***Blog Tour Review*** Fire (Elements of Power #1) by Heather James

Is control over the elements a gift, or a curse?

Roxy thinks that she is in control of everything: with flames flaring at her fingertips and an equally fiery attitude, what more could she need? But then she meets Brae, a prince from a rival Realm, who turns her assumptions of superiority upside down.

Jasmine has none of Roxy’s confidence or intensity. But she does have a secret - and Brae - and she’s not going to give either up willingly.

I’m choosing this because:

This is part of Heather’s blog tour. I actually approached her when I saw her asking for hosts. This is a book that I’d kept reading the blurb of and debating, then never quite getting around to it. So the blog tour has given me the perfect opportunity to finally pick it up and read it. I have to say I’m excited, I love when I get to read a book I’ve been longing to.

Judging a book by its cover:

It’s quite an eye catching cover, the flames in the girl’s hand really, capturing what Roxy is about. Although I have to say, I’d give her flame coloured nails to really go with the Helian way of living.  I adore the way there are flames in the title name really blending it in with the whole feel of the cover and what the story appears to be about. I have to say that the font the author used for her name is one of my favourites on my laptop.

Pricing the (possible) awesomeness:

Now this is a Kindle bargain!!! At a mere 77p I definitely think it’s worth picking up!! I got my copy free in exchange for this honest review though.  There isn’t a paperback version I’m afraid, so if you like reading paper maybe just print it out? Can you do that? Answers on a postcard please! 

So most of what I’m taking away from ‘Fire’ is positive. It’s such an easy to read story, that draws you in and builds nicely to a climax that you never saw coming, for reasons of the spoilery variety. The main characters make it easy for you to feel involved in the story, in fact I loved how the girls were the polar opposites of each other. It made reading the story more interesting and watching their stories converge added an extra element that made turning the pages a joy.

Although I have all these positive things I was niggled by some grammar and spelling issues. I know that indie authors don’t have the resources that traditional ones do and I respect that they aren’t gonna catch every single mistake, but it always jolts me out of the story a bit and makes me wary of carrying on. This is because I’m a bit of a sucker for a book to be how I want it, and that’s the best that it can possibly be.

Roxy – Roxy is a young Helian protector and one of our two MCs. She’s also my favourite of the two. Her motives can be a bit see through but that doesn’t stop me from liking her and wanting to read more from her POV. Her type are the ones that intrigue me the most, the way they act towards the other realms is something that I enjoyed picturing. I have to say, Roxy’s introduction, really gives you a feel of the kick arse kinda girl she is and I love that. Made me warm to her instantly, even though she’s not the most likable character ever.

Jasmine – Jasmine is our other main character and something of an anomaly. I’ll be honest. I figured out what she was so early on, it was pretty obvious, I have to say when you can see the end of someone’s development, it kind of ruins the whole experience for me because I can see what’s coming. I found her to only have a fraction of the character that Roxy did and her chapters pale in comparison.

Brae – He’s our leading man, but quite a bland one. As Roxy’s interactions with him grow he shows a bit of personality, but I don’t see what she sees and I want to. He seems like a nice guy, but I don’t get it!!! Yea so I didn’t really the attraction, but I think he’s the epitome of the perfect gentleman and I think for that reason alone he’ll appeal to most YA readers.

Overall this is a story that’s so simple to read and get into. (I actually read most of this in a day.) I think that while, in my opinion, some of the characters could have done with a bit more spice (when you read you’ll get why they don’t) and there are a few spelling grammar issues but as I’ve said, the negatives are outweighed by the positives and for me this is a great story, with a beautiful flow to it. I’m definitely going to read book two of the series.

I was hovering between 3 and 4 (you all know how indecisive I can be) and decided to go straight down the middle with it. While there are issues they don’t take too much away from the book and certainly not my enjoyment level. I do recommend this to fans of YA. There’s not too much romance though and I really love that, although I feel it’s gonna heat up in the next two stories.

I want to thank Heather for supplying me with this copy to review. I appreciate it so much.