Firecracker: A Young Adult Fantasy

I LOVED Born of Fire. It was AMAZING. I couldn’t WAIT to see what Saxony got up to next. But this? This was pure torture to read.

There was absolutely zero satisfaction or even SENSE to the majority of this book. The events that unfolded and then the ‘surprises’ or ‘twists’ were completely unbelievable given the events previous to their reveal.

For the most part, this book was boring. Nothing interesting happened at all. And the descriptions of certain things were so long and drawn-out that I literally skipped PAGES (multiple times) because they were so detailed and UNimportant.

I’m also disappointed because from Born of Fire and Pyro, we got a completely different picture of both Saxony and Basil. And then from Book 6, Elementals, we hear that Saxony is actually an elemental. But then she comes to this school and she’s simply someone who’s lived through a burning. She’s weak and can’t do much and needs to be taught many things. Yet in Elementals 6, she was able to create a miniature SUN and was esteemed and lauded.

And speaking of Elementals 6, I kept thinking how Saxony never referred to, thought of, or asked Basil about any of the things she experienced with the Arkon(?) and her other elemental friends. It just didn’t fit. It was like this author wanted this be both a stand-alone series, but also a continuation in that she didn’t really have to give a backstory or explain who certain people were and just assumed we’d read the previous books. I think what that means is that this storyline was lacking in following the paths of logic from where the original story started to where we would be now. Saxony WOULD HAVE had greater powers than the rest - even Basil. She WOULD HAVE had doubts, fears, etc. about the evil demons resurfacing. And more.

Anyway, you can tell I was disappointed in where this series began and went after reading all 6 previous books. I truly enjoyed those. And I had very high hopes for this series based on the synopsis. But I no longer do. Gage is a weak idiot. Ryan is completely unredeemable. And somewhat even Saxony isn’t relatable in this book. I liked her best in her own story in the last series. Even the way she’s referred to by her other friends in their books isn’t the same girl we interacted with in Born of Fire. I’d really hoped for better, but I was let down. And so now my search for another author and series continues as I will not be going further in this or any of the other connected series.

Another great book in the series! I can not wait to read the rest. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

Saxony seems nice, and I love how she helps April. Ryan is a jerk though. Gage sounds cute, and hard to believe they are twins. Looking forward to the next one to see Saxony kick Ryan's behind.

It’s a sort of book it’s hard to put down. A great read, for sure. Don’t miss it if you like fantasy adventure.

This is the strangest book I have read in quite some time. I forced myself to finish it because I was hoping the evil twin would make some moves on our homegirl but that never happened. The story follows a girl around a fire mage school and actually nothing much does happen. The very beginning of the book is an extensive chase through the school that takes up what feels like 35 pages. Just when you think they cant possibly keep running, they find a different classroom to tussle in. Also, the author seems to go out of their way to not introduce anyone. The main character just assumes the reader knows who she is talking about. Random new people are mentioned once by name and you have no idea who they are or how they relate to the mc. They could be a vegetable, mineral, or animal. Your guess is as good as any. This was extremely distracting. Also the mc is repeatedly called Red but you dont learn until the end of the book that she has red hair. You also dont learn she is canadian until the end of the book, which makes all of the passing canadian comments from other characters suddenly make sense. I rated a 5 because the book wasn't horrible and the author still deserves to be paid. I wont be reading the second book though. Too funky.

I like this series. The plot captures the reader and you feel the frustrations of the characters. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series!!

Way too much time spent describing unimportant details (like what wall looks like) and not enough actual story. I made it 38% into the book and almost nothing has happened. I'm so bored reading this that it feels like a chore. Too bad, the concept is something I would normally love.

Exciting read. Love Saxony and cannot wait to see how events unfold.