Wildefire (Wildefire, #1)
by Karsten Knight
Genre:
Fantasy/Mythology
Reading Grade: Young
Adult
Publication Date: July
26, 2011
Source: purchased
hardcover
Age Rating: 15+
Ashline Wilde is
having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place
as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on
her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into
her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the
unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in
California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But
her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as
Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain
of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park
ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have
mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make
matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some
strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming
over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before
she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold
fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.
My Review
Wildefire is a
pretty wild(e) ride—a great story replete with everything you need
to have a satisfying read. The world-building feels complete, the
characters are well-developed and interesting, the plot has enough
going for it to keep it moving along at a good pace, and it manages
to shock you a bit here and there—not to mention the megawatt shock
of the cliffhangery, plot-twisting conclusion! Whoa… Didn't see
that coming.
Ashline Wilde is a
Polynesian teenager who was adopted by white Jewish New Yorkers at a
young age along with her older sister, Eve. Both of these young
ladies are temperamental to say the least, but Ash is inclined
towards remorse and guilt in a way that seems to evade Eve. Eve does
something so severe to show her love for Ash, it only makes Ash
terrified of her, and Ash ends up transferring to a private high
school in Northern California just to escape the trauma. Eve is
constantly on the run, popping in and out of Ash's life like a ghost
she can't fully escape.
Ash ends up meeting
other kids with abilities like herself at her new school, which
sounds implausible, but the way it's written is completely
believable. They all find they have a 'Professor X,' if you will, a
ring leader who understands their purpose better than they do,
individually, and Ash is informed that she and her unusual friends
are all reincarnated gods and goddesses of myth and folklore from all
over the world. Pretty darn cool if you ask me.
The complication
arises from, who else but Eve, the unscrupulous older sister who
reminds me of an evil Kim Kardashian—always beautiful, glamorous,
and a total diva. She's a fun character who actually does seem
genuinely interested in turning Ash to the dark side so they can be
together, but Ash will have none of that. She just wants to be as
normal a teenager as possible, sans the crazy sister, and this seems
to be the prevailing sentiment with most of her gang of supernatural
friends.
But, Ash realizes she
needs to watch out for the quiet ones, the friends who don't stand
out, nor seem suspicious. She needs to remember this because it's
those people who will turn on her, providing a good amount of the
shock factor in the story. Of course, I won't spoil who any of these
traitorous people are, or who really is just playing the part of a
friend to her. You'll just have to read it to find out for yourself.
Some of the most
enjoyable aspects of the novel are, for one, the very funny narrative
voice, which doesn't surprise me, since I've been watching Karsten
Knight's vlogs since a year before this book was published. He's
hysterical and I was very happy to find the story written with his
delectable sense of humor. The other aspect I love is the origin
story of the universe and the concept of The Cloak. They are very
odd, mysterious beings that Ash encounters a few frightening times,
and I still don't know what to make of them. Good? Bad? Neutral? I
just don't know yet, but I look forward to finding out in future
installments.
My score: 4 out of
5 stars. (I really liked it.)
