{Blog Tour and Book Review} Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Author: Victoria Scott

Genre: YA fantasy
Published: February 25th 2014
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 320
Source: ARC from Publisher
Available at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Goodreads Summary:

A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother’s life—and her own.

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?

My Thoughts:

Compared to the Dante Walker Series by Victoria Scott, I would say Fire & Flood is, overall, a far more fascinating concept and a series I’m excited to continue.

It was kind of hard to get into Fire & Flood at first. The beginning is not exactly gripping. I think this was because the story follows the same path as Hunger Games and Pokémon, which made the events and characters very predictable, especially when it came to Tella and her Pandora, Maddox. Honestly, the mystery that kept my interest was Guy Chambers. Dark, broody, quiet . . . I couldn’t puzzle him out, which intoxicated me. I just had to know more about him.

Out of all the characters Victoria has written so far, the characters in Fire & Flood have to be my favorite. I felt they were better written, especially Tella. Though I wasn’t very fond of her random ramblings and flashbacks, I could relate to her and understand her. Plus, Tella wasn’t naïve, and she actually questioned everything, which I really liked.

As for male characters, Guy had to be my all-time favorite! He’s so much different than the bad boy Dante or any of the other boys in the Dante Walker Series. In fact, Guy was really refreshing. His character was well thought out and developed. Plus, he wasn’t transparent, which made me fall even harder for him. I really enjoy the mystery. Even Titus held a few surprises, though he reminded me very much a more fiendish version of Draco Malfoy.

Finally, though I found the Pandoras very much like the creatures in Pokémon, as a biologist, I have to give two thumbs up to Victoria for her knowledge on animal behavior and the environments she set her challenges in. It’s obvious she did research, which I always admire and appreciate when I read any novel.

To sum it up, I would definitely recommend reading Fire & Flood. And I totally can’t wait for the next book in the series! Especially since the ending of Fire & Flood left me with several questions. Like how was Guy able to gain his knowledge and training when my understanding was that any kind of preparation before the race was illegal? And what’s really keeping the Creators chained to this race? Why haven’t they just say “enough is enough” and simply walk out?

Hopefully I’ll find out more when book 2 is released. 🙂

***Giveaway***
10 finished copies of FIRE & FLOOD US Only -> a Rafflecopter giveaway

Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary Agency. She’s the author of the FIRE & FLOOD series published by Scholastic, and the DANTE WALKER trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets including the UK, Turkey, China, Poland, Israel, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.

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Tour Schedule

Week One:

2/17/2014- Two Chicks on Books – Guest Post

2/17/2014- Curling Up With A Good Book – Review

2/18/2014- No BS Book Reviews – Review

2/19/2014- Fiktshun – Guest Post

2/19/2014- Ketch’s Book Nook – Review

2/20/2014- Step Into Fiction – Review

2/21/2014- Bewitched Bookworms – Interview

2/21/2014- Seeing Night Reviews – Review

Week Two:

2/24/2014- Bookish – Interview

2/24/2014- Nerdophiles – Review

2/25/2014- The Book Cellar – Review

2/26/2014- The Irish Banana Review – Review

2/26/2014- Cuddlebuggery – Guest Post

2/27/2014- Obsession with Books – Review

2/28/2014- Mundie Moms – Interview & Review

2/28/2014- iceyBooks – Review