Review: Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Fire and Flood

Author: Victoria Scott
Series: Fire and Flood #1
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopian
Format: ebook
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 Stars
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Synopsis from Goodreads:

Time is slipping away....

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 Review:

So I liked this book. I did. But I had some issues with it. Let’s start with the good. The cool animals! So many awesome animals that were so adorable I wanted to reach into the book, pull them out and hug them. Especially Maddox. I loved that little guy so much!

The main character, Tella, I really liked. I know a bunch of other people really hated her, but I thought she was funny. I loved that she wished she had makeup and Victoria’s Secret underwear during the race. I would totally wish for those things too. Anything to make you feel normal again. And at one point she makes a joke where she thinks “There’s no place like Nordstrom,” and I was seriously dying and also nodding my head furiously. Because seriously. If I was in a jungle, covered in dirt and grime and sweat, I would want to be home, clean, and shopping at Nordstrom. Maybe that makes me high maintenance. Oh well. I guess Tella and I both are high maintenance then.

The bad. This book didn’t feel very original. The Brimstone Bleed felt like a slightly different version of The Hunger Games or The Testing. It just felt like a bunch of people battling it out to the end in a brutal and bloody race/competition. Also, the explanation at the end for how the Brimstone Bleed got started? Not buying it. Why is the government not involved? How is this just going on and the rest of the world knows nothing about it? It just didn’t make sense to me.

But it was an enjoyable read. It was fast-paced and had some pretty great characters (both human and animal). I enjoyed the romance and didn’t feel like it was too much, although I do wish that we had gotten a little bit more character development out of the male lead. But I think it was a solid start to the series and I hope that it gets better with each book. Happy reading all!  

Let's talk! Have you read this one? What did you think of the Pandoras? Were you as smitten with Maddox as I was? How did you feel about the main character?