Review: Hidden (Firelight, #3) by Sophie Jordan

Hidden by Sophie Jordan
Release date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 260
Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Series: Book 3 (Firelight, Vanish)
Source: Gift
Links: Author's Website / Goodreads 

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the "prince" of their pride. But she resisted long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian's sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.
The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there's no guarantee they'll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning....
Loyalties are tested and sacrifices made in the explosive conclusion to Sophie Jordan's Firelight trilogy.

Review:
* may contain spoilers for the first two books in the series 

In an effort to tackle the pile of unfinished series I have sitting in my room, I started with Hidden, the conclusion to the Firelight trilogy. I read and loved the first two books in this series and, for some reason, never got around to reading the last book. Hidden was a heart-pounding and emotional conclusion, but I did not enjoy it as much as the previous two installments.

It's been awhile since I finished Vanish, so it took me a couple of chapters to get into this one and realize where things had left off for Jacinda and company. The action kicked off right away with Jacinda posing as a prisoner to try and rescue Cassian's sister, Miram, who was already captured. It was sad to see how inhumanely the human captors treated their draki captives. Jacinda is only in captivity for one night, but she already is struggling. Although I didn't want to see any of the draki imprisoned, I think it would have been fascinating to learn more about the enkros and their motivation.

Hidden allowed us to get to know Jacinda, Tamra, Cassian, and Will even more and to see new sides of all of them. All of the characters had to face a lot of challenges and encountered new threats. I did not always feel as connected to Jacinda as I would have liked and her constant back-and-forth with Will and Cassian was kind of frustrating.

A few new characters were introduced in this addition to the series, but their story lines ended way too fast. I was left wondering what had happened to them and about how other draki lived. Hidden was by far the shortest book in the series and I think the length worked against it. I still had questions and wanted to know more.

The plot was definitely fast-paced and there were several shocking twists that I was not at all expecting. The Firelight series started off as one of my favorites and while I was disappointed by the conclusion, I am still satisfied with the ending. I will definitely be recommending this trilogy to any paranormal romance fan!

Blog Tour: Sophie Jordan Interview and Giveaway

1. What is the main difference between writing adult and young adult novels?

Honestly, the only difference that stands out for me is the age of the protagonist. When I sat down to write Jacinda’s story in Firelight, I didn’t do anything differently from any other time I started one of my adult books … except I wrote in first person narrative and Jacinda happens to be sixteen. If this hadn’t been my approach, if I had consciously tried to sound “teen” while writing Jacinda’s story, I’m sure I would have come across as fake, which is what I would have been -- an adult playing at sounding “teen”. I would never have sold the book if I’d done that.

2. Did you put parts of yourself, or people you know, into Jacinda or Will?

I think there’s always a little bit of me in all my characters. I firmly believe this happens organically with writers. Life experience shapes the characters we create whether we recognize it or not.

An interesting aside -- I know the way I described the “set-up” of the high school in Chaparral is exactly like my own high school mingled with that of the high school I taught at for four years.

3. If you could pair Jacinda and Will each with one other character (book or movie) who would it be and why?

I’ve answered this question already regarding book characters, so let me have fun with something different and address movie characters. I could imagine Jacinda rubbing along nicely with a “teen” Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis) from The Last of the Mohicans. Yeah, yeah, I know he’s a colonial-era hero, but Hawkeye has the requisite sex appeal combined with strength and fierce loyalty to be a good match for Jacinda. He’s a manly man!

4. How much research did you have to do before writing Firelight?

I created the draki from my knowledge of common dragon lore. I didn’t really research the lore of dragons. I think that common dragon lore is something embedded into our cultural knowledge. We think of flying, fire-breathing, jewel-hoarding, etc. I just expanded from this. Creating the draki, it made sense to have them evolve into something smaller in scale. Also, my draki aren’t your ordinary dragons mostly because I didn’t want a protagonist that turns into some giant dinosaur-like creature. Not so attractive. Keeping them small (ie, human in scale) made them more manageable and appealing. And in a weird way it makes sense that in order to have survived all these years, dragons would have had to evolve into something more human-ish.

5. Is there a certain song you think best suits Firelight?

Well. … I do like Miley Cyrus’s The Climb and listened to it quite a bit in the process of writing Firelight. It kinda captures Firelight in my mind.

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Thanks so much, Sophie!

Click here to visit Sophie's website.

Click here to read my review of Firelight.

Thanks to The Teen {Book} Scene for sponsoring this tour!

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Firelight Review

Firelight (Draki #1) by Sophie Jordan

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release date: September 7, 2010

Source: Publisher

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

Review:

I've been looking forward to reading Firelight for months. The cover was gorgeous, the early reviews had been full of praise, and the summary sounded AMAZING. Luckily it lived up to all my expectations. Mysterious, romantic, and exciting, Firelight was an overall fantastic YA debut and I'm dying to read the sequel!

To begin with, the plot was extremely original and intriguing. The main character is a draki, a descendant of dragons that can transform into a human. She can also breathe fire- a really rare ability among the draki. Reading about Jacinda and her family history was so interesting to me, and it was amazing how the pride kept their existence a secret from so many. I understood why the pride valued Jacinda and wanted more fire breathers, but I felt sorry for her that she was supposed to mate with someone she didn't really love. The twist involving the hunters was frightening and unique. Especially once Jacinda, her mother, and twin sister escape in the night from the pride and into a real home.

Tamra, Jacinda's twin sister, was a great character, and I really felt her connection with Jacinda even though she was so jealous of Jacinda's abilities and the attention the pride gave her. Tamra just wanted to live a normal human life, while Jacinda longed to keep her draki half alive and strong. Other than Tamra, I really liked a lot of the other characters. Catherine, Jacinda's good friend at school, and even her neighbor who at first seems rude and reclusive. All of the characters, good and bad, major and minor, were well developed and original, and just seemed so real to me.

I love Will! Even though he was a hunter, meant to destroy Jacinda, he cared for her so much. He was protective, loving, and just an overall sweet guy. Jacinda and Will were perfect for each other. She was strong, determined, and a little shy- just like him. Both Will and Jacinda wanted something out of life that their families didn't, and it was great that they had each other for support and understanding.

There is a lot of excitement and twists in the plot, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what was going to happen next. Sophie Jordan is a terrific writer, and I loved Firelight from the start. Her descriptions make the characters and settings come alive.

In the end, I definitely recommend picking up a copy of Firelight as soon as possible. It is a daring and original YA debut, and the characters (especially Will and Jacinda) are two of my favorites. My only complaint is: When will the sequel will be released??!

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars