Review: Wildefire

by Karsten Knight
publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
date of publication: July 26, 2011
format: eGalley
pages: 400
source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N

From 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.

What I Thought

Wildefire is another in a recent wave of books centered around the topic of gods and goddesses. This book, however, stands apart from the rest in its tone and execution. Wildefire begins with a very different tone than one typically expects from a YA novel. Ashline Wilde has a fiery temper. This gets her into a lot of trouble and makes for a more serious setting. In fact, Wildefire begins with a fight in which Ashline utterly loses control of herself. This is only the tip of the iceberg, however, as her errant older sister, Eve, enters the scene and things quickly go from bad to worse. If Ashline's temper is bad, it is nothing compared to Eve's seemingly subconscious need to cause chaos and destruction. The scene quickly becomes dire as Eve changes Ashline's life forever.

The characters found in Wildefire are volatile, interesting, and varied. Aside from Ashline and Eve, the main cast of characters is comprised of Colt, Ashline's park ranger love interest; Ade, a boy with a connection to earthquakes; Raja, a girl with a truly terrifying power; Rolfe, a surfer who hides a brilliant light beneath the surface; Lily, a conflicted girl with a connection to plants; and Serena, the blind girl responsible for bringing them all together. As a unit, they are a formidable force, though there a number of interpersonal conflicts that prevent a total cohesiveness. All told, they make for a fascinating group of characters that will keep you guessing throughout the book. As for the token antagonists, I found myself becoming extremely disturbed. You'll know why when you first read about the Cloak and learn about the extent a certain person is willing to go to get what they want.

As this copy of Wildefire is an eGalley, I will not hold the errors I discovered within the writing against it very much. However, there are some things that I noticed that I hope are caught before the final publication. Amongst these errors are common typos, improper word usage (for example, “tussled” instead of “tousled” when referring to hair), and seeming lack of research on a few very minor details that I highly doubt many people would notice (teenage girls are not typically addressed as “madame” by their French instructors). It was enough to distract me but not enough to truly affect the story, itself. The one issue I really had with the story was the lack of information about Serena. All of the other characters are given flash back sequences in which their backgrounds are explained. Not so with Serena. There is only the barest mention of where she comes from, who she is, and why she is at Blackwood Academy. This prevented me from feeling the full extent of her importance to the story. Even though she plays a big role in the five teens coming together, she is easily forgettable, which I found very disappointing.

Wildefire was an intriguing take on gods and goddesses. Though somewhat slow-going for me at times, I enjoyed the story overall and was left in shock by the ending, which came out of nowhere and took me completely by surprise. It was more than enough to have me hooked. I will be coming back for more and can't wait to find out what happens in Ashline's world next. As such, I give Wildefire 4 hoots.

Obligatory legal statement: This galley was provided to me free of charge via Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.