Phoenix Fire
by S. D. Grimm
About Phoenix Fire:
After spending her life in foster care, Ava has finally found home. But all it takes is a chance encounter with hot nerd Wyatt Wilcox for it to unravel.
Now, things are starting to change. First, the flashes of memories slowly creeping in. Memories of other lives, lives that Wyatt is somehow in. Then, the healing. Any cut? Gone.
But when Cade and Nick show up, claiming to be her brothers, things get even weirder. They tell her she’s a Phoenix, sent to protect the world from monsters—monsters she never knew existed. It’s a little hard to accept. Especially when they tell her she has to end the life of a Phoenix turned rogue, or Cade will die.
With Wyatt’s increasingly suspicious behavior, Ava’s determined to figure out what he’s hiding. Unless she can discover Wyatt’s secret in time and complete her Phoenix training, she’ll lose the life, love, and family she never thought she could have.
My Thoughts:
I received an ARC for an honest review
Now, things are starting to change. First, the flashes of memories slowly creeping in. Memories of other lives, lives that Wyatt is somehow in. Then, the healing. Any cut? Gone.
But when Cade and Nick show up, claiming to be her brothers, things get even weirder. They tell her she’s a Phoenix, sent to protect the world from monsters—monsters she never knew existed. It’s a little hard to accept. Especially when they tell her she has to end the life of a Phoenix turned rogue, or Cade will die.
With Wyatt’s increasingly suspicious behavior, Ava’s determined to figure out what he’s hiding. Unless she can discover Wyatt’s secret in time and complete her Phoenix training, she’ll lose the life, love, and family she never thought she could have.
My Thoughts:
I received an ARC for an honest review
I gave this book 4.25 stars. I decided to read this book on a whim. The synopsis really does not do the book justice. It’s so much more than just a book about a girl who is reunited with her brothers and has a crush.
I thought that Ava and Wyatt’s relationship was going to be really cheesy and I kinda expected instalove. Despite my expectations going in, there was actually a build towards their relationship instead of jumping right in. We slowly got to know them and were along with them as they fell in love. I loved how it didn’t just start at the beginning of this book, it went back even further than we thought.
There are a lot of secrets in this novel and not all of them get revealed in this book, so if you hate unanswered questions you might want to wait for the rest of the books in the series before starting this. However, even though not all the questions are answered the novel isn’t left on a cliffhanger which we should all be thankful for, I know I am.
The idea behind the book is so simple, yet I’ve never seen anything like it. Phoenix’s as humans. It’s something I’ve actually thought of before, but I’ve yet to see it translate onto paper before this novel. I always thought it would be a cool idea and I’m glad this author thought so too and decided to bring this captivating story to life.
This book had substance. I find that some YA urban fantasy books can get caught up in a romance or something and the plot is none existent and you pretty much spend the whole book wondering how their tricky relationship is going to work. This novel doesn’t rely heavily on the romance. It also deals with family and betrayal and badassery.
The world itself is so cool. I haven’t seen a lot of phoenixes in stories. The only time I can actually remember a phoenix being in a story was Fawkes from Harry Potter and we don’t really know much about him. I loved how flushed out the phoenixes are. We get so much information on how their cycles work and their magic. It’s fascinating.
Overall, I highly suggest giving this one a read. It’s exciting, has that hint of romance, and most importantly has an abundance of magic.
About S.D. Grimm:
S. D. Grimm’s first love in writing is young adult fantasy and science fiction, which is to be expected from someone who looks up to heroes like Captain America and Wonder Woman, has been sorted into Gryffindor, and identifies as rebel scum. Her patronus is a red Voltron lion, her spirit animal is Toothless, and her favorite meal is second breakfast. Her office is anywhere she can curl up with her laptop and at least one large-sized dog.You can learn more about her upcoming novels at www.sdgrimm.com
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Excerpt from Phoenix Fire:
He shrugged. “I should have expected Danny to warn you about me.”
“It’s not like you made a habit out of beating people up, right?” I offered a smile.
The way his gaze locked onto mine, suddenly easier to read, though the moonlight was blocked by branches here, made me think he might be staring deep into a memory, too.
“Wyatt?”
He sucked in a breath. “Right. I don’t go around hurting people.”
“No. You let them pick on you.” I released his hands.
His small laugh seemed to drip bitterness. “Well, I can’t exactly fight back—I’d be in so much trouble if I were to have another…incident—and they know it.”
That ignited a fireball in my stomach. That’s why they picked on him? “How can people be so cruel?” I pointed my flashlight on the path ahead. “Can I show you something?”
“Of course.”
Within a few minutes, we’d arrived to my favorite place on the run. I stepped through the thinning dune grass and out onto a sandy cliff of the top of a dune. From here we could see over Lake Michigan. But the sun had already set, leaving nothing but darkness in front of us. Here, at night, the best view was looking up.
I sat down and motioned to the stars. “I looked up Andromeda after you came over.”
“Yeah?” His voice carried the hint of awe and surprise mingled together.
“But I don’t know which constellation it is.”
He sat beside me and leaned close enough that his shoulder brushed against mine. “There.” His fingers traced an outline of stars. “It’s been said that she’s a beautiful princess.”
“I read that, too.” I chuckled. “But like all princesses, she got into trouble.”
He laughed. “Yes. She got herself captured.”
I made my voice mock-dreamy. “But her handsome prince—what was his name? Perseus!—saved her. I can only imagine they lived happily ever after.”
He didn’t respond, so I tore my eyes away from the night sky and found Wyatt already looking at me.
“Thank you,” he said, turning his attention back to the sky as a breeze off the lake muffled his quiet words. “For not making me feel like a monster for what I did.”
I wanted to touch him again, but I refrained. “You’re hardly a monster, Wyatt.”
Something in his soft smile made my heart beat faster.
Love that extra .25 in your review ;)
ReplyDeleteAlso, that's a very nice cover, the design is awesome