Firelight (advance reading copy) by Sophie Jordan

As a teen you always feel like the world wants you to be what you are not. There are pressures from every side while you are going through incredible changes and trying to figure your own self out. Jacinda is no different than most teens in this respect except she is unique for her species. Jacinda has special abilities for a draki, descendents of dragons who take on human form as a means of survival. Because her ability is so unique, she is being forced to take a position that she does not want to take. To escape her fate, her family flees into the world of the humans where she struggles blend in. She connects with Will, a draki hunter, who she finds herself irresistibly drawn to despite what it could mean to the safety of her and her family.  Jacinda finds herself torn between what others want her to be and being who she feels like she is, especially when who she really is puts others in danger.

I almost didn’t get past Jacinda’s internal pining for Will, but I’m glad I kept reading. I really liked the theme dealing with everyone’s struggle to be the person we are inside. The book doesn’t resolve this issue but has a lot of room to talk about this topic. The thing that worked to keep me reading the book was this tension that results because of the relationship of Jacinda and Will. Jacinda is the prey and Will and his family are the predators and they now find themselves together. Jacinda is afraid that if Will or his family finds out what she really is it may end in her death and the death of her family. The story was compelling and I finished it in one day. I have a sneaking suspicion that the story is not over and I’m happy with that. This book is a great book for anyone that enjoys reading young adult books. I don’t think it will have a great appeal to the boys on the lower end of the young adult scale but I don’t think that should stop them from giving it a chance. I really liked the change up to the whole dragons thing, and setting them in a contemporary setting was fun too. I kind of like the whole modern fantasy stuff and I think I could do with reading more. This book is set to released 9/7/2010.