Through Fire & Sea

“Through Fire and Sea” is a fascinating YA sci-fi/fantasy that begins with Leah, an unrecognized daughter of a hot-blooded duke. The dukes control the volcanoes, making it safe to live on their planet, which is full of fire. Leah’s mother had her out of wedlock and tries to keep her away from her father, but Leah has always wanted to connect with him. At the beginning of the book, she does and learns why her mother wanted to keep her from him- the duke is not a kind or nice man. A dragon has been stirring up the volcanoes wrath and as they threaten to explode, the dukes are summoning Qeturah, a woman with her own duchy, to get rid of the dragon. However, she asks for a big price- sometimes wealth and sometimes their daughters. To protect his legal daughter, Jehannah, he asks Leah to pose as her, so that Qeturah will take her instead of the real Jehannah.

The duke’s plan works, and Leah is off to stay with Qeturah instead of Jehannah. We begin to see a relationship to another girl, Holly, as they see each other through the water. Holly is the daughter of a famous director on another world, and she is on a boat with her father when she almost drowns. She is saved by a boy who looks like a merman. We flip back and forth between Leah and Holly, as they both fall in love and learn more about the Mirror Worlds. We soon learn that there is one true world and four Mirror Worlds which have one prevailing element (e.g. fire, water, etc.). Both worlds are threatened by an unforeseen enemy and Holly and Leah will each battle them in their own ways.

It is a really intriguing story, and the perspectives of Holly and Leah were interesting to flip between. It’s a relatively long book, but well written and keeps the reader engaged. It moves pretty fast, story-wise. There were a few places where the scenes felt too long, but were mainly there to give character insight into our two leading ladies. Holly was my favorite of the two, and I was glad as we started to glimpse more and more of her life. The relationships each had were really adorable and sweet/romantic. There is nothing more than kissing between them though, so it’s very clean (as YA often are). The Mirror Worlds idea is really fascinating and I’m really curious to see how this series evolves with these different (yet similar) alternate reality-type existences. I also loved the idea of a prevailing sense of a person which exists across experiences (I won’t say more to avoid spoilers). Overall, it is a fascinating and lovely story, and I am excited to read the next!

Please note that I received this book from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.