Firelight: Chapters 1-4
The very reason I joined this site was because of a now-dead account that recapped the chapters of a YA fantasy book called Evermore. Paying homage, I decided to do my own, less-funnier spin on recapping a story of my choice. That’s when I found out about “Firelight” by Sophie Jordan through an article on ONTD. Honestly, the fact that the book wasn’t about vampires intrigued me enough to give a try but I made it halfway through chapter 2 when I realized this was one for the lulz.
The story starts off: Gazing out at the quiet lake, I know the risk is worth it. Immediately, I shudder at the fact that the story is 1st person. 1st person stories are so hard to pull off, especially if you’re trying to write a respectable love story. Instead of a romance that any young teen can relate to, you get an obsession between the female and male. Suddenly, it’s like they only breathe for this one guy that they just met. Oh no, there are people out there that are actually like that? Okay, fine. But if said persons were the protagonist to a book, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be likable.
All I can hope for right now is that the protagonist isn’t a Mary Sue.
Said protagonist, Jacinda, sneaks off from her home to go to the mountain top with her best friend, Azure. The almost dawn and the sun is cracking the sky. They start stripping like something out of Baywatch while thoughts about “the pride” runs through her mind. Mainly, some guy in the pride named Cassian. My guess is that Cassian is to Kocoum as Jacinda is to Pocahontas. She says that “Tamra can have him”. Tamra is probably some girl in the pride who is jealous of Jacinda. You see how easy it is to figure this book out? Everything is so textbook and we’re only on the first freakin’ page! Or maybe I’m just a presumptuous asshole and they’ll prove me wrong.
As the sun comes up, she starts to transform into a draki. She’s excited to feel the sun on her draki skin because the pride is only allowed to fly at night. The transformation isn’t exactly detailed but from what I read, it doesn’t sound very appealing: My face tightens, cheeks sharpening, subtly shifting, stretching. My breath changes as my nose shifts, ridges pushing out from the bridge. So, in draki form, they’re pretty much lanky, deformed humanoids with claws, colorful semi-scaly skin, and wings? Wow. Moving on.
Azure is a water draki. And like such, she can breathe underwater. Jacinda sulks about she’d rather be any other kind of draki than a fire-breather is. Not only because it’s lame but because everyone treats her differently. Ever since I manifested at age eleven, I’ve ceased to be Jacinda. Now, because of that line, I can’t unimagine that manifesting for the the first time is the equivalent of your first period or woody.
Anyways, Jacinda goes on to reveal that she’s the only fire-breather in the pride for more than 400 years. Wait! Hold the front door! How the hell is there a race of human-dragon hybrids and none of them breathe fire? Is that Sophie Jordan’s submissive attempt at irony?
Mid-ponder, Jacinda starts hearing sounds. Az, in all her iridescent glory, points to an approaching chopper. Hunters. The girls start flying away but the chopper is getting closer and Azure, being a water draki, can’t fly very fast. Jacinda wonders if her father’s final moments were as frightful as hers. Immediately, I think: ‘bitch, he ain’t dead!’. They find some nice treetops to hide in. Azure suggests that they demanifest (turn back into human form) but Jacinda knows that they can’t. Draki can never hold human form in a state of fear. It’s a survival mechanism.
With little to no options, Jacinda comes up with a plan. She’ll have the hunters chase her. When the area is clear is, Az is gonna hide in the lake and she’s not coming out until it’s safe again.
She nods jerkily, the ridges on her nose contracting with a deep breath. “W-what are you going to do?”
I force a smile, the curve of my lips painful on my face. “Fly, of course.”
And with that ends the chapter. Chapter 2 begins with Jacinda reminiscing about how she beat Cassian, an onyx draki, in a race at age twelve. Yeah, yeah. We get it. You’re fast. And so the chase begins and she hardly lasts a second before getting shot in the wing. Ha! She falls to the ground. Somehow, not breaking a limb or two, she gets up on her two feet and start running. She tracks the sound of water and it leads her to a pond. For whatever reason, she contemplates standing there where all the hunters are nearing her with nets and shit. Eventually, she jumps into the pond.
She notices a ledge inbetween one of the 4 walls of jagged rocks surrounding the pond. She tucks herself inside, hoping they don’t find her. She can hear the hunters at the top of the rocks. They’re too pussy to jump in the freezing cold water after “it”. One of the voices really catches Jacinda’s attention because of the smoothness in it (a.k.a. young). And of course, he’s the only one who’s name the hunters say in conversation.
Will.
So, Will jumps into the water. He looks around and sees the cave that Jacinda is hiding in. He approaches it and Jacinda, for whatever reason, isn’t using her fire-breathing abilities to save her ass. Fortunately enough for her, she doesn’t really need to (but of course!). Will is absolutely transfixed by the vision. As is Jacinda. He creeps closer to her in awe and utter silence. She notes that his wet hair appears almost black and his wet black T-shirt is stuck to him like a 2nd skin. Oh, but this is the part where I decided stopped reading so I can recap this shit: His eyes widen. A lovely hazel. Green with flecks of brown and gold. The colors I love.
All cheesiness aside, why did they have to be the colors she love? Why couldn’t they be colors she hate? As a matter of fact, why did Will have to be so beautiful? I would’ve liked to know if things would be different had he been just as curious but a little rugged. Not necessarily ugly but just really rough around the edges. Better yet, why couldn’t Will be an asshole? Why are all these beautiful guys such stand-up citizens? In the real world, guys who give girls wetties just by existing are usually on a mission to get a blowjob. Oh no, but never these guys. For once, I’d like to see the protagonist become a victim to a guy’s good looks and charm.
Dear authors, stop giving all these young teen girls hope that there’s an Abercrombie & Fitch model out there for them. Not without putting out, at least.
So, anyway. He touches her hand and she heats up. The intense moment is interrupted when one of the guys call out to him. They ask if he sees “it” but Will lies and says that he doesn’t. And then he leaves Jacinda all alone. End of chapter 2.
Chapter 3 starts with Jacinda still in the cave, waiting until she’s sure it’s safe. Eventually, she comes out. She thinks about Will, hoping that one day he’ll return so that he can answer the questions that she wonders in her head… like, “how big is your penis, my good sir?” As she stays cautious, she hears her name being called out. She’s surrounded by the elders of the pride. Cassian is also among them, looking pissed at her. She thinks about how much easier it would be for her to just let him in. Metaphorically, I’m sure… but physically still holds ground, also.
Cassian’s dad, Severin, appears all gruntly and serious. He bitches about how she broke the flying rule and snuck off from their village. Jacinda’s mom says that she and Tamra were worried sick. (Oh, so Tamra’s her sister!) Severin insists that “something” needs to be done with Jacinda. My personal guess is that her “punishment” is to mate with Cassian. Her mom is on some “not my daughter, you bitch!” type shit.
I glance behind me at Severin and Cassian, father and son, king and prince.
I called that Kocoum shit. Just saying.
The chapter ends. In chapter 4, Jacinda is back home. Az is waiting for her with all open arms. Jacinda talks about the magical mist of the mountain-town, courtesy of Nidia. Apparently, she’s the only one who has that kind of ability. It prevents aircrafts from detecting it if they ever pass it. Jacinda goes inside to see Tamra, cool as the other side of the pillow, watching TV. Jacinda figures the bitch wasn’t really worried about her. Az is telling Jacinda about how the entire town went into panic when she was in danger and then her mom just rudely interrupts and tells her to “say goodbye”.
Az leaves and Jace’s mom locks the door. She announces that they’re leaving tonight. Her mom says that they need to GTFO as soon as possible and Jacinda isn’t taking the news very well. Tamra, on the other hand, jumps up excitingly and starts packing her shit. Her mom says that she always imagined their dad would return and that’s the only reason she hasn’t left yet. She says leaving is best for her. Jacinda says it’s best for her mom and Tamra. Apparently, Tamra, her identical twin sister, never manifested into a draki and resent Jace for that. Her mom on the other hand, forcibly held in her draki for years. Jace is convinced that she no longer possess her inner-draki. Is that even possible? How can one completely change their entire DNA just by keeping it dormant for years? That’s like saying the kids of Jersey Shore are no longer white just because stay tanned. It can’t be freakin’ done!
“When they demand I give my sixteen-year-old daughter to their precious prince so they can begin mating, they are fiends!”
I swear I’m not reading this shit in advance.
So, in the middle of the night, Jacinda and Tamra are sneaking outside of the village. Jace hopes that Nidia, alone in her house near the arched entry of the town, would notice that they’re leaving and sound the alarms but rest-assured, she doesn’t. Jace is upset as her mother drives down the mountain. Soon, she’ll be a “defunct draki” like her sister and she dreads her new life as she imagines never being able to reach into that part of herself anymore. She relates it to stories of amputees and how they can never scratch their missing limps.
It’s so obvious where this story is heading. Jacinda and Tamra are going to move to a new, small town and enter a high school where things are gonna suck for her until she sees Will.
If it goes down like that, I just hope that he’s a teacher or something so that it’ll be a little less cliched. I mean, I claim to be psychic most of the time but these predictions are getting ridiculous.
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