Review: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Fire & Flood 
Author: Victoria Scott (Website, Facebook, Twitter)
Series: Fire & Flood #1
Publisher: Scholastic Books on February 25, 2014
Genre: Young Adult - Sci-Fi, Dystopia, Fantasy, Thriller

Disclosure: Thanks to Scholastic Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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?

Review:

I really dislike going into a new series with any expectations or comparisons. With that said, yes, there are some elements to Flood & Fire which resemble other YA series, and that's okay. In fact I'm hard pressed to find a YA book without a less-than-perfect family, a love interest, an act of rebellion or a challenge.

Moving on... I really, really enjoyed this book!!!! While Tella is not my favorite person, we wouldn't be friends in school, she is real with real thoughts. Her mannerisms, vanity and random thoughts are all real. This was usually followed by chuckles and highlights on my part. She is not perfect or leading the feminist manifesto and I think I like her better that way. It's refreshing to see a lead female character who isn't stone cold and Ms. Bear Grylls, but is able to navigate through a survival situation without being completely dainty or fragile at the same time. Dare I say, her journey is almost believable.

The secondary characters make for an interesting bunch in diversity, strengths, motivations and mystery. Slowly the layers are pulled back without much confusion but definitely a few surprises. Each character is provided a "Pandora" for the journey, but not every Pandora is equal. Each character is motivated by the well being of a loved one. Every character has an identifier but they are not so complex you feel like you're having to take notes or draw a family tree. Our antagonist, Titus, is evil and not just because the book tells us so. I'd like to think the evilness stems from an innate desire to survive, but I have a feeling "creeper" was the descriptor well before the Brimstone Bleed come into the picture. Definitely the character we love to hate. Which brings us to our brooding and mysterious love interest, Guy. No, it's not love at first sight (what a relief!), overly cautious or campy either. All things that were refreshing. There's nothing incredibly "swoon" worthy about him but he's got a nice body, deep voice and awesome eyes. So the YA male lead checklist is fulfilled. I look forward to exploring more of Guy's character background as we move forward.

I also really enjoyed the pace of the book. It was detailed enough to get what I needed and quick enough to keep me engaged. I actually got really nervous about half way through that the book was going to wrapped up into a neat bow in 200 more pages. Luckily, this is a series and Victoria Scott was in no rush to push us out the door. While there are some answers to questions in this book there are twice as many questions when we reach the stopping point.

Last, but not least, thank you Victoria Scott for having a sense of humor. The most laughing I did was when the author/ main character would poke fun at the situation she was in or the thoughts she was thinking. Often times pointing out stereotypes in YA stories or pop culture. Seriously, who doesn't come up with witty retorts when they're asked to be quiet, which then creates a "backlog" of inner dialogue? It's organic and reminds me a lot of the anxious inner dialogue I carry around with me most of the time.

Rating:

5 Stars - You should read it. 99% chance I'll re-read it. 100% chance I'm reading book #2.