Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood #1)

My favourite kinds of books are ones that take you on an exciting ride through the story and leave you breathless by the end, and that’s what this is. It’s dangerous and fast and I was hooked after the first few pages.

Tella and her family moved to Montana where they’re more or less cut off from the outside world. Tella is sixteen, and her brother, Cody, is nineteen, and he’s dying. Doctors can’t figure out how to treat him and despite brave faces, banter, and family time, his condition is tough on everybody. Then Tella finds a blue box on her bed, and inside is a device with information about a race called the Brimstone Bleed. And the prize is a cure that will save her brother. She sets out on this adventure, brave and determined, not knowing if it’s real or some strange prank. She soon finds out it’s for real when she completes her first task to secure a Pandora – a companion for the race.

I’m going to stop there for a moment to point out my new obsession with Pandoras. They’re animals with extraordinary abilities, there to protect their Contender. A bit like Pokemons. I need one so bad.

Tella, with her Pandora egg, enters the race – adapting to different climates and surroundings. Facing creatures, insects, and people who live in these places. Making allies when there can only be one winner. They all deserve the cure, they’re all there for someone they love, and they all crave the prize equally. It’s a toughy.

I love a good romance, and there’s a good romance. The adventure is non-stop. The world-building is fantastic – I really wondered how the whole thing came about and what the reasons were behind it, and I was more than satisfied with the answer. The story is narrated from Tella’s POV and I loved her voice. I can’t fault it.

FIRE & FLOOD is a fantastic YA thriller and I’m super impressed.

I need you, book two!

I felt like Fire and Flood by Victorica Scott is a little bit like taking The Amazing Race and throwing in some Digimons. Then tossing them on the island that Survivor was filmed on. It’s crazy awesome. I kept having dreams about being in the Brimestone Bleed myself and let me tell you that got exhausting. I know a book has really wiggled it’s way into my brain when I start doing that. I think the most interesting part is that Tella knows nothing about it. Never heard of it and it appears she is the only one who is in the dark. Why were her parents hiding it from here and how did the gamemakers find her to be a contestant and conviently know she need a cure that heals all? Lots and lots of questions. We get glimpses and peeks throughout the book and I found that the plot developments were paced really well. There were one or two things that I totally didn’t see coming which gave me that Crapballs did that just happen moments. I couldn’t stop reading, I had to know what was going down next. I love that. I love when a book catches me like that. It doesn’t have to be at the beginning it can be at the middle like this one did. I really enjoyed this story and being the race is supposed to take place across three terrains and we cover two I was kind of wondering how the next book was going to go but by the end we get it. I am so excited...

I loved Tella for many reasons. She often made me laugh because she did certain things that are things I totally do. Giving people nicknames, naming her Pandora (I haven’t done this but I would), talking to herself then thinking she’s crazy for talking to herself. Yep so I totally related with Tella in that respect. I could picture us being friends. The other thing I really liked about Tella is that she is a little vain. Even though it’s necessarily considered a great characteristic but it is so refreshing to have an MC that doesn’t do the I’m beautiful in my sweats and don’t know it. She likes to dress up and look cute and hates her hair because it’s too curly just like a normal teenage girl. I am that girl that walks around in t-shirt, jeans and never wears make-up. My two best friends however wouldn’t leave the house without looking anything less then 110%, I’m often attacked with a make-up brush when I’m not looking. In fact my one friend works for cooperate at Sephora. I have to say though if Andrea, Lauren and I were dropped into the Brimestone Bleed I would bet my life on the two of them to win. They are not the girls that go camping or trekking through the woods but they are smart, fiercely loyal and would go UFC fight style on your ass with their stilettos if you mess with them. They’ve got sass and they’ve got fire which is how I see Tella. She’s such a different MC and I love her for that, I love Victoria Scott for that.

Guy had me when he was so noisy in the morning. No one who knows how to survive in a jungle is loud in the morning. I was on to you Guy and you made me crush on you. I also loved the flaws of Guy. He has a mangled ear, he’s got some crazy spiked hair and Tella might suspect he is a serial killer. Of course if it were me in the Jungle, that would be the dude that I would follow. As we get to know him through the book we see some softer sides to him. I like how protective he becomes of the group in that nonchalant way.

Guy and Tella have a complicated romance. They might be attracted to each other but you have to remember the end game. Always remember there is an endgame. They both want the same thing and they both have someone to save. I think Guy tries his best to keep Tella at a slight distance but not effectively. I actually really liked their story because it was a quiet one. They weren’t going to stand on top of a mountain and scream that they like each other. By the end of the book, you get it. You have a deep connection with them and you really understand the complications.

Overall I loved this book. The characters, the plot and the pacing. So I say go pick it up today!!

I wanted to read Fire and Flood because I liked the sound of Tella. She is obviously loyal and will do anything for her family since she is after a cure for her chronically ill brother. I also am a dystopia fan and I haven't burnt out when it sounds like it has a unique twist and I like the sound of the animal companion as well as that she is fighting for her brother. I want to know more about what is making him (and others) sick because I am also drawn to that type of story line.
Also, it is an author that Trisha Wolfe (my homegirl who wrote the amazingness that is Fireblood, Of Silver and Beasts and The Darkest Part) recommends and one that Victoria, the author calls out in the acknowledgements.
We get a taste of the kind of life Tella has been living at the first, and we get to see her relationship with her brother. They banter back and forth but you can tell that Tella does it to keep his spirits up and that is their love language to each other. But regardless of how much Tella wants her brother to get better, she is bored and having a hard time appreciating the country being raised in Boston. I can't imagine the transition from city to country like that much less they don't have computers or anything like that there either.
When she finds the device that ultimately invites her to compete in the competition for the cure, the Brimstone Bleed, she thinks she might be losing her mind. Or it could be the best thing that happened to her... Or a joke. But as readers, we know its real. I saw a shift in Tella in the moment she realized it too, and decided to fight for a cure for her brother. That showed me so much into her character.
As she is discovering what she faces she is really showing her feminine side, and I love it. She doesn't lose her love of nail polish, being self conscious about her looks, and that is awesome. She is strong in all of the ways that matter, she wants to save her brother. But she also wants to try to find the good in others, and she hates the nature of the game. She doesn't like violence, and she has a kind heart. She has a fierce will to survive and she wants to band together with others even knowing it might be hard when the time comes to separate. But all of these things make her such a complex character and I admire her so much for that and Victoria, the author for having the courage to write a character that's girly but still hardcore.
The animal companions give such a unique edge to the story. I mean just when many are thinking that dystopias and games pitting people against one another for survival has been done every way possible, Victoria writes this brillant twist to the story. I don't want to talk about them too much because I don't want to spoil anything. But besides the complexity and amazingness that is Tella, the animals are one of my favorite aspects. They are so individual and distinct (though I will admit with the letter/number names and the sheer number of them at times, I had a hard time remembering which letter/number combo went to which animal). Besides their differences they also demonstrate a lot about the people with whom they are working. For instance, with Tella, she is the most attached to her animal, and she cannot stand to see another animal being hurt or taken advantage of. Tella cuddles with hers, sings to him, and tries to share her food and water. I think that this develops and even deeper bond with them than him just being assigned to her and to help her out.
The pacing of Fire and Flood was amazing. There was always something going on. New challenges for Tella, new people coming into her world and heart, as well as discoveries she is making about the world that she lives in, the sickness that has afflicted her brother and the Brimstone Bleed's origins and current purposes.
The secondary characters that surround Tella stole my heart as well. Harper was so tough, Caroline and Dink a mystery, and Guy, oh my goodness. He started out such an enigma and really stayed that way throughout the story. I can't wait to learn even more about him. He's so strong, the silent type and a natural leader. He is smart about survival and everyone in their party looks to him for advice and trusts his guidance on how to survive the parts of the race.
What is so hard about this group of companions is that they are all contenders. They have someone they are fighting for. Someone they love who is sick and will die or continue to suffer without the promised cure--which only goes to one person. So while they become attached to each other and help each other, there will eventually have to be some hard choices made, and even knowing that, it is hard to keep from liking them and them from forming some pretty strong bonds.
The romance in this one didn't really surprise me, but that is more than okay. I loved how it was a slow developing and that they questioned it like they rightly should in the circumstances. But I think that it made them stronger, giving them more reason to keep going and yet another person they cared about to fight for. There are some moments that take my breath away they are so sweet or there is so much of that good tension and chemistry going on.
The ending, oh my. I think that it stopped in a relatively good spot, although I was def not ready to stop reading about Tella, getting answers about the world, guy's past and what would happen to these people and animals that I came to care so much about. I am certainly continuing this series, and anxiously awaiting the copy of Fire and Flood #2 to be in my hands.

Bottom Line: An amazing dystopia with a unique and fascinating spin with the animal companions and a feminine but hardcore amazing main character.