Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria #bookreview #YA #fantasy #dragons

On By Teri PolenIn Book Reviews

Dani and Eden Rivera were both born to kill dragons, but the sisters couldn’t be more different. For Dani, dragon slaying takes a back seat to normal high school life, while Eden prioritizes training above everything else. Yet they both agree on one thing: it’s kill or be killed where dragons are concerned.

Until Dani comes face-to-face with one and forges a rare and magical bond with him. As she gets to know Nox, she realizes that everything she thought she knew about dragons is wrong. With Dani lost to the dragons, Eden turns to the mysterious and alluring sorcerers to help save her sister. Now on opposite sides of the conflict, the sisters will do whatever it takes to save the other. But the two are playing with magic that is more dangerous than they know, and there is another, more powerful enemy waiting for them both in the shadows. 

Julie Kagawa’s Talon series turned me into a big dragon fan. It’s not hard to see why this book made its way to my TBR.

With this being an urban fantasy, the author did an excellent job with world-building. Dragons and sorcerers have existed for hundreds of years with humans believing they’re nothing but a myth. Dani, Eden, and their family have had to straddle both worlds for years and lie to everyone about being slayers.

It’s evident early on that Dani and Eden are opposites. Dani has a natural talent when it comes to dragon slayer training, but all she wants is a normal life with friends, school, and a summer job. For her sister Eden, joining the family business is everything, but without a natural aptitude she has to work much harder to succeed. Although the older sister, she’s always felt as if she lives in Dani’s shadow. She just wants to be seen and appreciated for her talents, and that’s exactly what the sorcerers offer her. Talk about manipulation. Despite the sisters’ differences and occasional arguments, the bond between them figures prominently in the story.

The soul bond between Dani and Nox takes both of them by surprise, and it doesn’t start off as an easy or natural relationship – totally understandable when one is a human and the other a dragon. Once they grow more comfortable, their snarky comments to each other became one of my favorite parts of the book. Dani’s relationship with best friend Tomas (and his completely easy to love family) is also a bright spot. Why people think platonic relationships of the opposite sex are impossible is beyond me.

The teen conversations come across as entirely authentic, and the plot moves along at a brisk pace. It certainly didn’t feel like a 400+ page book. This novel appears to be a standalone, but the author left a door open to continue this story, and I’d love to see what happens next.

With complex family dynamics, power plays, sorcerers, magic, beautiful friendships – and most of all dragons, this is a novel that will make urban fantasy fans very happy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

37 thoughts on “Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria #bookreview #YA #fantasy #dragons”

  1. I love the idea of a bond between humans and dragons. It makes me think Dragon Riders of Pern and Dragonheart. There’s another series involving dragons as well, but the title is eluding me right now. I remember they made the first book into a movie and I loved it.

    This sounds intriguing, Teri!

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    1. I don’t know how I haven’t read more books about dragons until now. I read the first book in the Aurelian Cycle by Rosario Munda a couple years ago, and that was the first time I’d come across the human/dragon bond. It fascinated me.

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  3. I don’t read enough fantasies with dragons. Michelle Sagara is another author that has a unique take on dragons and her world-building is phenomenal. This sounds like a cool read ❤️. Will definitely keep it in mind 😊

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  5. Nice! I haven’t read a good dragon book in a while, Teri. And blending dragons into urban fantasy can’t be easy so I believe you when you say the worldbuilding is great. Thanks for sharing your review and recommendation. 🙂

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    1. Their soul bond fascinated me, and the development of their relationship is a strong part of the story and done so well. The snarky comments between them was just a bonus, lol.

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