Dark Elite #01: Firespell

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moiraethefatesbookreview, December 4, 2010 (view all comments by moiraethefatesbookreview)
Firespell by Chloe Neill

Reviwed by Moirae the fates book reviews.


As a huge fan of books like Harry Potter (My childhood!) when I found this book on the shelf at my library I picked it up, after reading the cover blurb I knew it would be a interesting read.

Firespell is about a girl named Lily Parker who hails from New York. Her parents go on sabbatical and send her to St. Sophia’s school for girls, a boarding school in Chicago. Lily is very unhappy with this new arrangement to say the least. The school is packed with the stereotypical super rich bratty girls. Which Lily is not a fan of.
She wants to know where her new friend and roommate Scout goes each night when she sneaks out. Lily soon learns about a world in Chicago that she never knew about a world with magic, vampires and demons.
Lily must learn fast how to protect her self and Chicago from these creatures and from the Reapers who use dark-magic.

I really enjoyed this book. The book was fast paced and fun. Neill’s Chicago is a fun one, but it can also be a frightening one. I really enjoy her writing style and how she tells a story. She gives you enough information, but she also keeps a lot from you and upon finishing the book, if you are anything like me you’ll groan, not in a bad way, but in more of a I-have-to-wait-a-whole-year kind of way. I know I did that.
There were so many questions left unanswered about Lily, her friends and her parents.
Neill is not afraid to let her characters have flaws nor is she afraid to let them fail. They are real characters, I love that! I am so glad that none of them were Mary-Sue.
The dialog felt real to me. It didn’t feel forced or feel like Neill was “Trying to sound like a teenager”.
The character development is great! We get to see how Lily grows from page one to two-hundred forty-six. I am waiting very anxiously to read Hexbound the next installment due to be released January 4 2011.

Over all rating:
I would give this book a ***** 5 out of 5 stars if you like Harry Potter and Hexhall you’ll love this book.

Cover art:

I think the cover art is creepy in a good way, the darkness of it makes it that much more mysterious and I think it captures the mystery of the story.

Obtained:
My local library, then I bought a copy for myself.

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Cherry Mischievous, August 6, 2010 (view all comments by Cherry Mischievous)
The world building is a slow build-up to a great architecture. The end result was beautiful and believable. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5. The story-telling quality was good and I would give it a 3.5 out of 5. The character development was superb and as a reader, I can connect with Lily and Scout.

Here is the kicker:
Towards the end, the good guys team and the bad guys team had a drama talk which read like a badly scripted movie. The book is trying to make me believe that teenagers (raging hormones, emotions and all) would just stand around and watch newbie friend exchange info with the bad guys team leader in a high-stress rescue situation. WTF! In my experience, teenagers jumps feet first and bounce with energy. Specially with all that adrenaline pumping in their veins having to do a rescue stint. I therefore find these scenes inconsistent. And this is not the only "inconsistent scenario" in the book. So, "suspension of disbelief" would have to drop to zero. That scene there, needs a lot of work. It also tells me that this author has a lot of imagination but little true understanding of teenagers. From my point of view as a reader, if somebody wants to write about a subject matter, he/she needs to understand, or at least research it, because it'll show.

Overall, I would rate this book a 2 out of 5. Borrow this book from the library rather than waste your money buying it.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5

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anitaballerina, June 11, 2010 (view all comments by anitaballerina)
Brand new series. I really enjoyed this book.It is very fun and different. The characters are well developed and the plot is strong.
It's a quick read and great for a hot summer day when you stay in and just want to sit in a cool house and read. Also great for the beach. Loved this book, highly recommend it.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780451228864

Subtitle:

A Novel of the Dark Elite

Author:

Neill, Chloe

Publisher:

Signet

Subject:

Horror & Ghost Stories

Subject:

Vampires

Subject:

Chicago (Ill.)

Subject:

Children s-Scary Stories

Edition Description:

B-Mass Market

Series:

Dark Elite

Series Volume:

01

Publication Date:

20100105

Binding:

Paperback

Grade Level:

from 12

Language:

English

Pages:

256

Dimensions:

6.70x4.10x.80 in. .30 lbs.

Age Level:

17-17