Firebug by Lish McBride

September 15, 2014     erinbook     Book review

Firebug (Firebug #1) by Lish McBride


Release Date: September 23, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt.
336 Pages
Received: From the Reading Teen
Format: Paperback ARC


Rating: 

5 Nuts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Description: Ava is a firebug—she can start fires with her mind. Which would all be well and good if she weren’t caught in a deadly contract with the Coterie, a magical mafia. She’s one of their main hitmen . . . and she doesn’t like it one bit. Not least because her boss, Venus, killed Ava’s mother. When Venus asks Ava to kill a family friend, Ava rebels. She knows very well that you can’t say no to the Coterie and expect to get away with it, though, so she and her friends hit the road, trying desperately to think of a way out of the mess they find themselves in. Preferably keeping the murder to a minimum, in Lish McBride’s Firebug.
Review: Holy Hot Cakes this book is freaking awesome! One could say that it is on fire! Haha, alright, no more puns. But seriously, I was not expecting Firebug to be anything more than an overhyped elemental book. Oh boy do I look silly. If any of you are familiar with the sheer number and variety of creatures in the Sookie Stackhouse books then you’re probably prepared for the strangeness of so of these.
This book is, very simply, a mob made up of all kinds of paranormal creatures. From vampires to elementals, were-foxes to trolls, you’ve got pretty much everything in his book. When I first started the book was was vaguely amused by the writing but it didn’t go much deeper than that. Then you really start to know the characters and you fall in love, at least I did.
Ava, our MC, is sarcastic and witty. Her voice kind of reminds me of the way Rick Riordan writes. She’s got the random yet applicable pop culture references and some of the best snark since the last Heroes of Olympus book. Her friends Lock and Ezra are very different personalities and compliment her very well. Lock is the level headed one while Ezra is a wonderful ball of fun, literally. Of all the characters in this book, Ezra is my favorite. He is a much needed light-hearted character in a surprisingly dark story.
I was not prepared for how dark this story got, and I loved it. I’m glad this book took the darker turn because if it didn’t it wouldn’t have been nearly as engaging. A book like this could easily have fallen into the same old paranormal tropes over and over, a lot of them do. Thankfully the author was not afraid to go the extra mile with this book.
I would love to see this become a series with a very different  feel than what’s already out there. Ava really started to come into her own as both a person and a firebug and I’m interested in how it will continue. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for interesting, lovable character and awesome powers.
What do you think of Firebug? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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