Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott [Review]

3 out of 5 Robots!

  

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott
Series: Fire & Flood #1
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Release: February 25, 2014
Hardcover: 304 Pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon
Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Summary:

A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own.

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

This book just didn't quite do it for me.  I wanted to love it.  I mean, c'mon!  It was like Hunger Games meets Pokemon.  And admittedly, the Pandora's are pretty cool.  But it wasn't enough to hold my attention.  I didn't particularly like Tella.  She does a lot of my Female YA Character Pet Peeves.  She is vain to the point of stupidity.  (She packs nail polish for the race because she wants to look pretty while doing it, for example. And she is concerned about her looks at times she should actually be concerned for her life.)  She dislikes other female characters just because they are attractive.  She is weak - not just physically, but mentally.  She can be funny.  But her thoughts are too ramble-ly for me really get a true sense of her personality.




I also had a hard time getting behind the romance.  It is definitely one of those hot/cold type romances.  But mostly, I just didn't understand WHY Guy was attracted to Tella.  What was drawing them together?  I prefer a developed romance or none.  Otherwise it just seems extraneous.

Lastly, I also didn't really understand the purpose of the race.  Even once it was explained, I still didn't get it.  I want more explanation.

I think this series has potential and some readers will really like it.  For me, the lack of clarity and underdeveloped characters and plot threw me off course.