Short & Sweet reviews: Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Title: Wildefire
Author: Karsten Knight
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult
Series: Wildefire #1 of a trilogy

Hardcover, 400 pages
Published on July 26, 2011 by Simon & Schuster

I received this book for review from Simon & Schuster.

Summary (via 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.

My thoughts: I remember hearing about this book awhile back but didn’t really know much about it. Then I received this book in the mail for review/gift from the publishing house, and read the synopsis and to my surprise it actually sounds good! Gods and Goddess all end up at a remote private school don’t tell me that DOESN’T catch your attention!  The first chapter caught me totally off guard and really surprised me because of the violence. Literally the first page we have the main heroine beating up another classmate because she was sneaking around with her boyfriend. I stopped reading at one point and turn to the cover flat to make sure that I was reading a YA book (laughs), yup…cover flap says for ages 14 and up! Ashline, the main character ends up transferring school (you’ll have to read the book to know why, don’t want to spoil it for you guys), it is there where we meet other gods and goddess who were reincarnated into a mortal’s body…so they have powers but are NOT immortal. 

Many readers have brought up the issue of violence in the book and the unnecessary vulgar language that Ashline and the other characters expresses. Although I agree that it was a bit much and maybe it should be for readers ages 17 and up…I still thought that this was a great book.  It’s not like the typical boarding school book that currently out.  The concept of the novel was refreshing and new; you have god and goddess from different cultures. For example, Shango Zulu god of thunder, Konohana Shinto goddess of the blossoms, Baldur god of light, and Isis, Egyptian goddess of the dead.  The book is told in third person. The book doesn’t go by chapters but instead go by three different parts ( I, II and III). In between these parts, there are some flashback scenes so that readers can learn a little more about the secondary characters and their past.

Overall, a great book even with some flaws, but these flaws don’t take away from the characterization and story line. Some readers will either love the book or hate it. The book starts off strong and fast and continues that way till the end. There was never a boring moment; I would have finished the book in a day or two if it wasn’t for school. The ending will have readers pining for the next book in the series, the ending was a shocker because let me tell you…definitely didn’t see that one coming! 

Readers who love YA should give this book a chance; they may be surprised at how great it was like me. Or if you want to read something other than vampires, or werewolves, than pick this book up ASAP!