Wildfire by Karsten Knight

Wildfire by Karsten Knight

Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Publication Date: July 26, 2011
Source: Publisher

Overall:

Every flame begins with a spark.

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.

Mysterious and dark, Wildefire is a unique take on Polynesian mythology, a topic that isn't common at all in paranormal YA. The unpredictability that Knight brought into the novel lingered throughout Wildefire. The complex plot ultimately lead to the biggest shock that I didn't see coming at all.

Knight's writing was, to simply put it, addicting. I couldn't get enough of the strong world-building in Wildefire and the steady flow of information that was revealed. The paranormal and contemporary aspects to the book complimented each other perfectly, giving a balance of reality and imagination. The mythological ideas in the book were developed flawlessly and didn't data-dump me at any point.

Ashline is a completely normal character who gets thrown into a crazy web of mythology and power. She has a mature narrative because of the issues and ordeals that she has gone through. For instance, Eve haunts her but she deals with this quite well considering everything that she's going up against. This adds an air of mystery and suspense that stays all throughout Wildefire. The romance in this book didn't dominate, but friendship was a large factor in it. Ashline's group of friends were all individual in their own way and they had their own quirks to their personalities.

Engaging, exciting, and completely original, Wildefire digs deep into the roots of Polynesian mythology. The three-dimensional characters, consistent suspense, and a well-developed plot, all pull together to create a completely enthralling read.