Review: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Book: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Released: February 25, 2014

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pages: 320 (Kindle)

Rating: 3.5

Goodreads

**I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an open and honest review**

From Goodreads:

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?

So this book. It's part Hunger Games. Part Survivor. And part The Amazing Race. All things that I enjoy. While there are definitely some similarities to the above mentioned movie & TV shows, there are some twists that make this book unique. Did it redefine the genre? No, but what really would at this point? Did I enjoy this book? Yes, yes I did. Sadly, there was no Jeff Probst though.

Come on in, guys

While there are some qualities of The Hunger Games to this book, ie: you have to fight to the death to win the prize, that's pretty much where it ended, and even so it's not necessary to kill everyone in order to win. There are people of all ages participating in the Brimstone Bleed (which, by the way, is a totally awesome name. I dig the alliteration). They are all there to win The Cure to saved a loved one.

That's what this whole Brimstone Bleed is all about. The winner will received The Cure, which will save their loved one who is sick and dying back at home. But to win, they must compete in 4 different landscapes: the jungle, the desert, the ocean and the mountains. In this book we only see the jungle and the desert, and boy are they brutal. In the jungle it rains all the time. In the desert it's oppressively hot during the day, and freezing at night. In addition to the environment, there are other threats, namely the other competitors and mysterious jungle men. The goal of each round is to find the blue flags which will lead them to the base camp... and safety.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The main character of our story is Tella. She's enters the Brimstone Bleed to save her older brother. Without knowing what she's getting herself in to, she leaves her home in Montana and drives to Lincoln, Nebraska. There she picks out an egg, which will be her Pandora. The Pandoras will help each Contender through their journey. I like the Pandoras, especially when you find out what they are, and what they can do. Tella's in particular is pretty awesome. 

In Lincoln is where Tella first encounters Guy. He then continues to make random appearances in the first half of the book, before staying for good. He's pretty rough around the edges and hard to figure out, that's for sure. Little by little information about him is given throughout the book. I liked the slow flow of information, it seemed more realistic that way.

Is it the clumpy way he walks? Or the grumpy way he talks?

There's a group of Contenders that Tella meets up with, and they each have their own story about why they are there. Some are revealed quickly, and some at the end. Each one serves a purpose in Tella's development as a person, and helps her to survive. While Harper comes off as prickly at first, I ended up rather liking her as a person. 

Then there's Titus, a/k/a the bad guy. He sucks and I don't like him. He's pretty much evil and reminded me of The Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy (except that The Darkling is not totally evil? Maybe?) in that he wanted Tella to join him for REASONS that I can't go into because SPOILERS sweetie.

I liked that there was so much action & adventure throughout the entire book. There's so twists and turns, and there were a few instances where it did manage to surprise me and keep me on my toes.

But there is one major thing that I most definitely did NOT like. There is some animal cruelty, which is one of my biggest book turn offs. I get that it was used as a plot device to show just how evil some of the Contenders are, but yeah, I was so not a fan. Even more so when it was a mandated act as part of the Brimstone Bleed. Not cool at all. 

But other than that, I really did enjoy this book. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series. I'd recommend it to people who like survival stories, and who don't mind conflict, adventure, and people being dirty. :)

Review: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Book: Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Released: May 4th, 2009

Publisher: Chicken House Ltd.

Pages: 180 (Nook Version)

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

"I saw you before you saw me." 

When Gemma meets Ty at a Bangkok Airport cafe she's flattered by the attention. She lets him buy her a coffee. But soon what seems like a cute and flirtatious encounter turns into a nightmare beyond belief. Ty has been stalking Gemma since she was a young girl and planning her abduction for years. Driven by the delusion that he's saving her from terrible life, from parents who don't care for her well being, he drugs her coffee and steals her away in broad day light. He takes her to a remote shack in the Australian Outback where he tries to convince Gemma that he loves her; and in his own twisted way he does. But can he force Gemma to love him back. This story is in the form of a letter written to Ty from Gemma that reflects on the months she's held captive. 

This book blew my mind. It wasn't at all what I expected. It had me so drawn in that I read it in three hours. (when I should have been sleeping!) 

The characters of Gemma and Ty were both extremely well written. However, it's Ty's character that makes this book as amazing as it is. He's intense, emotional, scary and at the same time loving, caring, and gentle. You don't know how you should feel about him. Which leads me to my next point... Two words. 

Stockholm Syndrome. It's real and after reading this book I feel like I have truly experienced it. Lucy Christopher wrote this book in such a way that it instantly makes you feel the way that Gemma must have felt. Not knowing whether she should trust Ty or feel something other than repulsion and complete fear. Gemma's feeling for Ty become increasingly complicated as she grows to care for him. By the end I too cared for Ty, I pitied him and even hoped in some twisted way that he and Gemma would end up together.  I realize that is a completely ridiculous notion. I mean, he abducted her and held her captive. He terrorized her and made her fear for her life. This book dives into the world of Stockholm Syndrome and reading this left me feeling the effects of this psychological issue. 

I found this story to be emotional. Tears were shed people. Lots and lots of tears. The physiological intensity alone is enough for me to highly recommend this book. 

Hope you enjoy it!