Fire with Fire

Title: Fire with Fire
Author: Destiny Soria
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Year: June 2021
Pages: 421
Genre: Fantasy
Reading Time: 9 - 13 August
Binding: Fairyloot Hardback

Goodreads

Stars:
★★★★☆

Blurb:

 What if the story we've been told about dragons is wrong?

 Dani and Eden Rivera were born to kill dragons, but that's the only thing the sisters have in common. For Dani, dragon slaying takes a back seat to everyday high school life. For Eden, slaying is her life. Yet they both agree on one thing: where dragons are concerned, it's kill or be killed.

 That is, until Dani actually meets a dragon and ends up forging a rare and magical soul bond with him. As they grow closer, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. Suddenly the one thing Eden and Dani always agreed on is the one thing that could tear their world apart. With Dani lost to the wrong side, Eden knows she'll have to risk everything to bring her sister back from the edge - even turning to the mysterious and alluring sorcerers for help.

 Now on opposite ends of an impending war, the sisters will do whatever it takes to save the other. But the two are playing with magic that is more dangerous than they can imagine, and there is another, more powerful enemy waiting for them both in the shadows.

Reviews:

 Books are always a win when dragons are involved. Place it in a modern setting, referencing real life books and people and twining them in to the fantasy element? GOLDEN! I pretty continuously don't read the descriptions of books in my book box subscriptions, I just try and join in on the readalongs. This one was a very pleasant surprise from Fairyloot!

 Before I talk in some more detail about the characters I feel I should mention the representation covered by our characters. Our main family is made up of sisters Dani and Eden and their parents James (Scottish) and Analisa (Mexican) so immediate POC representation. Dani is bisexual, already out and proud about it so we've got a little of our LGBT. We've also got some references to panic disorders and anxiety. We share POVs between Dani and Eden and as the blurb suggests these are vastly different giving you some change in pace, setting and outlook throughout.

 More directly on our main two characters, Dani was your typical person of the modern age that's not interested in the family business. Training to appease the family but more concerned with just being a normal person. Total respect for that but Dani is really denying the fact that she's pretty badass! Girl is a weapon and damn good at what she's been trained for. She's realistically awkward in her high school life interactions and has all the background of working a job in the background. Her wanting to be normal is really well set up but she also shows real respect for the skills her family has. She resents the work but respects its importance, a good balance. I found her funny and relatable.

 Eden however is the reason this book got knocked down a star. Bitter was the undercurrent of the majority of her chapters and whilst I understand wanting the sisters to be different it made for an experience where I just wanted to skip Eden's chapters. Jealousy, whining, manipulation all make for a good character but not necessarily half the POV of a book. Top that with the difficult of some anxiety issues I feel this is actually a difficult topic. For me there needed to be a very big redemption arc for her general behaviour and for me anxiety and panic disorders are just a thin excuse. This is however, obviously, a subjective topic.

 I'll give you some one-liners on our other characters. A witty and dark humoured dragon that I absolutely loved, favourite quote being 'Try not to be a pedantic twit; it will make all of this much easier.' Genuine laughing out loud and getting weird looks moment for me. A well thought out sorceress with power and determination. You get a whole mix of funny and malicious side characters in this book but not so many that you'll lose track.

 I've already mentioned how I like the integrating of the modern world in this fantasy but I really enjoyed the general magical concept. Dragons are awesome, period. Soul bonds between humans and dragons, rare but empowering? Wicked! Sorcerers coming about in a way I'll let you read about? Insane! Love. Love. Love.

 In terms of pacing, I was pretty happy with the was this story unfolded. Yes there were some side-elements going on that came in and slowed it down but it all felt genuine to the story rather than forced. 

 Overall, if this story is going to continue with a series I'm very, very likely to follow it up!