itibaren Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea itibaren Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, South Korea

My first reaction to Firelight was 'omg it's about dragons!' I don't know what it is about me and dragons. Maybe since they're such fantastical, exotic, rare beasts that you don't expect to see them in anything but fantasy yet here they are in a modern day setting. The dragon aspect didn't disappoint and I loved the different types of dragons there were. Jacinda, a rare fire breather, water draki, earth draki, stone, shadow. They were covered a little too briefly for my liking so I hope there's more detail in the second book. After Jacinda puts her whole pride in danger, her mother takes her and her sister and flees during the night to protect Jacinda from the harsh punishment she's sure is coming. Tamra, Jacinda's sister, who isn't a draki, is thrilled. She gets to go to high school and live like a normal teenager. Away from the lush mountains and thrust into hot, dry desert, Jacinda is out of her element, miserable, and her draki is dying. I found myself really disliking Jacinda's mom and sister. Her mom chose to ignore the pain she was causing Jacinda, and even though she was doing it to protect her daughter, to me it seemed unnecessarily cruel. Same with Tamra. Tamra had lived in her sister's shadows her entire life, and when she gets a chance to be the normal one, she thrives. But she came across so mean. She would threaten Jacinda if she did anything to screw up the life she was building for herself and just seemed cold in general. Jacinda understood how her sister and mom belonged here, and she tried to fit in for them, but they never seemed to think about Jacinda's interests or how much it was hurting her to be there for them. I never really warmed up to them as a result. Jacinda does get some relief in the form of Will, the same boy who spared her when she was being hunted. Being near him makes her draki come to life, to the point where she struggles to stop herself from shifting. This of course angers and Jacinda's mom and sister, but she'll do anything to keep her draki alive, even if it means getting close to her greatest enemy. I really liked Will. They're clearly drawn to each other and offer the other some sort of relief. There's a bit of push and pull between them at first, but Jacinda eventually trusts him wholeheartedly. The point where the romance began to take a wrong turn for me was when Cassian appeared. Cassian is the second strongest draki in her pride and meant to be her betrothed. When he is first mentioned, Jacinda wants absolutely nothing to do with him. But when he shows up to try and get her to return to the pride, she finds herself warming up to him. I was sort of annoyed that she would suddenly discover these feelings for him and I totally attributed it to the fact that he was a draki like her, she was missing home, and seeing him made those feelings resurface. If romantic feelings develop between them (from her perspective at least), I want them to come after she gets to know him better, and not just because he came to her rescue. Bottom Line Firelight is about dragons! That's reason enough for me to read it. The variety of dragons was awesome and I hope to learn more details about them in book 2. The romance between Jacinda and Will was sweet, but I'm a little wary of what's going to happen with Cassian, especially with how the story came to an end. It was a pretty quick read and entertaining overall. Looking forward to reading Vanished!