Review: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Fire & Flood

By: Victoria Scott

Pub. Date: February 25, 2014

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Pages: 320

Source: Netgalley

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?

 I received this galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Scholastic and Netgalley.

When I first started this book I really had no clue what to expect, but I ended up really liking it. There were some faults with it, but I am hoping that those questions will be answered in the next books, so I didn't let it effect my rating. Fire & Flood starts with Tella being really angry with her parents. Her brother is sick and she has no clue why her parents decided to move them to the middle of nowhere. But then, Tella receives this strange recording device inviting her to compete in a the Brimstone Bleed, a game in which the winner will receive a cure for someone they love. Not knowing what to expect, Tella knows she has to see what it is because she will do anything to save her brother.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I hated The Hunger Games and I have seen a lot of reviews comparing Fire & Flood to it. Sure, the main character has to participate in certain "games". But she isn't forced, and you can choose to leave. Some die, but it isn't a fight to the death. I think Fire & Flood is so much better then The Hunger Games and I don't really see those similarities that everyone keeps talking about.

At first I wasn't a fan of Tella. At all. I thought she was a very selfish person. But once I got to know her better, I found her to be a very relatable teenage girl that was easy to connect with. I was also a fan of Guy, though he was your stereotypical YA boy. I wish he didn't take so long to explain things, which leads into one of my issues with the book. Even though we learned a little bit about how the games came to be, I wish we would have learned more. I still don't really understand the whole point of the Brimstone Bleed.  

I really liked the whole idea of the Pandora. The Pandora's are genetically engineered animals that hatch from eggs. The point of the Pandora is to help the competitor win the games. I absolutely loved Tella's Pandora. She named him Madox, and Madox was the cutest, little bad ass you have ever seen!

Overall, I really enjoyed Fire & Flood and I am so excited for the next one!