringing a certain level of suspense to the story. With so many highlights, it is certainly a book which is extremely difficult to put down.
All in all, I honestly feel that this book shows a deep kind of love that I haven’t seen in all my romance reading. It is not just boy-girl romance as well. It shows a deep, formidable romantic love, but also the love of friendship, the bonds of family, and how they all come together, serving as our greatest weaknesses, but also our greatest strengths. I love stories that make rooms for thinking and there is so much more going on beneath the surface in this one. Firelight has definitely deserved a place among my favorite friction. I will be very interested in reading Sophie Jordan’s work and seeing what other tales might be created from her fertile imagination.