Book Review: Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Rating:

Genre: Young Adult > Mythology

(Wildefire #1)

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school–being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger–Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

*****

Wildefire has fallen from grace in my eyes. It started out great, and it engaged me instantly. But as the story progresses, I did not know what to do with Ashline. At first, she’s strong but while her character unraveled, I began to dislike her. I mean really, really dislike her. Also, the violence and intrigue was right into my league but the mash-up of different mythologies did not work out for me.

Is it just me or are the supporting characters much more solid and likeable over the main characters? I prefer Raja over Ashline. Rolfe over Colt. I even like Eve! Unlike Ash, she knows what she wants and she goes for it. Ash is all talk and no walk. She barely even registered as a goddess to me. If she were a he, I would call Ash an egotistical jerk. On the other hand, Colt is not charismatic like the author portrayed him be. Raja is sure of herself and her sarcastic humor is enjoyable. And it’s the same with Rolfe. Case in point: Raja and Rolfe have more sass and personality than Ash and Colt.

There is something wrong about Wildefire. At least for me. The uniqueness of its mythology was somehow destroyed by the irksome female lead. Yeah Ashline, you suck.

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.: maria :.

“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”