INTO THE FIRE ~ a YA Read & Giveaway!

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Wistful YA is my reoccurring spotlight, giving young adult literature center stage.
It's always a great feeling to celebrate the release of an author's book, even more so when that writer is a wonderful blogging bud - and I've known this author just about as long as I've been blogging. She's grown leaps and bounds since then. Today is no exception.

INTO THE FIRE by Ashelyn Drake

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Month9Books

Released: September 9, 2014
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | TBD | iBooks

I'd like to thank the publisher for supplying me with an eCopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Line/Passage: I think about it for a second, and something Mom told me finally makes sense. "I asked Mom once why she always gave in to what Dad wanted and if she ever regretted any of those decisions. She said everything we do contributes to the person we become. I always thought it was a copout answer, but I understand now. So, no. I can't say I regret dating those girls." (Logan's POV; page 155)

Description: Seventeen-year-old Cara Tillman’s life is a perfectly normal one until Logan Schmidt moves to Ashlan Falls. Cara is inexplicably drawn to him, but she’s not exactly complaining. Logan’s like no boy she’s ever met, and he brings out a side of Cara that she isn’t used to. As the two get closer, everything is nearly perfect, and Cara looks forward to the future.

But Cara isn’t a normal girl. She’s a member of a small group of people descended from the mythical phoenix bird, and her time is running out. Rebirth is nearing, which means she’ll forget her life up to this point—she’ll forget Logan and everything they mean to one another.. But that may be the least of Cara’s problems.

A phoenix hunter is on the loose, and he’s determined to put an end to the lives of people like Cara and her family, once and for all.

NIGHTSTAND WORTHY!

There's plenty to like about this story. The opening chapters effectively pull the reader into both lead character's worlds - one that has sadness clinging to it, while the other is just a bit different. That last part is an understatement. Picture frying to death every-so-often to undergo your rebirth. Actually, it isn't as horrific as it sounds. There's no pain at all. Of course, waking back up at the same age of your rebirth, looking the same, but with absolutely no memory of anything kind of stinks. But hey, you're alive again, right?

That concept is my favorite part of this story. The author explained it with lots of fluency, showing not telling the reader. The story's plausible twist complicates matters when Cara meets Logan and believes she accidentally imprinted on him. Meaning her Phoenix-self claimed him as her own, impressing a romantic relationship between the two. This pull is very teen, that lost desperate emotion where one can't live without the other.

New to town Logan has an authentic male voice slash testosterone filled teen edge. He's tough and knows he has looks, but a sensibility and sensitivity that softens his persona. 

Tension mingles as Cara nears her rebirth, unable to resist Logan. He, in turn, reciprocates her attraction, scaring Cara's mother who knows this innocent and sweet tug between the teens will only end badly because Cara's assured memory loss once reborn. But is Logan's attraction due to the imprint or to true emotions? Haha! Wouldn't you like to know...

Then there's the complication of another Phoenix being murdered and the remaining Phoenixes suspect Logan and his dad because they're new to town. The desperation this causes Cara and Logan, thinking they'll be kept apart ups the ante and turns this tale into a page turner.

My only misgiving is that I would have like a little more information about Phoenix powers earlier on. I kept wondering why a Phoenix was so important and why someone would be after them. I wasn't invested enough yet to care. But I kept reading, and I'm glad I did.

Tell me readers: Have you ever heard of a human/Phoenix?

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