Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

January 23, 2015     erinbook     Book review

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott


Release Date: February 25, 2014
Publisher: Scholastic Press
305 Pages
Received: From Publisher
Format: Paperback ARC


Rating: 

4 Nuts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Description: Time is slipping away….
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?
Review: When I first got this book I wasn’t sure if I would like it. I’ve read so many books that sound the same when you read the description, but I don’t think this particular book’s description accurately describes the feel of the book. To me it seems like one part Hunger Games, two parts Amazing Race, and another part something else altogether.
This is one of those books that when they reveal what’s going on you feel like you’ve only reached the tip of the iceberg and there’s a whole lot more to know. One of the reasons I had a hard time with the beginning is that both you and the character know a whole lot of nothing. The first part of the book is a lot of stumbling around blindly, which doesn’t make for a very engaging story. Thankfully the story picks up, and I was pretty engrossed from then on.
The romance in the story is pretty throw away for me. If it were taken out I don’t think the story would suffer that much. You could probably get the same feeling from a friendship that this romance gives. But I do love the relationships between the other characters. Each person brings something different to the table and uses it for the good of the group. It’ll be interesting to see how this works when the game becomes “every man for himself”.
There are some pretty weird writing choices in this book, mostly ways to describe things. I’ve heard that this is a trend that continues in book two. The ones in here weren’t completely unbearable but they did pull me out of the story a little bit. The ending made me almost desperate for the next book. Happily, I have the next one in the series. Even though I’ve heard mixed reviews, I’m excited to give the book a go and see what happens next.
What did you think of this book? Share in the comments.
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2 responses to “Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

  1. I've been on the fence about this one. Dystopian's never been my favorite genre, so I go through phases with it. This sounds interesting, but I think I'm gong to wait on it til I've gotten my TBR pile under better control.

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