Review: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Goodreads Summary:

A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own.

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?

Publication Date: February 25, 2014

Although you’re bound to hear a lot of comparisons of Fire & Flood to The Hunger Games, I still found the novel enjoyable. There were enough unique elements to feel like the author was telling her own story. I found myself invested in Tella’s journey and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

As far as characters, I think I liked the secondary characters a bit more than Tella. I liked Tella, but her thought process didn’t always make sense to me. I think the author is funny and I like her writing style, but Tella worrying about her hair and makeup just took away from the sense of urgency in the plot. She came across as shallow and it made it difficult to root for her to win the race.

That being said, I still liked the setting and the rest of the characters were great. Guy was mysterious and heroic and Tella’s Pandora named Madox was amazing. When Tella was interacting with Madox, I found Tella the most likable. The romance wasn’t a major part of the plot, but there was room left for the relationship to develop. The villains were scary and since there is a competition, loyalties changed throughout the book.

The world building was a little vague for a lot of the novel, but I was glad to see it come together at the end. There was a lot of excitement in the final third of the novel and I felt the conclusion built up my anticipation for the next book.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!