Firelight by Sophie Jordan

"With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret."

             Firelight is my new love. Talk about adventure, excitement, love, and dragons - excuse me, draki. I love the concept of this novel. Instead of giving us the standard shape shifter (ei. werewolf) Sophie Jordan presents the reader with the draki, a species that can shift between human and dragon. I have always been a huge fan of dragons (Eragon and the Dragon's Milk Series to name a few) but this book takes dragons to a whole new level. Instead of having a human as the main character and a dragon as a sidekick, we get both rolled into one super package. Not to mention the fact that the main character kicks some serious butt.

            Jacinda Jones is a fire-breather, the first one in centuries. In fact, both the draki and the hunters (the people that hunt draki, bet you couldn't guess that one :) thought that fire-breathers were extinct. Unfortunately, this means that her Pride treats her more as a possession than a person. Basically, they want to breed her with the alpha male to produce lots of little baby fire-breathers. Obviously, this does not role with Jacinda, or her mother. Even so, Jacinda doesn't want to leave the Pride, but that's not entirely her decision. One night her mother packs them off and ships them out to a desert town called Chaparral. The place will quickly kill off her draki, a circumstance that her mother (who killed her draki by choice) and her sister (who never manifested into a draki) find desirable and Jacinda hates. Then she meets Will, dangerous and handsome, he is her desert oasis, especially because he brings her draki to life. The problem is that his family might be out to kill her.

            So, Jacinda rocks, the plot rocks, Will rocks, what's the downside to this novel? Well, I have to say that I have a bone to pick with Jacinda's family. I know that her mother thinks she is doing what's best for Jacinda, but she really isn't. She doesn't understand that Jacinda and her draki are one and the same, that killing one kills both.  Oh, and there's also Cassian the male draki that the Pride wants to breed with Jacinda. He got on my wrong side, way on my wrong side. I was so mad at him I just about started yelling at the book. Anyway, these aren't the worst part of the book. The worst part is the cliffhanger. I could hardly stand it. I thought I had at least a chapter left when I read it, but then I flipped to the next page and it was the acknowledgements. I could hardly stand it!

            Even so, Firelight is a wonderful novel. I can't wait for the next book!