I'm so glad I read this book! It was way better than I expected, and I'd definitely recommend it. It would have been nice to learn more about the slayer/sorcerer animosity, but it isn't that big of a deal in the grand schemes of this book. I would have liked a little more background knowledge for the worldbuilding, but at this point, that's just me trying to find something wrong. It was more than a little confusing to try to guess who was talking. There were times when I'd look up and an hour was gone! My only complaint with the mechanics is the way the POV switches mid-chapter from Dani to Eden or vice versa. The fast pacing and constantly moving storyline kept me reading until I'd lose track of the time. The writing and banter were done perfectly as well and kept me glued to the page. Destiny Soria (who has an awesome name by the way) did a fantastic job with her 'teen speak' and not making it sound like something in a kiddie cartoon or your dad trying to be cool to your friends. The narration and writing did a fantastic job of tying everything together. Every time he would ask if it was time to sing 'Kumbaya' yet I would have to try not to snicker, lest my family think I'm crazy. And of course Nox's snark and naïevity to the human world. The side characters were just as good and complicated, with Tomás's jokes and perfect best-friend-caring, Sadie's complicated past that she was willing to overlook to help an old friend, and Kieran's grey-area work. She was relatable in her struggles as the overlooked older sister (shout out to all you other older sisters who feel this too, I know the feeling) and her choices, and it's hard not to empathize! Our other POV, Eden (Dani's older sister), was the perfect kind of is-she-a-bad-guy?-well-I-dunno-let's-see kind of character.

Dani was the perfect femme fatale-type of protagonist, and so enjoyable to read! It's refreshing to not have to facepalm every five seconds from some stupid decision of the MC. They were so well fleshed out, even the side characters that are normally overlooked in that department. The characters were much of the reason I loved this book so much.

And just as I hoped, this was full of my very favorite tropes! Sister rivalry, strong protagonists, urban fantasy, dragons, romance. Like I mentioned earlier, the synopsis was a fantastic way to get me to request this ARC right away. Let me tell you now, those meager expectations were absolutely blown out of the water. The idea sounded amazing, urban fantasy and dragons? But I just wasn't expecting much. I did not plan to enjoy this half as much as I did! For some reason, I went into this with low expectations and I have no idea why. Come see this review and more at my blog, The Scribe Owl!Ī million thanks to Edelweiss and HMH for sending me a copy of this ARC!

Fire with fire destiny soria book 2