Book: Firespell by Chloe Neill
Release date: January 5, 2010
Publisher: Signet
From: Publisher
Summary:
As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…
When Lily’s guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.
The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.
Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…
Lily Parker is new at St. Sophia’s. Her parents are on a two year sabbatical in Germany and instead of leaving her with friends in Sagamore they shipped her to the elite private school in Chicago. She doesn’t fit in with the rich, abandoned teen girls at St. Sophia’s but then she meets Scout. Scout doesn’t fit in either but that’s because she’s got a secret, a secret that takes her out late at night, into the catacombs beneath the school. When Lily gets trapped in the basement one night because of a prank, she discovers why Scout is always disappearing late at night and what lurks in the basement of St.Sophia’s.
Lily didn’t seem like a heroine. She was more of a sidekick to Scout. Lily was pretty whiny and there wasn’t a whole lot to like about her. Scout, on the other hand, was awesome. I would love to find out more about her in the upcoming books.
The plot was pretty typical for a paranormal book. It was a bit different in the beginning because Lily had no clue what was going on but after she found out things got kind of similar to other books. I hate to say it but the book was boring. I hope it’s only because it’s the first and it was setting things up for the other books.
Overall, Firespell was just okay. I think the series has potential so I will definitely check out the next book. If you think it interests you and you have the patience for it, give it a shot, although I do recommend checking it out from the library before buying it.
Writing: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Plot: 6/10
Ending: 8/10
Originality: 8/10
Overall: 39/50=C+
Cover: 8/10=B-
Nice honest review 🙂 I enjoyed reading it!!!