Fire & Flood

DNF at 10%.

My advice just don't read this. It is a wannabe Hunger Games but the main character and story aren't as well written.

This book shares a lot of similarities with other YA dystopian books but it was different and creative enough to pull off original characters with some really entertaining and thrilling writing.

The characters, especially the main characters, are what pushes the plot along and I highly enjoyed reading about their antics. The main character, especially, was quirky and had a great sense of humor even in the middle of the race. The only thing that bugged me about her in the beginning was that when she met another young teenage girl in the race who was blond and blue-eyed, she thought she would have to kill her. Obviously, she was joking but I'm getting sick of reading about girls hating other girls because they perceive them as more beautiful than themselves. Why does the reaction always have to be anger or hatred or any combination thereof? Anyway, besides that, I really did enjoy the MC's personality and courageousness even when she didn't know what the heck was going on.

I would call this a Hunger Games set in the modern world. There are a lot of similarities between this book and The Hunger Games but I'm happy to say that I would highly recommend the former even if you've already read the latter. (Maybe just not immediately after you've read The Hunger Games though, otherwise it will probably cause too many analogous comparisons in your head.)

Oh. My. God.
I LOVED THIS BOOK!
It's so action-packed and funny and well-written! Our main character Tella is awesome - she's sarcastic and honest and the way she's written makes her feel so real. Even minor characters in this book feel very real. I developed emotions for all them, good and bad. A couple characters I found myself truly hating, to the point where I would shout at my book for something bad to happen to them. And others I just instinctively liked. Plot twists? Yes. Several!

I know the plot of this might sound a lot like The Hunger Games, but trust me, this story is completely different. Please, please, please give it a read!

I must confess that I read this simply because of the horrible reviews. Some of them are laugh out loud bad. In fact, the whole “it's the Hunger Games meets Pokemon” is exactly what made me go whoa, I need to read that. This is not the worst YA novel I've ever read, and it sure is not the best. It's middling.

In truth, Madox was the whole reason I hung in there. The Pandoras are awesome. I want one, just not the bear. Tella is a self absorbed a-hole, I'm not kidding. For me, she's the big negative here. I can't root for her. I don't like Guy either. And now that the two characters I did like are gone, I'm not sure I'll read the second one. If there is going to be more scenes like the one in which Guy and Tella are drawn to touch each other near the fire, despite the fact that everyone in their group is trying to eat and is watching them.....I think I laughed so hard at the cheese in that I had to put the book down for awhile and read something else.

So, what is pretty good are the survival bits. I like that there are different settings in different climates (jungle and desert are in book one). If there could be more of that and less of Tella and Guy, things would be good. There is potential here for a good story. The Dink thing proved that. I think the publisher could have polished this more before they cut it loose.

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott has been added to my favorite book I have read this year. When I decided to pick this up, I got a lot of comparisons to The Hunger Games. Let me just say this now, it is nothing like that series. Just because it is a game where you need to survive doesn't make it like the Hunger Games at all. In this game, you really have no reason to kill anyone because you aren't killing to be the last person. This game is a RACE. It reminded me a lot of Rat Race where you are racing to win money but that doesn't mean you didn't get into a few fights along the way.

The main character, Tella, grows a lot during this book. When I first started it, I was kind of annoyed with how she acted and she was a little self-centered. I thought this world would be more focused on the issue at hand, which is the illness, but the illness wasn't a world known thing. Everyone went on with their normal lives and no one really knows about this race until you get the special blue box. During the race, Tella grows up and matures a lot. I really liked reading about how she can fend for herself and also how she cared for the people she was with. The story really did a 360 with how she saw herself but I assume that happens easily when you are put in this type of situation.

[ WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ]

When Tella found out about the race, I thought it was quite weird that she decided to just up and leave without letting her parents know. She drove across the country to get to a place where she would have to fight to win an egg. You find out that there are 4 different parts of the race where you are put into different atmospheres and need to survive to the next base. You can tell then and there that this is completely different from THG. When Tella starts the race, she is alone with her little egg that she has no idea what it does. She starts to fend for herself inside a huge jungle so she can get to a base and be shipped off to the other portion of the race. As time went on, she runs into a small group that she starts to befriend. Along with this group later, is this mysterious person named Guy.

Guy is a mysterious character that Tella has grown to see as interesting. He doesn't talk much but he knows so much about survival. Like he was training for this his whole life. Tella and Guy oddly enough become close as they spend their time in the jungle. They actually start to have feelings for each other. It was bound to happen but I really enjoyed how they acted around each other and also seeing Guy open up to her each chapter. Guy is someone that is there for himself but probably didn't expect to start to feel something for Tella or to care about the people in their group.

Lots of things happen throughout their time in the jungle but the group makes it to the base camp. Then they make their way to the desert and this is where a lot of action starts to happen between the main group and a competing group. In the competing group, there is a guy named Titus who has a fixation on winning and also taking down Tella at the same time. He sees her as a threat but it is more of a “join me and win or die” sort of situation. After the group has been traveling through the desert for a while, they are attacked by the other group and Tella is pretty much kidnapped. Titus starts to show his psycho side more and confesses to Tella about how he wants her. It is all very weird and he obviously needed some water to think straight. This portion of the book made me reading faster and flipping the pages as I read the action senses.

Now into the background of the race, Guy starts to tell Tella about how the race came to be and it was really interesting to read about. I enjoyed learning about the history of the race and how Guy wants to shut it down. It gave him a more deeper reason of being here and also why he is so prepared for this race since you aren't supposed to know anything about it. This makes Tella change her mind. She wants to win and ALSO help Guy shut down the race. This is where the book ends... with this lovely want of action.

Overall, I really loved this book. I can see this being a trilogy in the making because this book was two parts of the race. The next book should be the final two then have the winner announced. Then I bet the last one is Guy and Tella shutting down the system of the race from within. I cannot wait to read more about this series and I want more, now!