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Effigies #1
Fate of Flames
Years ago, everything changed. Phantoms, massive beasts of nightmare, began terrorizing the world. At the same time four girls, the Effigies, appeared, each with the unique power to control a classical element. Since then, they have protected the world from the Phantoms. At the death of one Effigy, another is chosen, pulled from her normal life into the never-ending battle.
When Maia unexpectedly becomes the next Fire Effigy, she resists her new calling. A quiet girl with few friends and almost no family, she was much happier to admire the Effigies from afar. Never did she imagine having to master her ability to control fire, to protect innocent citizens from the Phantoms, or to try bringing together the other three Effigies.
But with the arrival of the mysterious Saul—a man who seems to be able to control the Phantoms using the same cosmic power previously only granted to four girls at a time—Maia and the other Effigies must learn to work together in a world where their celebrity is more important than their heroism.
But the secrets Saul has, and the power he possesses, might be more than even they can handle…
When Maia unexpectedly becomes the next Fire Effigy, she resists her new calling. A quiet girl with few friends and almost no family, she was much happier to admire the Effigies from afar. Never did she imagine having to master her ability to control fire, to protect innocent citizens from the Phantoms, or to try bringing together the other three Effigies.
But with the arrival of the mysterious Saul—a man who seems to be able to control the Phantoms using the same cosmic power previously only granted to four girls at a time—Maia and the other Effigies must learn to work together in a world where their celebrity is more important than their heroism.
But the secrets Saul has, and the power he possesses, might be more than even they can handle…
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 22, 2016
About the author
Sarah Raughley
12 books569 followersSarah Raughley grew up in Southern Ontario writing stories about freakish little girls with powers because she secretly wanted to be one. She is a huge fangirl of anything from manga to SF/F TV to Japanese Role Playing Games, but she will swear up and down that she was inspired by ~Jane Austin~ at book signings. On top of being a YA Writer, she is currently completing a PhD in English, because the sight of blood makes her queasy (which crossed Medical School off the list).
She is represented by The Bradford Literary Agency.
So far, you can also find her on Twitter, where work ethic goes to die.
She is represented by The Bradford Literary Agency.
So far, you can also find her on Twitter, where work ethic goes to die.
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August 17, 2016This is my book! Basic Premise: PACIFIC RIM meets the AVENGERS with a SAILOR MOON cast.
What does that mean?
Basically:
1) Bad Ass Pretty Girls
2) Fighting Monsters
3) While the World is Watching
Uh but unlike Pacific Rim there's no mecha(yet?), sorry Gundam fans! :)
If you've got any comments or questions? Put em right here :) Check my blog and twitter for up to date news!
ALSO:
August 17 - Hey Canadians! We're doing a goodreads giveaway just for you! It's happening right now, ending August 31, so make sure you request! And for everyone else, don't worry - keep an eye out for the October giveaway!
August 2 - If you haven't gotten an ARC yet, not to worry! We're going to be having another ARC giveaway in the coming months right here on Goodreads. It'll start October 7th and end October 21st. Mark it down on your calendars!
February 17 - Make sure you go to @readlovewrite28's blog for a chance to win an ARC!! Ends March 3rd at midnight EST.
What does that mean?
Basically:
1) Bad Ass Pretty Girls
2) Fighting Monsters
3) While the World is Watching
Uh but unlike Pacific Rim there's no mecha
If you've got any comments or questions? Put em right here :) Check my blog and twitter for up to date news!
ALSO:
August 17 - Hey Canadians! We're doing a goodreads giveaway just for you! It's happening right now, ending August 31, so make sure you request! And for everyone else, don't worry - keep an eye out for the October giveaway!
August 2 - If you haven't gotten an ARC yet, not to worry! We're going to be having another ARC giveaway in the coming months right here on Goodreads. It'll start October 7th and end October 21st. Mark it down on your calendars!
February 17 - Make sure you go to @readlovewrite28's blog for a chance to win an ARC!! Ends March 3rd at midnight EST.
November 7, 2016
*** Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***
Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
Book One of the Effigies series
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: November 22, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
Four girls with the power to control the elements and save the world from a terrible evil must come together in the first epic novel in a brand-new series.
When Phantoms—massive beasts made from nightmares and darkness—suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the world, four girls, the Effigies, each gained a unique power to control one of the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Since then, four girls across the world have continually fought against the Phantoms, fulfilling their cosmic duty. And when one Effigy dies, another girl gains her power as a replacement.
But now, with technologies in place to protect the world’s major cities from Phantom attacks, the Effigies have stopped defending humanity and, instead, have become international celebrities, with their heroic feats ranked, televised, and talked about in online fandoms.
Until the day that New York City’s protection against the Phantoms fails, a man seems to be able to control them by sheer force of will, and Maia, a high school student, unexpectedly becomes the Fire Effigy.
Now Maia has been thrown into battle with three girls who want nothing to do with one another. But with the first human villain that the girls have ever faced, and an army of Phantoms preparing for attack, there isn’t much time for the Effigies to learn how to work together.
Can the girls take control of their destinies before the world is destroyed forever?
What I Liked:
I didn't totally dislike this book, but I had several issues with it. These reviews are among the most difficult to write. On the one hand, clearly I didn't love the book. On the other hand, I didn't hate it. Am I trying to convince people to read the book? Or deter them? It's a tough call!
In this first book in a new series, Maia is an Effigy, and the whole world is about to find out. Effigies have the ability to fight phantoms, using one of the elements (fire, water, earth, air). Effigy abilities appear in a random person, and there are only four Effigies at a time, so the abilities pop up when one of the Effigies dies. Natalya, the Fire Effigy, is dead, and now Maia will take her place. But there is something sinister happening. For one, everyone thinks Natalya killed herself. But did she? And then there is Saul, who can control phantoms, and will stop at nothing to get to Maia, killing hundreds of innocent people in the process. Maia is taken to the other three Effigies, who must help her learn about being an Effigy quickly. But will it be too late for Maia?
I got a serious Ghostbusters vibe at first - and I'm talking about the new Ghostbusters movie, with Melissa McCarthy. Effigies destroy phantoms, and the phantoms can be any manner of creature, in a phantom apparition. They destroy them with their element - for example, Maia is the fire Effigy, Belle is the water Effigy, Chae Rin is the earth Effigy, and Lake is the air Effigy.
The book was interesting enough to hold my attention for the entire story, though it dragged throughout. It wasn't a long book, but it took me longer than usual, to finish. But I did finish the story, and it's not like the story was totally boring overall. I have to give the author points for creativity of story, even world-building. The setting changes often, from the U.S. to Argentina to England to France. Which was cool!
I also have to mention that this should be considered a "diverse" book! It made me extremely pleased to see a character with Caribbean roots. Because, obviously!
There is a tiny bit of romance, but it's basically not there. Maia has a crush on a boy, and the boy has a crush on Maia, but that's it. I guess we'll see more of a development in this department in future books.
I'd continue with this series. I wasn't completely disinterested or bored, though my review as a whole might make you otherwise.
What I Did Not Like:
Ahhh, where to start. Let's start with the characters. Every single character was flat, one-dimensional, boring, and had no development throughout the story. Maybe it was just me, not connecting with anyone? But it felt like everyone's personalities and mindsets are the same from start to finish. I didn't think Maia got braver or fiercer or smarter or anything "more", as the story went on. As an Effigy, even a new one, she has a huge responsibility. I was hoping to see her moping self transform into something better... I guess that's not happening, in this book.
But all of the other characters were just as flat. The other three Effigies are critical to this story, and I'd say that Lake is the only one that I saw some little bit of change. But even her, meh. None of the characters had any depth to them, and/or I could connect with any of them.
Also worth mentioning - each of the girls was unique, but they were such stereotypes. Belle, the cold one (the b***h). Chae Rin, the rebellious crazy one. Lake, the dramatic one (pop star). And Maia, the quiet one. Stereotype, stereotype, stereotype, stereotype...
Even the romance was flat. Rhys is a Sect agent, and he protects Maia over and over. I liked Rhys, but he was so one-dimensional and perpetually perfect. You can see that he is holding something back, but every time he wants to tell Maia the thing, he gets interrupted. That was incredibly frustrating! And a bad move, on the author's part. That question goes unanswered, which it really should not have, in this book.
And then there was Maia's dialogue and inner monologue. I don't know if that's just the author's writing style, but Maia's thoughts and speech made me cringe at times. She seemed so juvenile. Yes, she's sixteen, but she seemed like an adolescent, especially given some of her speech.
I'm still confused as to how Effigies are chosen. Randomly by nature? Immediately after one Effigy dies, the abilities jump into another person? And why was Saul "special"? I do not understand that part of the story at all. I'm not understanding the big reveal around Saul, as well. I'm not understanding the source of the phantoms, why they exist, etc. The author really just did not explain anything in this book. I'm not sure if she was waiting to reveal more information in future books?
And then there was the fact that this books dragged a lot, throughout the book. It was boring sometimes, but I think it was the pacing too. Theoretically the idea of this book really appealed to me, and I kept waiting for it to "wow" me, so I kept reading. I was never wow-ed.
Would I Recommend It:
Ehhh. If you were already interested in this book, then it's probably still worth pursuing. If you had a passing interest or not interest at all, then don't bother. If this series gets better, then it may be worth binge-reading. This wasn't the most impressive fantasy novel.
Rating:
2.5 stars -> rounded down to 2 stars. Part of the reason why I'm rounding down is because, while there were redeeming qualities, there just weren't enough of them. I could see myself reading more from this series. But probably because I need closure. Hopefully it's three books or less!
Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
Book One of the Effigies series
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: November 22, 2016
Rating: 2 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
Four girls with the power to control the elements and save the world from a terrible evil must come together in the first epic novel in a brand-new series.
When Phantoms—massive beasts made from nightmares and darkness—suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the world, four girls, the Effigies, each gained a unique power to control one of the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Since then, four girls across the world have continually fought against the Phantoms, fulfilling their cosmic duty. And when one Effigy dies, another girl gains her power as a replacement.
But now, with technologies in place to protect the world’s major cities from Phantom attacks, the Effigies have stopped defending humanity and, instead, have become international celebrities, with their heroic feats ranked, televised, and talked about in online fandoms.
Until the day that New York City’s protection against the Phantoms fails, a man seems to be able to control them by sheer force of will, and Maia, a high school student, unexpectedly becomes the Fire Effigy.
Now Maia has been thrown into battle with three girls who want nothing to do with one another. But with the first human villain that the girls have ever faced, and an army of Phantoms preparing for attack, there isn’t much time for the Effigies to learn how to work together.
Can the girls take control of their destinies before the world is destroyed forever?
What I Liked:
I didn't totally dislike this book, but I had several issues with it. These reviews are among the most difficult to write. On the one hand, clearly I didn't love the book. On the other hand, I didn't hate it. Am I trying to convince people to read the book? Or deter them? It's a tough call!
In this first book in a new series, Maia is an Effigy, and the whole world is about to find out. Effigies have the ability to fight phantoms, using one of the elements (fire, water, earth, air). Effigy abilities appear in a random person, and there are only four Effigies at a time, so the abilities pop up when one of the Effigies dies. Natalya, the Fire Effigy, is dead, and now Maia will take her place. But there is something sinister happening. For one, everyone thinks Natalya killed herself. But did she? And then there is Saul, who can control phantoms, and will stop at nothing to get to Maia, killing hundreds of innocent people in the process. Maia is taken to the other three Effigies, who must help her learn about being an Effigy quickly. But will it be too late for Maia?
I got a serious Ghostbusters vibe at first - and I'm talking about the new Ghostbusters movie, with Melissa McCarthy. Effigies destroy phantoms, and the phantoms can be any manner of creature, in a phantom apparition. They destroy them with their element - for example, Maia is the fire Effigy, Belle is the water Effigy, Chae Rin is the earth Effigy, and Lake is the air Effigy.
The book was interesting enough to hold my attention for the entire story, though it dragged throughout. It wasn't a long book, but it took me longer than usual, to finish. But I did finish the story, and it's not like the story was totally boring overall. I have to give the author points for creativity of story, even world-building. The setting changes often, from the U.S. to Argentina to England to France. Which was cool!
I also have to mention that this should be considered a "diverse" book! It made me extremely pleased to see a character with Caribbean roots. Because, obviously!
There is a tiny bit of romance, but it's basically not there. Maia has a crush on a boy, and the boy has a crush on Maia, but that's it. I guess we'll see more of a development in this department in future books.
I'd continue with this series. I wasn't completely disinterested or bored, though my review as a whole might make you otherwise.
What I Did Not Like:
Ahhh, where to start. Let's start with the characters. Every single character was flat, one-dimensional, boring, and had no development throughout the story. Maybe it was just me, not connecting with anyone? But it felt like everyone's personalities and mindsets are the same from start to finish. I didn't think Maia got braver or fiercer or smarter or anything "more", as the story went on. As an Effigy, even a new one, she has a huge responsibility. I was hoping to see her moping self transform into something better... I guess that's not happening, in this book.
But all of the other characters were just as flat. The other three Effigies are critical to this story, and I'd say that Lake is the only one that I saw some little bit of change. But even her, meh. None of the characters had any depth to them, and/or I could connect with any of them.
Also worth mentioning - each of the girls was unique, but they were such stereotypes. Belle, the cold one (the b***h). Chae Rin, the rebellious crazy one. Lake, the dramatic one (pop star). And Maia, the quiet one. Stereotype, stereotype, stereotype, stereotype...
Even the romance was flat. Rhys is a Sect agent, and he protects Maia over and over. I liked Rhys, but he was so one-dimensional and perpetually perfect. You can see that he is holding something back, but every time he wants to tell Maia the thing, he gets interrupted. That was incredibly frustrating! And a bad move, on the author's part. That question goes unanswered, which it really should not have, in this book.
And then there was Maia's dialogue and inner monologue. I don't know if that's just the author's writing style, but Maia's thoughts and speech made me cringe at times. She seemed so juvenile. Yes, she's sixteen, but she seemed like an adolescent, especially given some of her speech.
I'm still confused as to how Effigies are chosen. Randomly by nature? Immediately after one Effigy dies, the abilities jump into another person? And why was Saul "special"? I do not understand that part of the story at all. I'm not understanding the big reveal around Saul, as well. I'm not understanding the source of the phantoms, why they exist, etc. The author really just did not explain anything in this book. I'm not sure if she was waiting to reveal more information in future books?
And then there was the fact that this books dragged a lot, throughout the book. It was boring sometimes, but I think it was the pacing too. Theoretically the idea of this book really appealed to me, and I kept waiting for it to "wow" me, so I kept reading. I was never wow-ed.
Would I Recommend It:
Ehhh. If you were already interested in this book, then it's probably still worth pursuing. If you had a passing interest or not interest at all, then don't bother. If this series gets better, then it may be worth binge-reading. This wasn't the most impressive fantasy novel.
Rating:
2.5 stars -> rounded down to 2 stars. Part of the reason why I'm rounding down is because, while there were redeeming qualities, there just weren't enough of them. I could see myself reading more from this series. But probably because I need closure. Hopefully it's three books or less!
May 27, 2017
Fate of Flames is my new favourite dystopian book. It has amazing characters, a fantastic plot, and a stunning new world. The book has so much action, you won’t want to put it down.
There can only be four Effigies at one time. If one Effigie dies, their power moves on to the next person chosen. When Natalya turns up dead, it is Maia Finley who becomes her successor. The power of fire has been handed to Maia, she has no choice but to train her powers and fight alongside Bella, Chae Rin, and Lake to defeat Phantoms terrorizing the whole world.
There comes a book every once in a while, that you wish you read when the whole series came out because you’re dying to read the next one after finishing the first book. This is that series. I was not exaggerating when I said in the beginning that I could not put the book down. As for the moments when I had to put the book down, all I could do was think about getting back to it and continuing reading.
I absolutely loved Maia as the main character. She is such a good person, and always knows when to do the right thing. I love how she is very careful and doesn't trust anyone. She makes things exciting, and I can promise you that you will not get bored of her point of view. Throughout the book I found myself falling in love with the other Effigie girls as well. Right off the bat, I thought Belle and Lake were going to be horrible to read about, they both seemed like stuck up annoying girls, but once you find out more about them you really do end up liking them and cheering on the whole squad of Effigies. Chae Rin was definitely my favourite out of the four, she's not afraid to tell people how it is, and do her own thing, and its definitely a plus how she's from Canada.
The world building is outstanding. I believe it is the best world building I have yet to read about. Not only do you get to see Maia’s home town, but the squad of girls also travels to places like London, Paris, Argentina and many others. It’s so wonderful to read about people travelling rather than staying in the one city or country.
The one thing I didn't like about the book, was the romance. On one hand, if you could call it a romance, it really sucked. I could not ship the characters which was something I really wanted to do, but I just couldn’t. But on the other hand, it really made Maia and the girls more warrior-like and inspirational. I can’t describe it really well, but you’ll know what I mean if you read the book.
Overall, I’m so impressed with this book that I have to give it a 5 star. Honestly I would give it 6 stars if it was possible. I highly recommend this book to all dystopian and kick-ass female main character lovers. Definitely give this book a try, I’ll just be over here, dying and waiting for the next book to come out.
Happy Reading
- Aneta
There can only be four Effigies at one time. If one Effigie dies, their power moves on to the next person chosen. When Natalya turns up dead, it is Maia Finley who becomes her successor. The power of fire has been handed to Maia, she has no choice but to train her powers and fight alongside Bella, Chae Rin, and Lake to defeat Phantoms terrorizing the whole world.
There comes a book every once in a while, that you wish you read when the whole series came out because you’re dying to read the next one after finishing the first book. This is that series. I was not exaggerating when I said in the beginning that I could not put the book down. As for the moments when I had to put the book down, all I could do was think about getting back to it and continuing reading.
I absolutely loved Maia as the main character. She is such a good person, and always knows when to do the right thing. I love how she is very careful and doesn't trust anyone. She makes things exciting, and I can promise you that you will not get bored of her point of view. Throughout the book I found myself falling in love with the other Effigie girls as well. Right off the bat, I thought Belle and Lake were going to be horrible to read about, they both seemed like stuck up annoying girls, but once you find out more about them you really do end up liking them and cheering on the whole squad of Effigies. Chae Rin was definitely my favourite out of the four, she's not afraid to tell people how it is, and do her own thing, and its definitely a plus how she's from Canada.
The world building is outstanding. I believe it is the best world building I have yet to read about. Not only do you get to see Maia’s home town, but the squad of girls also travels to places like London, Paris, Argentina and many others. It’s so wonderful to read about people travelling rather than staying in the one city or country.
The one thing I didn't like about the book, was the romance. On one hand, if you could call it a romance, it really sucked. I could not ship the characters which was something I really wanted to do, but I just couldn’t. But on the other hand, it really made Maia and the girls more warrior-like and inspirational. I can’t describe it really well, but you’ll know what I mean if you read the book.
Overall, I’m so impressed with this book that I have to give it a 5 star. Honestly I would give it 6 stars if it was possible. I highly recommend this book to all dystopian and kick-ass female main character lovers. Definitely give this book a try, I’ll just be over here, dying and waiting for the next book to come out.
Happy Reading
- Aneta
January 11, 2020
UPDATE
: This review can now be found on my blog, Rosaline's Rolls & Scrolls.
~ After reading - Full Review ~
Well, Logical Side of My Brain, I should have listened to you!
Beware the long rant!
Let me start by saying that I knew I shouldn't have read this. Call it a reader's hunch. I just knew it was going to be a pain, but that damn gorgeous cover and the author's promise of cool monsters and badass superheroines charmed me into getting this book. And I just hoped that the book was going to deliver and leave me happily surprised. However, that did not happen folks, and here we are.
This book read like an extreme fan's fanfic in an alternative universe with monsters. Cool in that way, horrific otherwise. Fate of Flames is what you'll get if you turn a manga series into a novel. Had it been manga I might've actually enjoyed it, but this book was just too bad.
The Good:
I liked the fast-paced writing, especially in the first few chapters. I felt like I could see the events instead of having them described to me as most books insist on doing. This type of writing especially works for action-packed books. However, that slowly changed as the book moved forward, and the story soon started to drag horribly.
The Bad:
The story itself is really bad. It's sloppy and it lacks a good foundation. I felt the story crumbling beneath my feet and the "plot" throwing me in different directions without a purpose, and now I am bruised all over and extremely pissed.
I think the author lost her direction with this one. One cannot really tell what this book is about. One minute we're reading about supposedly "badass heroines" who fight monsters, and the next there are a bunch of celebs having photo shoots and interviews that in no way contributed anything to the plot.
And in case you're wondering, there was no real badassery going on in this book.
Maia's character pissed me off! She was annoyingly indecisive. Do you wanna fight or you don't? When they showed up to take her as the new Effigie, she halfheartedly ran away with no real reason, but two pages later she's all about saving people and fulfilling her responsibility (or rather forcing the other Effigies to do so while doing nothing to help herself, but more on that in a minute). So which one is it Maia? Staying or leaving? Just please make up your mind or have some character development, otherwise get the hell out of my face!
I really feel like the author felt the need to make Maia opposed to the idea of being a "special snowflake" because most authors with characters who have responsibilities thrust upon them do so. But this really doesn't match her crazy over the top fangirl character obsessed with all things Effigie. If anything, Maia should jump at the opportunity to be the hero she always dreamed of, maybe even recklessly so. Which she does almost two pages after her escape attempt, changing 180 degrees in 2 seconds!
Furthermore, Maia's annoying ass runs after all the Effigies trying to convince them to risk their lives and save the world and how it's their responsibility and how dare they not want to die and live while they're young?
Meanwhile what does Maia do to fulfill her responsibility and save the world? Nothing! She enjoys her celebrity status by being bad at taking pictures and rapid-fires villains with dumbass questions they are not obliged to answer!
Honestly Maia, did you do one thing worthy of celebration before running around and abusing fellow Effigies for the lack of heroism your fangirl ass expected them to posses?
JUDGY!
Moving on from Maia, the whole book was unstable! Even after all those pages nothing really got resolved. We did not find out the reason behind anything, nothing changed, and nothing moved forward.
The world building was also extremely weak. So we are in an alternative universe with random monsters terrorizing the world. Ok, that's it? The author mentions that no information have been obtained and 'who cares? Because that's the way it is now'. This shit has been going on since 1800s and you expect me to accept that all these scientists and curious souls of the world could not figure out anything about things going on on their own planet? Please! That's just lazy!
This book was basically just a story about an annoying little girl obsessed with a bunch of celebrities with superpowers who manages to obtain said superpowers and proceed to ask dumb questions, stalk idols to yell at them for not doing her version of a hero's job, being picked as the key factor of an operation by mere chance of having someone's memories and totally through no skills of her own (she doesn't have any and I'm not exaggerating), taking photos, having interviews, feeling important, and talking to a villain for awfully long periods of time and magically coming away with no useful information and a dead brain that goes back to obsessing over pretty Effigies.
Oh, and she spends an unhealthy amount of time writing and reading internet forums about her obsessions and frets over too many comments that we can't care less about. Seriously, the forum business started to get very annoying very quickly.
We get it! These forums are important! And random people's comments are even more important than the plot! Good to know.
The Ugly:
Cliche after cliche after cliche. We've got:
⚫ Dead family as a plot device (which doesn't at all do much to move the plot forward)
⚫ Insta-attraction
⚫ Villain with no reason to be a villain other than he's an ass who spends an awful lot of time talking instead of killing
⚫ Characters talking out loud for the sake of the audience (except we're reading a book not watching a movie)
⚫ MC who has powers magically handed to her, suddenly becoming the solution to everything and center of all attention for no reason at all (this is a trend that seriously needs to go away)!
Authors, please stop!
Other utter garbage that filled out the pages and wasted my precious time includes but not limited to:
⚫ Pointless conversation that added nothing to the book
⚫ Dumbass useless interrogation by one of the biggest and strongest organisations in the world!
⚫ Actual photoshoot!!!
⚫ Dumb MC calling villain crazy without listening to a word he says cliche (honestly all these villains spend so much of their precious time they could use killing you to explain all of their plan, so the least you could do is to stop denying facts and listen so we can find something useful)
⚫ These unforgettable lines:
And
Her email had me like,
⚫ And this glorious quote:
Kill me now!
Final thoughts:
This book was a major waste of time. It is just glorified fanfic and nothing more.
There's no real plot, character development, or world building. There's some action and the MC's obsession with heroes. And that's pretty much it. Granted, the book had a unique idea for a story, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
If you don't have great expectation and just want to read something with monsters and superpowers, and you don't care about anything else, then this book is for you.
Otherwise I advise you to walk away and don't look at the cover. It might just trick you into buying it!
.
.
.
~Thoughts before reading~
There are a bunch of questions you should probably ask yourself before purchasing a book, such as:
● What is this book about?
● How good is it?
● How many people have read and liked it?
● What are people saying about it?
● How annoying is the MC going to be considering that she doesn't want her powers or responsibilities?
● Haven't I suffered through enough of those types of characters?
● And haven't I sworn not to read books with such MCs?
● Isn't every bookish alarm in my head going off and asking me to please stop and think?
Well too late, I've already seen that cover!
Oops, Logical Side of My Brain! We're reading this!
~ After reading - Full Review ~
Well, Logical Side of My Brain, I should have listened to you!
Beware the long rant!
Let me start by saying that I knew I shouldn't have read this. Call it a reader's hunch. I just knew it was going to be a pain, but that damn gorgeous cover and the author's promise of cool monsters and badass superheroines charmed me into getting this book. And I just hoped that the book was going to deliver and leave me happily surprised. However, that did not happen folks, and here we are.
This book read like an extreme fan's fanfic in an alternative universe with monsters. Cool in that way, horrific otherwise. Fate of Flames is what you'll get if you turn a manga series into a novel. Had it been manga I might've actually enjoyed it, but this book was just too bad.
The Good:
I liked the fast-paced writing, especially in the first few chapters. I felt like I could see the events instead of having them described to me as most books insist on doing. This type of writing especially works for action-packed books. However, that slowly changed as the book moved forward, and the story soon started to drag horribly.
The Bad:
The story itself is really bad. It's sloppy and it lacks a good foundation. I felt the story crumbling beneath my feet and the "plot" throwing me in different directions without a purpose, and now I am bruised all over and extremely pissed.
I think the author lost her direction with this one. One cannot really tell what this book is about. One minute we're reading about supposedly "badass heroines" who fight monsters, and the next there are a bunch of celebs having photo shoots and interviews that in no way contributed anything to the plot.
And in case you're wondering, there was no real badassery going on in this book.
Maia's character pissed me off! She was annoyingly indecisive. Do you wanna fight or you don't? When they showed up to take her as the new Effigie, she halfheartedly ran away with no real reason, but two pages later she's all about saving people and fulfilling her responsibility (or rather forcing the other Effigies to do so while doing nothing to help herself, but more on that in a minute). So which one is it Maia? Staying or leaving? Just please make up your mind or have some character development, otherwise get the hell out of my face!
I really feel like the author felt the need to make Maia opposed to the idea of being a "special snowflake" because most authors with characters who have responsibilities thrust upon them do so. But this really doesn't match her crazy over the top fangirl character obsessed with all things Effigie. If anything, Maia should jump at the opportunity to be the hero she always dreamed of, maybe even recklessly so. Which she does almost two pages after her escape attempt, changing 180 degrees in 2 seconds!
Furthermore, Maia's annoying ass runs after all the Effigies trying to convince them to risk their lives and save the world and how it's their responsibility and how dare they not want to die and live while they're young?
Meanwhile what does Maia do to fulfill her responsibility and save the world? Nothing! She enjoys her celebrity status by being bad at taking pictures and rapid-fires villains with dumbass questions they are not obliged to answer!
Honestly Maia, did you do one thing worthy of celebration before running around and abusing fellow Effigies for the lack of heroism your fangirl ass expected them to posses?
JUDGY!
Moving on from Maia, the whole book was unstable! Even after all those pages nothing really got resolved. We did not find out the reason behind anything, nothing changed, and nothing moved forward.
The world building was also extremely weak. So we are in an alternative universe with random monsters terrorizing the world. Ok, that's it? The author mentions that no information have been obtained and 'who cares? Because that's the way it is now'. This shit has been going on since 1800s and you expect me to accept that all these scientists and curious souls of the world could not figure out anything about things going on on their own planet? Please! That's just lazy!
This book was basically just a story about an annoying little girl obsessed with a bunch of celebrities with superpowers who manages to obtain said superpowers and proceed to ask dumb questions, stalk idols to yell at them for not doing her version of a hero's job, being picked as the key factor of an operation by mere chance of having someone's memories and totally through no skills of her own (she doesn't have any and I'm not exaggerating), taking photos, having interviews, feeling important, and talking to a villain for awfully long periods of time and magically coming away with no useful information and a dead brain that goes back to obsessing over pretty Effigies.
Oh, and she spends an unhealthy amount of time writing and reading internet forums about her obsessions and frets over too many comments that we can't care less about. Seriously, the forum business started to get very annoying very quickly.
We get it! These forums are important! And random people's comments are even more important than the plot! Good to know.
The Ugly:
Cliche after cliche after cliche. We've got:
⚫ Dead family as a plot device (which doesn't at all do much to move the plot forward)
⚫ Insta-attraction
⚫ Villain with no reason to be a villain other than he's an ass who spends an awful lot of time talking instead of killing
⚫ Characters talking out loud for the sake of the audience (except we're reading a book not watching a movie)
⚫ MC who has powers magically handed to her, suddenly becoming the solution to everything and center of all attention for no reason at all (this is a trend that seriously needs to go away)!
Authors, please stop!
Other utter garbage that filled out the pages and wasted my precious time includes but not limited to:
⚫ Pointless conversation that added nothing to the book
⚫ Dumbass useless interrogation by one of the biggest and strongest organisations in the world!
⚫ Actual photoshoot!!!
⚫ Dumb MC calling villain crazy without listening to a word he says cliche (honestly all these villains spend so much of their precious time they could use killing you to explain all of their plan, so the least you could do is to stop denying facts and listen so we can find something useful)
⚫ These unforgettable lines:
"I wish wish wishwishwish."
And
"I can't sleep can't sleep can't sleep."
Her email had me like,
⚫ And this glorious quote:
"He'd done it to protect me. This was a guy who'd temporarily abandoned his field post in New York to look out for me - well, at least I wanted to believe it was for me and not the girl inside me."
Kill me now!
Final thoughts:
This book was a major waste of time. It is just glorified fanfic and nothing more.
There's no real plot, character development, or world building. There's some action and the MC's obsession with heroes. And that's pretty much it. Granted, the book had a unique idea for a story, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
If you don't have great expectation and just want to read something with monsters and superpowers, and you don't care about anything else, then this book is for you.
Otherwise I advise you to walk away and don't look at the cover. It might just trick you into buying it!
.
.
.
~Thoughts before reading~
There are a bunch of questions you should probably ask yourself before purchasing a book, such as:
● What is this book about?
● How good is it?
● How many people have read and liked it?
● What are people saying about it?
● How annoying is the MC going to be considering that she doesn't want her powers or responsibilities?
● Haven't I suffered through enough of those types of characters?
● And haven't I sworn not to read books with such MCs?
● Isn't every bookish alarm in my head going off and asking me to please stop and think?
Well too late, I've already seen that cover!
Oops, Logical Side of My Brain! We're reading this!
October 3, 2018
I was so excited when I won this ARC in a Goodreads Giveaway. Its been on my most anticipated list for a long time. I love that its written by a Canadian author and that alone makes me want to love this book. The Pacific Rim with a Sailor Moon cast reference had me hooked right away. Ive loved sailor moon ever since I was a kid and I really enjoyed Pacific Rim. Due to the mix reviews I was a little worried but still hopeful.
Off to a promising start with a phantom attack within the first couple pages. Not much is known about the phantoms but they have some kind of pulse device to keep them out of populated areas. They also dont know much about the Effigies besides the fact that when one dies their powers and memories get randomly passed onto someone else. Due to the lack of info on phantoms and Effigies the world building was a little weak but maybe we'll get more info in the sequel. We do get a bit more information on the Effigies later on which helped.
The characters eventually grew on me even though they really got on my nerves sometimes. I enjoyed Rhys and Sauls character but the main character was a little immature and made some frustrating decisions. The other Effigies, mostly Belle, werent very nice and kind of bratty but I remember some of the sailor moon characters also being bratty. Despite that I still thought the story was interesting. Im a plot driven reader and I really loved the concept of this story. The whole Nick and Alice mystery was a little confusing but kept me reading to find out more.
It took me a bit longer to read this physical copy because I mostly read ebooks in bed with the lights off but when I wasnt reading it I looked forward to picking it back up. It was an enjoyable read with some character growth and a lot of action. I thought the pacing and the writing were alright but I wish there would have been more emphasis on developping amazing female frienships. The Effigies didnt really get along for most of the book which was kind of disapointing. I didnt like the Sect organization but I love those kinds of stories.
I cant wait to get my hands on the sequel. I hope I manage to get my hands on a review copy. Id like to thank Simon and Schuster for this wonderful opportunity and I hope I get to review more books for them in the future.
Off to a promising start with a phantom attack within the first couple pages. Not much is known about the phantoms but they have some kind of pulse device to keep them out of populated areas. They also dont know much about the Effigies besides the fact that when one dies their powers and memories get randomly passed onto someone else. Due to the lack of info on phantoms and Effigies the world building was a little weak but maybe we'll get more info in the sequel. We do get a bit more information on the Effigies later on which helped.
The characters eventually grew on me even though they really got on my nerves sometimes. I enjoyed Rhys and Sauls character but the main character was a little immature and made some frustrating decisions. The other Effigies, mostly Belle, werent very nice and kind of bratty but I remember some of the sailor moon characters also being bratty. Despite that I still thought the story was interesting. Im a plot driven reader and I really loved the concept of this story. The whole Nick and Alice mystery was a little confusing but kept me reading to find out more.
It took me a bit longer to read this physical copy because I mostly read ebooks in bed with the lights off but when I wasnt reading it I looked forward to picking it back up. It was an enjoyable read with some character growth and a lot of action. I thought the pacing and the writing were alright but I wish there would have been more emphasis on developping amazing female frienships. The Effigies didnt really get along for most of the book which was kind of disapointing. I didnt like the Sect organization but I love those kinds of stories.
I cant wait to get my hands on the sequel. I hope I manage to get my hands on a review copy. Id like to thank Simon and Schuster for this wonderful opportunity and I hope I get to review more books for them in the future.
Want to read
November 24, 2016According to the author: Basic Premise: PACIFIC RIM meets the AVENGERS with a SAILOR MOON cast.
I know the ratings aren't that good, but she had me at Sailor Moon. :D
I know the ratings aren't that good, but she had me at Sailor Moon. :D
October 1, 2016
High school student Maia Finley has been holding in a secret for a few days now. She knows that one of her idols must have died because now Maia has been chosen to take her place as the new Fire Effigy. There are always four Effigies at any given time and when one dies another young girl will be chosen by fate to inherit the magical abilities of one of the four elements.
When the city of New York comes under attack from phantoms with the protection system down Maia finds herself tossed into the middle of battle without a clue what to do. Luckily Belle, another Effigy shows up and saves the day but it won't be long until Maia's secret is out and she is pulled into battle with the other girls and the secret government program, the Sect that is in charge of the Effigies.
Fate of Flames is one of those books that really starts off with a huge bang to really grab a reader's attention within the first few pages. Being dropped into the middle of a phantom attack you can't help but wonder what is going on in the story. And steadily over the course of the book everything is developed quite nicely to always kept my attention throughout the book.
My one complaint with this story was that I never found out one thing I was wanting to know when this one ended. It's not a huge part of the plot but it would have been nice to have it addressed before this one ended but overall this was a wonderful start to a new series and I can't wait to see what Maia, Belle, Lake and Chae Rin do in the next installment.
Overall, 4.5 stars. Great first book of a new series with just enough to look forward to finding out about in the upcoming books to really be excited to continue.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
When the city of New York comes under attack from phantoms with the protection system down Maia finds herself tossed into the middle of battle without a clue what to do. Luckily Belle, another Effigy shows up and saves the day but it won't be long until Maia's secret is out and she is pulled into battle with the other girls and the secret government program, the Sect that is in charge of the Effigies.
Fate of Flames is one of those books that really starts off with a huge bang to really grab a reader's attention within the first few pages. Being dropped into the middle of a phantom attack you can't help but wonder what is going on in the story. And steadily over the course of the book everything is developed quite nicely to always kept my attention throughout the book.
My one complaint with this story was that I never found out one thing I was wanting to know when this one ended. It's not a huge part of the plot but it would have been nice to have it addressed before this one ended but overall this was a wonderful start to a new series and I can't wait to see what Maia, Belle, Lake and Chae Rin do in the next installment.
Overall, 4.5 stars. Great first book of a new series with just enough to look forward to finding out about in the upcoming books to really be excited to continue.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
November 23, 2016
I was provided with an ARC of Fate Of Flames by Sarah Raughley from Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for and honest review.
3.5 Stars
The first time I had heard of Fate Of Flames, it was marketed as Sailor Moon meets Avatar: The Last Airbender. Let me tell you, they had me at Sailor Moon. I grew up watching that show and to come across a novel that has a similar aspect? Consider it sold.
--
What I Liked
Our home and native land! Yes, this book partially took place in Canada! Also known as, my home and native land! One thing that has always bothered me about dystopian stories, or even blockbuster action movies for that matter, is that they all take place in The United States of America…majority of the time in New York City. My constant thought it always, “What about the rest of the world? Is everything falling apart for them too?" While, Fate of Flames does momentarily take place in New York City, it also explored other countries around the world (including my home of Canada) and I’m honestly extremely grateful for how fresh and new that is.
The concept. I loved the idea of four girls with Sailor Moon-like powers. I love that while each girl is one of the only four Effigies in the world, they are all very independent. They live in, or grew up in, different countries and they all have different unique character traits which makes each girl awesome in her own right.
The characters. As mentioned above, I really did enjoy a majority of the characters. Yes, even the villains. Each of the four Effigies were completely distinguishable from one another. They each had different personalities and the fact that they’re all from different places and cultural backgrounds is one of the best things about them. I loved the diversity between each of the characters as well. While I did enjoy the villains, I really do wish we could have learned a little bit more about them. I love a good backstory.
--
What I Didn’t Like
World building. I’m still not really sure how this world came to be. Why are there all of these phantoms? Where did they come from? Why do the phantoms and the Effigies have more in common than they realize in terms of their biology? I wish we got more answers, but I suppose that’s what a series of novels is eventually meant to do…answer everything later.
The lack of clarity. I won’t lie. I was pretty confused about the whole Nick, Marian, Alice thing. I still don’t quite understand their story and what it all meant. I really do like the idea of each Effigy containing a piece of the previous Effigy before them. While this was an awesome idea, I wish I could have learned more about each of these characters. We had an amazing opportunity to learn more about them this way, but their story just ended up feeling a little bland.
The repetitive-ness. There were a lot of action-packed battle scenes. While the first one was intriguing, it just kept happening throughout the story. These moments felt a tad redundant for me and I found myself struggling to get through them.
--
While I did get what I promised in terms of Sailor Moon-like badass women, there were bits and pieces of this story that were lacking for me. If we got just a little more detail on some of the morally questionable villains and maybe a lower number of similar and redundant battle scenes, Fate Of Flames could be something great! I could easily see this story blowing up and becoming popular with readers all over the world!
Don't forget to visit Big City Bookworm by clicking the banner above to read an exclusive Guest Post by Sarah Raughley!
--
Initial post reading thoughts:
Fate of Flames was definitely action packed and full of a great cast of characters, but I found myself feeling a little lost from time to time. I also felt like some moments were a tad repetitive and drawn out. However, I loved our four Effigies and their supporting cast of characters. I really did enjoy the idea of the villains, but I wish they were explored a little more. I also felt a tad bit lost with the whole Marian/Nick/Alice storyline.
October 20, 2021
Na jaren roepen om deze samen met Evelyn te gaan lezen, eindelijk gedaan. Enorm van genoten!
Sommige dingen zijn wel veranderd van wat ik me nog herinnerde van 5 jaar geleden, maar de grote lijnen en wat dit boek gaaf maakt staan nog.
Erg stoer en gaaf verhaal. Naar de normen van nu misschien niet zo divers als je nu zou willen, maar daar doet het verhaal niet voor onder. Wel even rekening mee houden dus als je het nu leest en het boek afzet tegen de standaarden van nu ;)
Maar vooral een echte aanrader als je houdt van een boek met monsters en girlpower waar liefde geen hoofdzaak in is. En als je houdt van prachtig mooie voorkanten, check die cover joh.
Anyway, deel 2 lezen we vast sneller he? ;)
2016
So, back in March, the Dutch publisher Blossom Books asked their ambassadors (including me) to read some manuscripts for them. This is one of the books I've read in this period, as well as The Witch's Kiss and one other, which I'm allowed to mention when that one is published :)
This is an awesome book about girlpower. The world is under attack by monsters, and only 4 girl, Effifies, on the globe have to power to really fight them. What you get is 4 chicks constantly saving the world, how cool is that.
This story is set in the future, and what I really like is that the story includes the influence of the internet en social media. Those 4 girls are famous AF and people are big fans of them. Including the main character, she has a blog about one of the Effigies. When the Effigy is spotted somewhere, she finds out what closes she wears, and she keeps up to date with the latest gossip.
So, when one of the Effigies dies (this happens), the powers are given to another girl. This girl will be found by the company/institution that is behind getting the girls where they need to fight, so guess what happens to our main character.. (this is not a spoiler, this is on the back flap of my book).
Of course, this is a YA book, so all the guys are super handsome and there is some love in this book while it is not completely necessary. But later on, there was more attention for the connection between the girls, their friendship (which is partly forced because they have their powers) and the fact that they share the power to fight the monsters.
When I finished this book, I wanted to read the sequel right away, but first I had to wait * MONTHS to be able to talk about this book because it was not released yet, and now I have to wait another ages for the seuqel.. so I'm going to reread this in 2017 :P I will add to my review :)
As you may have noticed, i'm a big fan of this book. But the published asked the opinion of more people of course, and not all agreed with me and they decided to not translate this book :( So, you just have to read it in English Dutchies :)
Also, I'm not a big fan of hardbacks with a dustcover, even when the dustcover looks as pretty as this one, because they are so easily damaged when transported to The Netherlands. My edition is not perfect either, which I think is a bit of a shame, but because I could not order a paperback and i wanted to own this book so badly I was like well whatever :)
Sommige dingen zijn wel veranderd van wat ik me nog herinnerde van 5 jaar geleden, maar de grote lijnen en wat dit boek gaaf maakt staan nog.
Erg stoer en gaaf verhaal. Naar de normen van nu misschien niet zo divers als je nu zou willen, maar daar doet het verhaal niet voor onder. Wel even rekening mee houden dus als je het nu leest en het boek afzet tegen de standaarden van nu ;)
Maar vooral een echte aanrader als je houdt van een boek met monsters en girlpower waar liefde geen hoofdzaak in is. En als je houdt van prachtig mooie voorkanten, check die cover joh.
Anyway, deel 2 lezen we vast sneller he? ;)
2016
So, back in March, the Dutch publisher Blossom Books asked their ambassadors (including me) to read some manuscripts for them. This is one of the books I've read in this period, as well as The Witch's Kiss and one other, which I'm allowed to mention when that one is published :)
This is an awesome book about girlpower. The world is under attack by monsters, and only 4 girl, Effifies, on the globe have to power to really fight them. What you get is 4 chicks constantly saving the world, how cool is that.
This story is set in the future, and what I really like is that the story includes the influence of the internet en social media. Those 4 girls are famous AF and people are big fans of them. Including the main character, she has a blog about one of the Effigies. When the Effigy is spotted somewhere, she finds out what closes she wears, and she keeps up to date with the latest gossip.
So, when one of the Effigies dies (this happens), the powers are given to another girl. This girl will be found by the company/institution that is behind getting the girls where they need to fight, so guess what happens to our main character.. (this is not a spoiler, this is on the back flap of my book).
Of course, this is a YA book, so all the guys are super handsome and there is some love in this book while it is not completely necessary. But later on, there was more attention for the connection between the girls, their friendship (which is partly forced because they have their powers) and the fact that they share the power to fight the monsters.
When I finished this book, I wanted to read the sequel right away, but first I had to wait * MONTHS to be able to talk about this book because it was not released yet, and now I have to wait another ages for the seuqel.. so I'm going to reread this in 2017 :P I will add to my review :)
As you may have noticed, i'm a big fan of this book. But the published asked the opinion of more people of course, and not all agreed with me and they decided to not translate this book :( So, you just have to read it in English Dutchies :)
Also, I'm not a big fan of hardbacks with a dustcover, even when the dustcover looks as pretty as this one, because they are so easily damaged when transported to The Netherlands. My edition is not perfect either, which I think is a bit of a shame, but because I could not order a paperback and i wanted to own this book so badly I was like well whatever :)
Want to read
February 4, 2016
HAHAHA YOU MEAN SOMETHING LİKE THIS?
Dont give a shit about PACIFIC RIM (It's just slightly better than Transformers but both have cliche scenes, predictable story, bad acting, focus on visual stimulation so no shit given there.) but damn you whoever wrote that. AVENGERS with a SAILOR MOON cast? I'M SO IN BABY. I'M SO IN.
Sailor Moon fan in me:
Avengers fan in me:
If this one mixes:
with
and adds some of the
I'll one happy girl but none of the-
I'm too old for that shit.
And oh, please be good.
August 27, 2016
Basically, it's the parts of Buffy, Pacific Rim, and Avatar: The Last Airbender that I loved the most, with twists and turns of its own, and some really excellent world building.
It's messy and complicated and full of girls and and you should buy it.
It's messy and complicated and full of girls and and you should buy it.
March 6, 2020
Full Review on The Candid Cover
Fate of Flames is unlike anything I’ve read before. This book is about a group of girls who fight phantoms to save the world. The main character goes from fangirl to fighter, even if it takes time. However, the story was pretty slow and there were a few parts that seemed dry, affecting my overall enjoyment.
This book has such an intriguing concept! Basically, there is this group of girls, called Effigies, who have to fight phantoms and save the world. I really enjoyed how all of the girls come from different countries and have very different personalities. If you are the kind of person that is interested in diverse dystopian books, Fate of Flames would be a great choice for you.
Maia is a character so different from any other dystopian that I’ve read. She is already the ultimate Effigy fangirl before randomly becoming an Effigy herself. I found it so interesting that she went from a nobody to a warrior. It takes her a while to reach her full potential, but Maia really transforms. I am all for strong female characters, so Maia and the Effigies satisfied me.
While I enjoyed the concept of Fate of Flames, the pacing bothered me at certain points. There were multiple moments that were so slow and lacked action, which was pretty disappointing. There was a lot of internal monologue as well, which was interesting at first, but got kind of annoying after a while. I would definitely prefer more excitement in this book.
Fate of Flames is a book about phantom fighting that contains a group of strong women. The main character really transforms throughout the story and becomes a warrior. While I enjoyed many things in this book, the pacing was a bit slow, and the plot seemed kind of flat to me.
Fate of Flames is unlike anything I’ve read before. This book is about a group of girls who fight phantoms to save the world. The main character goes from fangirl to fighter, even if it takes time. However, the story was pretty slow and there were a few parts that seemed dry, affecting my overall enjoyment.
This book has such an intriguing concept! Basically, there is this group of girls, called Effigies, who have to fight phantoms and save the world. I really enjoyed how all of the girls come from different countries and have very different personalities. If you are the kind of person that is interested in diverse dystopian books, Fate of Flames would be a great choice for you.
Maia is a character so different from any other dystopian that I’ve read. She is already the ultimate Effigy fangirl before randomly becoming an Effigy herself. I found it so interesting that she went from a nobody to a warrior. It takes her a while to reach her full potential, but Maia really transforms. I am all for strong female characters, so Maia and the Effigies satisfied me.
While I enjoyed the concept of Fate of Flames, the pacing bothered me at certain points. There were multiple moments that were so slow and lacked action, which was pretty disappointing. There was a lot of internal monologue as well, which was interesting at first, but got kind of annoying after a while. I would definitely prefer more excitement in this book.
Fate of Flames is a book about phantom fighting that contains a group of strong women. The main character really transforms throughout the story and becomes a warrior. While I enjoyed many things in this book, the pacing was a bit slow, and the plot seemed kind of flat to me.
October 20, 2016
10/19/16:
Absolutely infuriating to read. It's been so long so I've read a book where I could find almost NO redeeming qualities, no matter what kind of excuses I make up for it. By page 200 I was rage reading it.
Was it because of the cardboard, weak main character whose dialogue never amounted to anything and actions that were stagnant throughout the book?
Was it the lack of growth in the characters that I could read about?
Was it the fact that most of the girls were embroiled in stereotype -like caricatures of people- and Sailor Moon they were NOT?
Was it the atrocious world building that had so many holes I could tear it apart with a stick?
Or the unexplained, unjustified main villain?
The lack of intelligence of the adults in the story?
Inconclusive plot elements? (I know it's a series but there are questions that are never answered throughout the ENTIRETY of the book)
Placid romance?
Plain foolishness of the MC and people around her?
Maybe it was a combo of all. Review to come.
Absolutely infuriating to read. It's been so long so I've read a book where I could find almost NO redeeming qualities, no matter what kind of excuses I make up for it. By page 200 I was rage reading it.
Was it because of the cardboard, weak main character whose dialogue never amounted to anything and actions that were stagnant throughout the book?
Was it the lack of growth in the characters that I could read about?
Was it the fact that most of the girls were embroiled in stereotype -like caricatures of people- and Sailor Moon they were NOT?
Was it the atrocious world building that had so many holes I could tear it apart with a stick?
Or the unexplained, unjustified main villain?
The lack of intelligence of the adults in the story?
Inconclusive plot elements? (I know it's a series but there are questions that are never answered throughout the ENTIRETY of the book)
Placid romance?
Plain foolishness of the MC and people around her?
Maybe it was a combo of all. Review to come.
August 7, 2018
Exciting! Mega-exciting! The action pulled me right in and wouldn’t let me go. (I immediately wanted to know what an Effigie is and how can I become one ;) ).
The characters are diverse and interesting. They captured my interest and I cared about them. I liked seeing the four girls coming together, overcoming their daemons, working through their weaknesses, pulling out their strengths. I am very much looking forward to the next installment so I can continue along on their journey with them.
What a fun ride! I enjoyed this book a lot. Clever premise! Interesting characters and impressive character development. Suspenseful and thrilling plot with unexpected, unpredictable twists and turns. I can't wait for the sequel!
See more reviews at my book blog:
TJ's Time Travel Tips
https://tjtimetraveltips.wordpress.co...
I received a copy of this book from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
BUDDY READ:Paranormal/Fantasy > Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley -- Starting September 27, 2016
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The characters are diverse and interesting. They captured my interest and I cared about them. I liked seeing the four girls coming together, overcoming their daemons, working through their weaknesses, pulling out their strengths. I am very much looking forward to the next installment so I can continue along on their journey with them.
What a fun ride! I enjoyed this book a lot. Clever premise! Interesting characters and impressive character development. Suspenseful and thrilling plot with unexpected, unpredictable twists and turns. I can't wait for the sequel!
See more reviews at my book blog:
TJ's Time Travel Tips
https://tjtimetraveltips.wordpress.co...
I received a copy of this book from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
BUDDY READ:Paranormal/Fantasy > Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley -- Starting September 27, 2016
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
November 24, 2016
FATE OF FLAMES is the first book in the Effigies series. When I read the blurb of this story, I was immediately drawn in by its premise. Four girls with the power to control the elements are responsible for saving the world from terrible evil. These Phantoms continue to terrorize the city of Manhattan and when you throw in the fact that these girls are essentially supposed to be superheroes you would think this would be a pretty epic book.
However, I didn’t love it. I liked it enough to finish it but while I liked the idea of the story, the writing just seemed to be a little off. I learned quickly that the writing style might not be for me. The author expects readers to have a lot of faith early on. The opening scene jumps straight into the action, but we don’t even know who Maia is first before the Phantoms arrive. Therefore, I had no connection with Maia until later on in the novel. As this is the first book in the series, that’s a pretty big boo boo because if a reader can’t get on with at least one of the girls in the story, most will probably not finish the book.
When this book was pitched, the publisher said it was kind of like the Avengers mixed with Sailor Moon. Okay, I guess I can see that but really, it’s just a bunch of girls with superpowers fighting baddies.
I was expecting a little bit more in terms of the Phantoms but since this is the first book, I’m hopeful that there will be more. However, that being said, this book does suffer from first-book syndrome. Nevertheless, I would still suggest pushing through this one. You never know, it might hit its stride with the next book.
May 1, 2017
Originally Posted On The Sassy Book Geek
Update: The more I think about this book the more I remember just how much the main character irritated me so I'm downgrading the rating because 3 stars means I did moderately enjoy and "Fate of Flames" I don't think deserves that.
**** Big thank you to Simon Pulse for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review****
This was a book that was hard to rate because I liked the concept a lot but overall “Fate of Flames” was really meh. So it gets a rating right down the middle because there were some things I really enjoyed and others that really infuriated me.
Also this is going to be a longer review than normal because I RANT quite a bit over the characters…….
The Plot
The story and world-building were pretty much the only redeeming qualities within this book. As I said earlier the concept is great even if the execution wasn’t the greatest.
“Fate of Flames” is set in a world where monsters called Phantoms are a constant threat to humanity. To protect themselves, humans, have Anti-Phantom-Devices to keep the monsters out as well as super-powered teenage girls called Effigies whose purpose is to kill the Phantoms. Concept sounds pretty badass, right? While the execution is okay it wasn’t as great and badass as I thought it would be. We are actually left with quite a few questions and plot holes.
The world-building with the mentions of the Phantoms and Effigies themselves was pretty interesting but I feel like there definitely could have been MORE. What exactly are the Phantoms and the Effigies? How are Effigies chosen? Where did the Phantoms come from? So the world-building is okay and has a lot of potential but could have used a lot more expansion, maybe we’ll see more of that in the sequel.
I really loved the idea of girls with super powers kicking Phantom-butt and while we do see that within the book I, once again, wish there would have been MORE. More action! What action we did get is actually really well done and were some of the most exciting parts within the book, BUT I wanted to see the Effigies use their powers more.
I also found the pacing throughout the book to be a little slow, I found myself really bored during certain parts. While the battle scenes are really great and fast paced, everything else is a little boring and repetitive.
The Characters
Okay, honestly a majority of the characters weren’t THAT bad but the main character is the WORST part of this entire book! RANT TIME!
First of all Maia, the main character, has got to be the worst heroine I’ve ever read about! Not even exaggerating here people! Now I understand having super powers and super responsibility thrust upon you as a teenager all of a sudden isn’t the easiest thing to adjust to but you’re going to have to suck it up and get used to it because the WORLD NEEDS YOU. Maia is weak, cowardly, annoying, and foolish throughout the ENTIRE BOOK. As I said I get that being scared right away is more realistic than a heroine running face first into danger to save people but I’d much rather have that than MAIA who literally runs away from everything and lets people die.
Besides that, Maia is also a HUGE Effigy fangirl. I consider myself a fangirl at times and know a lot of you are as well but holy shit Maia has got to be the definition of ANNOYING FANGIRL. She literally brings up all her (slightly creepy) fangirl knowledge about the Effigies to the Effigies themselves all the time and it makes me want to hide under a rock because I’m so embarrassed for her. I think by making Maia a fangirl the author thought she was making the character more relatable but there is such a thing as taking it too far.
Speaking of things Maia says….her dialogue and thoughts are absolutely cringe-worthy at times. I found myself thinking:
“WHY? WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT? YOU’RE JUST EMBARRASSING YOURSELF!”
And then there’s the things she would do that had me thinking:
“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? YOU’RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF!”.
Do you see a pattern here? Seriously Maia is just awful.
Another thing that drove me up the wall was the complete lack of character descriptions, if there’s one thing I loathe in books it’s when I don’t get a character described to me. Seriously, how hard is it? You write up a single sentence describing the character and I’ll be happy! While the other Effigy girls get a BIT of description it still isn’t enough to picture them all that well and you know who gets absolutely ZERO description? Maia.
As if I didn’t have enough to complain about her in the first place. I spent the first couple of chapters picturing Maia as a red-headed white girl, why you may ask, because that’s what my brain decided she would look like for the time being. Then we get a brief mention of her family having Jamaican roots and then all of a sudden my image is shattered because Maia I’m almost positive is African-American now. Kind of something that should be mentioned don’t you think? Especially considering I could go around saying this is a Diverse YA book, which is great! But also I’m actually still not 100% she is African-American because it’s never outright mentioned! Confusion!
The other Effigies were alright, nothing too special but still way more interesting and badass than our main character. I actually really liked them, especially Chae Rin! Now that’s who the main character should have been, someone who is actually badass.
Then we have the villain who will remain un-named due to spoilers. I don’t understand this book’s villain WHATSOEVER. I kind of understood the motive at the end of the book but I just don’t understand the villain itself, not explained at all. Very confusing and quite frustrating. Hopefully it will get explained in the rest of the series.
Also we do see a bit of a YA cliche in this book concerning adults. You know the one, right? Where every single adult on the face of the Earth is completely incompetent and absent? Yeah, not fun or realistic and very annoying.
The Romance
There really isn’t any romance in “Fate of Flames” which is a HUGE relief for me because I can foresee what a disaster it would have been. Basically what romance there is is simply Maia having a crush on a boy and the boy having a crush back. It was meh.
In Conclusion
I actually am torn right down the middle about my feelings towards this book, I did really enjoy certain factors even if I do make it sound otherwise.
What I Liked:
-The Phantoms (who were terrifying)
-The slight world building
-The Effigies and their powers
-The few battle scenes
What I Didn’t Like:
-The many questions I was left with and plot holes
-Lack of character description (especially with Maia)
-Literally everything about Maia, the main character
-Incompetent adults
-Pacing
Recommend?
Meh. I can’t say this is a book I’d go around recommending to anyone since I feel really indifferent about it, it had good and bad. Although if you were interested in this book beforehand I think you may still find it worth trying but other than that maybe skip this one.
Update: The more I think about this book the more I remember just how much the main character irritated me so I'm downgrading the rating because 3 stars means I did moderately enjoy and "Fate of Flames" I don't think deserves that.
**** Big thank you to Simon Pulse for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review****
This was a book that was hard to rate because I liked the concept a lot but overall “Fate of Flames” was really meh. So it gets a rating right down the middle because there were some things I really enjoyed and others that really infuriated me.
Also this is going to be a longer review than normal because I RANT quite a bit over the characters…….
The Plot
The story and world-building were pretty much the only redeeming qualities within this book. As I said earlier the concept is great even if the execution wasn’t the greatest.
“Fate of Flames” is set in a world where monsters called Phantoms are a constant threat to humanity. To protect themselves, humans, have Anti-Phantom-Devices to keep the monsters out as well as super-powered teenage girls called Effigies whose purpose is to kill the Phantoms. Concept sounds pretty badass, right? While the execution is okay it wasn’t as great and badass as I thought it would be. We are actually left with quite a few questions and plot holes.
The world-building with the mentions of the Phantoms and Effigies themselves was pretty interesting but I feel like there definitely could have been MORE. What exactly are the Phantoms and the Effigies? How are Effigies chosen? Where did the Phantoms come from? So the world-building is okay and has a lot of potential but could have used a lot more expansion, maybe we’ll see more of that in the sequel.
I really loved the idea of girls with super powers kicking Phantom-butt and while we do see that within the book I, once again, wish there would have been MORE. More action! What action we did get is actually really well done and were some of the most exciting parts within the book, BUT I wanted to see the Effigies use their powers more.
I also found the pacing throughout the book to be a little slow, I found myself really bored during certain parts. While the battle scenes are really great and fast paced, everything else is a little boring and repetitive.
The Characters
Okay, honestly a majority of the characters weren’t THAT bad but the main character is the WORST part of this entire book! RANT TIME!
First of all Maia, the main character, has got to be the worst heroine I’ve ever read about! Not even exaggerating here people! Now I understand having super powers and super responsibility thrust upon you as a teenager all of a sudden isn’t the easiest thing to adjust to but you’re going to have to suck it up and get used to it because the WORLD NEEDS YOU. Maia is weak, cowardly, annoying, and foolish throughout the ENTIRE BOOK. As I said I get that being scared right away is more realistic than a heroine running face first into danger to save people but I’d much rather have that than MAIA who literally runs away from everything and lets people die.
Besides that, Maia is also a HUGE Effigy fangirl. I consider myself a fangirl at times and know a lot of you are as well but holy shit Maia has got to be the definition of ANNOYING FANGIRL. She literally brings up all her (slightly creepy) fangirl knowledge about the Effigies to the Effigies themselves all the time and it makes me want to hide under a rock because I’m so embarrassed for her. I think by making Maia a fangirl the author thought she was making the character more relatable but there is such a thing as taking it too far.
Speaking of things Maia says….her dialogue and thoughts are absolutely cringe-worthy at times. I found myself thinking:
“WHY? WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT? YOU’RE JUST EMBARRASSING YOURSELF!”
And then there’s the things she would do that had me thinking:
“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? YOU’RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF!”.
Do you see a pattern here? Seriously Maia is just awful.
Another thing that drove me up the wall was the complete lack of character descriptions, if there’s one thing I loathe in books it’s when I don’t get a character described to me. Seriously, how hard is it? You write up a single sentence describing the character and I’ll be happy! While the other Effigy girls get a BIT of description it still isn’t enough to picture them all that well and you know who gets absolutely ZERO description? Maia.
As if I didn’t have enough to complain about her in the first place. I spent the first couple of chapters picturing Maia as a red-headed white girl, why you may ask, because that’s what my brain decided she would look like for the time being. Then we get a brief mention of her family having Jamaican roots and then all of a sudden my image is shattered because Maia I’m almost positive is African-American now. Kind of something that should be mentioned don’t you think? Especially considering I could go around saying this is a Diverse YA book, which is great! But also I’m actually still not 100% she is African-American because it’s never outright mentioned! Confusion!
The other Effigies were alright, nothing too special but still way more interesting and badass than our main character. I actually really liked them, especially Chae Rin! Now that’s who the main character should have been, someone who is actually badass.
Then we have the villain who will remain un-named due to spoilers. I don’t understand this book’s villain WHATSOEVER. I kind of understood the motive at the end of the book but I just don’t understand the villain itself, not explained at all. Very confusing and quite frustrating. Hopefully it will get explained in the rest of the series.
Also we do see a bit of a YA cliche in this book concerning adults. You know the one, right? Where every single adult on the face of the Earth is completely incompetent and absent? Yeah, not fun or realistic and very annoying.
The Romance
There really isn’t any romance in “Fate of Flames” which is a HUGE relief for me because I can foresee what a disaster it would have been. Basically what romance there is is simply Maia having a crush on a boy and the boy having a crush back. It was meh.
In Conclusion
I actually am torn right down the middle about my feelings towards this book, I did really enjoy certain factors even if I do make it sound otherwise.
What I Liked:
-The Phantoms (who were terrifying)
-The slight world building
-The Effigies and their powers
-The few battle scenes
What I Didn’t Like:
-The many questions I was left with and plot holes
-Lack of character description (especially with Maia)
-Literally everything about Maia, the main character
-Incompetent adults
-Pacing
Recommend?
Meh. I can’t say this is a book I’d go around recommending to anyone since I feel really indifferent about it, it had good and bad. Although if you were interested in this book beforehand I think you may still find it worth trying but other than that maybe skip this one.
December 22, 2017
Find this review and more on my blog: Sometimes Leelynn Reads
"Technically, this was what I'd always wanted, in a way... To fight like one of them. To save lives like one of them. And now I was one of them. An Effigy. Careful what you wish for, I guess."
So my library was doing a "Blind Date with a Book" thing, and the description is what made me get this. I had no idea what the title was or anything because of course, it was wrapped up in brown packaging and only had bullet points as a summary. I took a chance, but I liked what I saw.
I definitely have to say that I'm so glad I read this book, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to get it as a blind date. To think that the author herself described this book as a mix of Sailor Moon and Pacific Rim made me want to devour it as quickly as possible. I could see those aspects of it for sure, but as I was reading it, I got more of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe from it, and I'll tell you why in a minute.
Basically the book is about Maia Finley, a Jamaican-American high school student who learns that she is the next Fire Effigy, one of four girls that are tasked with saving the world from the creatures only known as Phantoms. This wasn't something that she knew she was going to do until this feeling came over her. It was then that she knew that the previous Fire Effigy, a Russian girl named Natalya Filipova, known to the entire world as the Matryoshka Princess, was dead. The Buffy reference comes into play here because once one Effigy dies, another girl is called to take her place. Just like a Slayer, when one dies, another one is called to battle evil. In this case, there are always four at a time, one for each of the elements (Avatar the Last Airbender, anyone?): Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. These girls must work together to stop the world from being destroyed, all while being followed and talked about by the media and other fans that dedicate entire forums to them.
Sounds pretty crazy, right?
One of the main things that I loved about this book was that the Effigies are usually from different parts of the world. They are never all from America, or all from Euope. It's diverse, and I love that. I love reading about POCs in books, especially having them as main characters in books and not one-dimensional people just there to claim diversity. In this case, our two POCs are Maia Finley and Chae Rin Kim, who is Korean but grew up in Montreal. Chae Rin is the Earth Effigy, and it screams Toph all over to me, with her temper and sarcastic quips and all. Only difference is Chae Rin isn't blind like Toph, but she is still really strong and has amazing control over her powers.
We also have Belle Rousseau, the longest standing Effigy after Natalya's death, the Ice Effigy since most of her powers manifest into ice rather than water. She is as cold as her power, and it's hard for any of the other girls to really get her to let her walls down. Natalya was her mentor, her sister in arms, and with her death, Belle takes it hard and shuts down completely. She's the hardest of the four girls, and also the one that's been hurt the most. Victoria "Lake" Soyinka, a British pop star trying to stay away from all the death and destruction to focus on her music career, has powers over the wind. Although she was scared to be an Effigy, to the point of flaking out of her training and resorting to the celebrity life, she was able to come together with the others and work together.
I adored this book so much. There were times where I would get extremely frustrated with Maia, especially since she didn't seem to have any handle on her powers, and I just wanted her to be brave, but it didn't deter me from enjoying this book. I get it. To have to follow in the footsteps of someone as formidable as Natalya, there's no wonder that the pressure would be much to handle. Her powers seemed to manifest during times of emotional distress, basically when she wasn't even aware of it. When she was scared, her powers came out. When she was in a fit of rage, her powers came out. But when she was concertrating, and I mean really concentrating, nothing would happen. This kind of reminds me of Aang when he was trying to master Earthbending. I know she will get it, and I know that she will be great, especially being a part of a team like the Effigies.
I can't wait to read the second book, and I'm a little bummed that it's only going to be a trilogy, but I'm also hoping that we get to explore more of the other Effigies backgrounds and what makes them tick. I believe the author did an amazing job of getting these girls to be three-dimensional. None of them were perfect, and that's what made me appreciate them even more. I highly recommend this book.
"Technically, this was what I'd always wanted, in a way... To fight like one of them. To save lives like one of them. And now I was one of them. An Effigy. Careful what you wish for, I guess."
So my library was doing a "Blind Date with a Book" thing, and the description is what made me get this. I had no idea what the title was or anything because of course, it was wrapped up in brown packaging and only had bullet points as a summary. I took a chance, but I liked what I saw.
I definitely have to say that I'm so glad I read this book, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to get it as a blind date. To think that the author herself described this book as a mix of Sailor Moon and Pacific Rim made me want to devour it as quickly as possible. I could see those aspects of it for sure, but as I was reading it, I got more of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe from it, and I'll tell you why in a minute.
Basically the book is about Maia Finley, a Jamaican-American high school student who learns that she is the next Fire Effigy, one of four girls that are tasked with saving the world from the creatures only known as Phantoms. This wasn't something that she knew she was going to do until this feeling came over her. It was then that she knew that the previous Fire Effigy, a Russian girl named Natalya Filipova, known to the entire world as the Matryoshka Princess, was dead. The Buffy reference comes into play here because once one Effigy dies, another girl is called to take her place. Just like a Slayer, when one dies, another one is called to battle evil. In this case, there are always four at a time, one for each of the elements (Avatar the Last Airbender, anyone?): Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. These girls must work together to stop the world from being destroyed, all while being followed and talked about by the media and other fans that dedicate entire forums to them.
Sounds pretty crazy, right?
One of the main things that I loved about this book was that the Effigies are usually from different parts of the world. They are never all from America, or all from Euope. It's diverse, and I love that. I love reading about POCs in books, especially having them as main characters in books and not one-dimensional people just there to claim diversity. In this case, our two POCs are Maia Finley and Chae Rin Kim, who is Korean but grew up in Montreal. Chae Rin is the Earth Effigy, and it screams Toph all over to me, with her temper and sarcastic quips and all. Only difference is Chae Rin isn't blind like Toph, but she is still really strong and has amazing control over her powers.
We also have Belle Rousseau, the longest standing Effigy after Natalya's death, the Ice Effigy since most of her powers manifest into ice rather than water. She is as cold as her power, and it's hard for any of the other girls to really get her to let her walls down. Natalya was her mentor, her sister in arms, and with her death, Belle takes it hard and shuts down completely. She's the hardest of the four girls, and also the one that's been hurt the most. Victoria "Lake" Soyinka, a British pop star trying to stay away from all the death and destruction to focus on her music career, has powers over the wind. Although she was scared to be an Effigy, to the point of flaking out of her training and resorting to the celebrity life, she was able to come together with the others and work together.
I adored this book so much. There were times where I would get extremely frustrated with Maia, especially since she didn't seem to have any handle on her powers, and I just wanted her to be brave, but it didn't deter me from enjoying this book. I get it. To have to follow in the footsteps of someone as formidable as Natalya, there's no wonder that the pressure would be much to handle. Her powers seemed to manifest during times of emotional distress, basically when she wasn't even aware of it. When she was scared, her powers came out. When she was in a fit of rage, her powers came out. But when she was concertrating, and I mean really concentrating, nothing would happen. This kind of reminds me of Aang when he was trying to master Earthbending. I know she will get it, and I know that she will be great, especially being a part of a team like the Effigies.
I can't wait to read the second book, and I'm a little bummed that it's only going to be a trilogy, but I'm also hoping that we get to explore more of the other Effigies backgrounds and what makes them tick. I believe the author did an amazing job of getting these girls to be three-dimensional. None of them were perfect, and that's what made me appreciate them even more. I highly recommend this book.
November 23, 2016
3.5 / 5 Fangs
Fate of Flames started off with a bang. From the first chapter, I was captivated by the world the author created. I will admit that the world building was a little weak, so it was hard to understand some of the aspects of the world. The author included some much-needed information as the book went on, so that helped me understand what was going on. However, I do still feel like there are some unanswered questions about the world and the Effigies that I hope will be addressed in the next book. I am looking forward to learning more about the world and understanding it more.
I liked the main character, Maia. I liked that she was the quieter girl of the bunch, but made sure to stand up for herself. She has some sassy comments that had me laugh out loud. As a whole, I really enjoyed all of the characters. The girls in this book were all diverse and unique. They made an awesome team, and I loved how their differences seemed to make them stronger. At times, the characters got on my nerves due to rudeness or brattiness, but I still liked them by the end of the book. I am so excited for the girls to bond even more and become an unbeatable team.
Rhys was one of the male characters and I really liked him. I feel like there is a lot to him that Maia doesn't know yet, so I am very interested to see those questions addressed in the next book.
The action scenes in this book were so awesome. The girls were so kick-ass, and I loved the moments where they got to really showcase that side of them. This book made me want to jump for joy with all of the girl power and diversity the author incorporated into the story.
Overall, I thought this was an entertaining and intriguing book. I am looking forward to the next book so my burning questions that were left unanswered can finally be addressed! I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a YA sci-fi/fantasy novel about kick-ass girls!
3.5 / 5 Fangs
*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
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Fate of Flames started off with a bang. From the first chapter, I was captivated by the world the author created. I will admit that the world building was a little weak, so it was hard to understand some of the aspects of the world. The author included some much-needed information as the book went on, so that helped me understand what was going on. However, I do still feel like there are some unanswered questions about the world and the Effigies that I hope will be addressed in the next book. I am looking forward to learning more about the world and understanding it more.
I liked the main character, Maia. I liked that she was the quieter girl of the bunch, but made sure to stand up for herself. She has some sassy comments that had me laugh out loud. As a whole, I really enjoyed all of the characters. The girls in this book were all diverse and unique. They made an awesome team, and I loved how their differences seemed to make them stronger. At times, the characters got on my nerves due to rudeness or brattiness, but I still liked them by the end of the book. I am so excited for the girls to bond even more and become an unbeatable team.
Rhys was one of the male characters and I really liked him. I feel like there is a lot to him that Maia doesn't know yet, so I am very interested to see those questions addressed in the next book.
The action scenes in this book were so awesome. The girls were so kick-ass, and I loved the moments where they got to really showcase that side of them. This book made me want to jump for joy with all of the girl power and diversity the author incorporated into the story.
Overall, I thought this was an entertaining and intriguing book. I am looking forward to the next book so my burning questions that were left unanswered can finally be addressed! I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a YA sci-fi/fantasy novel about kick-ass girls!
3.5 / 5 Fangs
*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
November 23, 2017
Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley had a great premise but it annoyed me so bad that it was FULL of clichés. The only thing that saved it for me was that it was action-packed and fast-paced.
November 30, 2016
I LOVED IT, honestly. This book is like... everything I never knew I needed. And I don't know why I haven't seen more people talking about it?????
-dystopia/SF/F
-Jamaican-American mc superhero (who I *think* is #ownvoices??)
-really fascinating, satisfying worldbuilding
-such an amazing exploration fandom (and all the ups and downs)
-like honestly who knew you could smoosh together SF/F and fandom culture so seamlessly into one book!! Because I did not!
-exploration of internalized misogyny
-uses the words "white supremacy" on the page (shouldn't be a big deal but I can't think of another book in which I've seen that)
-the four "chosen ones" who become the superheroes are ALWAYS girls, which is just so yeeess
-one of them is (I believe??) Chinese-Canadian, which is cool, but I can't speak to how well that representation is handled
-really really fascinating villain(s)
-I have a lot of hope at least one of the characters may be canonically queer but we'll seeee
-even if they aren't, queerness is normalized in it (i.e. "do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?")
-1st book in the series!!!!! IM SO EXCITED to see where it goes
I DONT KNOW YALL I REALLY LIKED IT AND DONT KNOW WHY MORE PEOPLE ARENT TALKING ABOUT IT
Have you read it?? What are your thoughts?
-dystopia/SF/F
-Jamaican-American mc superhero (who I *think* is #ownvoices??)
-really fascinating, satisfying worldbuilding
-such an amazing exploration fandom (and all the ups and downs)
-like honestly who knew you could smoosh together SF/F and fandom culture so seamlessly into one book!! Because I did not!
-exploration of internalized misogyny
-uses the words "white supremacy" on the page (shouldn't be a big deal but I can't think of another book in which I've seen that)
-the four "chosen ones" who become the superheroes are ALWAYS girls, which is just so yeeess
-one of them is (I believe??) Chinese-Canadian, which is cool, but I can't speak to how well that representation is handled
-really really fascinating villain(s)
-I have a lot of hope at least one of the characters may be canonically queer but we'll seeee
-even if they aren't, queerness is normalized in it (i.e. "do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?")
-1st book in the series!!!!! IM SO EXCITED to see where it goes
I DONT KNOW YALL I REALLY LIKED IT AND DONT KNOW WHY MORE PEOPLE ARENT TALKING ABOUT IT
Have you read it?? What are your thoughts?
Read
September 5, 2016DNF - Couldn't get into this one.
April 27, 2020
(3.5)
okay but the ending like. holy fuck
Rep: Black mc, Korean side character
okay but the ending like. holy fuck
Rep: Black mc, Korean side character
November 6, 2020
I thought this was really interesting. There was a lot of teenage emotions and pretty much everyone was angry. The plot was pretty interesting though and I will be interested to find out more about Rhys and to see if the girls can gel together as a group
February 6, 2017
Sarah Raughley's Fate of Flames is a very ambitious introduction to the Effigies series. Pitched as a combination of Pacific Rim, Sailor Moon, and The Avengers, I definitely had some high expectations when I first started the book. And you know what? I loved Fate of Flames! It gave me four female superheroes to cheer on as they used their powers to fight monsters and save humankind.
Two days ago, Maia Finley became the newest Fire Effigy, succeeding one of the most legendary Effigies who ever lived: Natalya Filipova. As the world mourns one of its ultimate heroes, rumoured to have committed suicide, the attention has now shifted to Maia, who can barely conjure a flame. You see, there are only four Effigies in the world at a time, each gifted with a classic elemental power: earth, air, fire, and water. And for generations, the Effigies have protected humanity with their cosmic gifts, battling terrifying monsters called Phantoms.
Maia has always been a fangirl of the Effigies. She blogs about them all the time, keeps up with their online fandom sites, and memorizes all their fights against the Phantoms. The Effigies are international celebrities. And now she's one of them? It's completely surreal. But as Maia is about to find out, her idols are far from perfect. They hardly speak to each other. And they each carry trauma from the destruction and deaths caused by the Phantoms.
But it's more important than ever that the Effigies stand united. A mysterious man named Saul can somehow control an army of Phantoms, and he's wreaking havoc on the world's major cities. And even more curiously, he seems to have a connection to a previous incarnation of the Fire Effigy. The Effigies are an utter mess, but Maia is determined to bring them all together to join the fight against Saul.
I liked that Maia and the other Effigies—Belle, Chae Rin, and Lake—were far from perfect heroines. And considering this is only book one, I didn't really expect them to be. They're all young women who've had a great responsibility and power suddenly thrust onto them with no choice, and each has been physically and mentally affected in some form. Maia is still bright-eyed and eager to help, mostly because she's always looked up to the Effigies, but you can't forget that she has very little experience actually facing the Phantoms.
Belle is icy and cold, but she's also the most battle-hardened of the others. She was personally mentored by Natalya, and in her grief, you can understand why she didn't much care for Maia initially. Chae Rin is jaded and still haunted by a previous fight against the Phantoms, one that hurt many people. And becoming an Effigy has hurt her relationship with her family. And Lake? Well, she's more soft-hearted and scared to fight, not really a warrior at all. Each of the girls have such different personalities, but I found them to be so realistic. These girls don't know each other well, so of course their teamwork level isn't going to be perfectly in sync yet.
And that's where I think Fate of Flames has so much potential to grow into a truly epic series. The Effigies may not be truly ready to take on the Phantoms as a team, but they'll try their hardest to succeed. They're brave and heroic, but what makes them even stronger is the way they overcome their personal fears and doubts to get the job done. And with more training, I think we'll see even more crazy awesome action scenes. I'm looking at you, Maia. Learn to use your scythe!
Diverse female superheroes, thrilling action scenes, international locales, and plenty of intrigue and mystery... What's not to love about Sarah Raughley's Fate of Flames? I absolutely can't wait for the next installment in the Effigies series!
** I received an ARC from Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. **
Two days ago, Maia Finley became the newest Fire Effigy, succeeding one of the most legendary Effigies who ever lived: Natalya Filipova. As the world mourns one of its ultimate heroes, rumoured to have committed suicide, the attention has now shifted to Maia, who can barely conjure a flame. You see, there are only four Effigies in the world at a time, each gifted with a classic elemental power: earth, air, fire, and water. And for generations, the Effigies have protected humanity with their cosmic gifts, battling terrifying monsters called Phantoms.
Maia has always been a fangirl of the Effigies. She blogs about them all the time, keeps up with their online fandom sites, and memorizes all their fights against the Phantoms. The Effigies are international celebrities. And now she's one of them? It's completely surreal. But as Maia is about to find out, her idols are far from perfect. They hardly speak to each other. And they each carry trauma from the destruction and deaths caused by the Phantoms.
But it's more important than ever that the Effigies stand united. A mysterious man named Saul can somehow control an army of Phantoms, and he's wreaking havoc on the world's major cities. And even more curiously, he seems to have a connection to a previous incarnation of the Fire Effigy. The Effigies are an utter mess, but Maia is determined to bring them all together to join the fight against Saul.
I liked that Maia and the other Effigies—Belle, Chae Rin, and Lake—were far from perfect heroines. And considering this is only book one, I didn't really expect them to be. They're all young women who've had a great responsibility and power suddenly thrust onto them with no choice, and each has been physically and mentally affected in some form. Maia is still bright-eyed and eager to help, mostly because she's always looked up to the Effigies, but you can't forget that she has very little experience actually facing the Phantoms.
Belle is icy and cold, but she's also the most battle-hardened of the others. She was personally mentored by Natalya, and in her grief, you can understand why she didn't much care for Maia initially. Chae Rin is jaded and still haunted by a previous fight against the Phantoms, one that hurt many people. And becoming an Effigy has hurt her relationship with her family. And Lake? Well, she's more soft-hearted and scared to fight, not really a warrior at all. Each of the girls have such different personalities, but I found them to be so realistic. These girls don't know each other well, so of course their teamwork level isn't going to be perfectly in sync yet.
And that's where I think Fate of Flames has so much potential to grow into a truly epic series. The Effigies may not be truly ready to take on the Phantoms as a team, but they'll try their hardest to succeed. They're brave and heroic, but what makes them even stronger is the way they overcome their personal fears and doubts to get the job done. And with more training, I think we'll see even more crazy awesome action scenes. I'm looking at you, Maia. Learn to use your scythe!
Diverse female superheroes, thrilling action scenes, international locales, and plenty of intrigue and mystery... What's not to love about Sarah Raughley's Fate of Flames? I absolutely can't wait for the next installment in the Effigies series!
** I received an ARC from Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review. **
September 5, 2016
Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
DNF @ 35%
I made it farther than my typical 25% before DNF-ing only because I am reviewing it on Books Are My Fandom for one of our BAMF Reviews, but I just couldn't read anymore. Thinking about going back to it is making me want to cry. I was bored and I feel like with a book that has destructo-beasts and girls with superpowers, I should be ENTHRALLED not wondering how Jurassic Park was still made in 1991 when the world had been taken over by beasts in 1865. The world-building was not the greatest in this and I felt like a lot of what happened was Very Convenient™ rather than helping to bring the novel along.
If you want to read a really similar book (at least from the first bit), I would recommend checking out Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. At least I could get through that one. (That makes it sound bad, I really enjoyed Steelheart).
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
DNF @ 35%
I made it farther than my typical 25% before DNF-ing only because I am reviewing it on Books Are My Fandom for one of our BAMF Reviews, but I just couldn't read anymore. Thinking about going back to it is making me want to cry. I was bored and I feel like with a book that has destructo-beasts and girls with superpowers, I should be ENTHRALLED not wondering how Jurassic Park was still made in 1991 when the world had been taken over by beasts in 1865. The world-building was not the greatest in this and I felt like a lot of what happened was Very Convenient™ rather than helping to bring the novel along.
If you want to read a really similar book (at least from the first bit), I would recommend checking out Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. At least I could get through that one. (That makes it sound bad, I really enjoyed Steelheart).
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
July 31, 2017
Its started out fantastic! Hit a dry spell in the middle and lagged. Ending was underwhelming. Should have left off with a cliffhanger to pique reader interest in wanting to pick up the sequel!
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
Want to read
April 6, 2016I am so excited because I have won an ARC to be sent to me as soon as ARCs are in print! Cannot wait!!!!
November 24, 2016
Review originally posted on Mostly YA Lit:
Review: Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
Is Fate of Flames is sci-fi or fantasy? I’m not sure it matters. The book has elements from both genres, with a lot about celebrity, teamwork, and memory thrown in.
In the near future, the world has been overrun by phantoms, shadowy beasts who wreak havoc wherever they go. Most major cities on Earth have anti-shadow technology that keeps the phantoms outside of the atmosphere. Sometimes, though, they break through, and that’s where the Effigies - four girl superheroes who can each control an element - come in. The Effigies are able to battle the phantoms, and as such, they are each huge celebrities.
Maia Finley, a New York high school student, just became the new Fire Effigy. She’s an Effigy fangirl, but as she quickly realizes, being an Effigy is different from liking them. In short, she’s terrified, she doesn’t seem to have any powers, and on top of all that, there’s a mysterious new guy with a bad agenda who seems to be able to make the phantoms do his bidding.
To fight off the phantoms and this new guy, the Effigies need to work together with the Sect, the governing body who enforces them. And to do that, they need to dig deep into the realms of memory, history and psyche to figure out how to beat this new menace.
So there are things I really loved about Fate of Flames and things that made me go “enh?”.
On the love side, I adored the mythology of the Effigies. The tagline billed this as Sailor Moon meets Avengers and Pacific Rim. I don’t know much about the latter, but I LOVE Sailor Moon and Avengers, and I think that Raughley got the girl superhero elements so right. This is a cast of girls that you get simultaneously frustrated with and kind of also love.
What unites these characters, is, sadly, the trauma and frustration they experience. Every time they have to fight, they put themselves at risk, and hundreds of others. Watching people die all around you, and knowing that you have the ability to save them, but maybe things just didn’t go your way that day? That’s rough. And you can see the toll that takes on each of them.
On the “enh” side, I found Maia’s voice to be really hard to get into for the first part of the book. There is definitely a giant element of fangirl, and occasionally, that just made her feel too immature for my liking.
At the same time, I recognize that that was kind of what the author was going for, especially since Sailor Moon is one of the comparisons. In a lot of ways, Maia is the weakest, but sometimes the most important link in the Effigy clan, and that really feels like Usagi/Serena from the Sailor Moon series. She’s not a crybaby, but she is the youngest Effigy, and the one who seems to care the most about the people around her.
The other enh for me was how strange it was that Maia was never tagged as being Jamaican until about two-thirds of the way through the book. Even though this is definitely a diverse book, with characters of all ethnicities popping up, I didn’t know that Maia was black for such a long time, and I wonder if that was deliberate or not.
Overall, what I loved most about Fate of Flames was how well the reluctant teamwork storylines played out. This is a realistic alliance, one with a lot of bumps even though everyone has the same goal. Girl power is there, but girls teaming up? That’s hard, and it’s something that the author and characters really fight for and earn.
Bonuses:
Fame and Media: I really appreciated how Raughley went into the celebrity element of being an Effigy, and how much of a responsibility, a liability, and an asset the media can be. Media scrutiny plays a huge part in the opinions of the characters with one another, and I think it was used extremely well here.
Memory and Dreams: I don’t want to spoil too much more, but I do want to say that one of the coolest parts of the book is how dreams and memory are built into the narrative. it's very Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Effigies are chosen by fate, and each one carries a piece of the memory of all of the previous Effigies of that element. And it can get crowded in there.
Book Theme Song:
Fate of Flames is a girl Avengers story, with a few elements of Harry Potter thrown in. I really, really liked it. And that’s saying a lot for a girl like me who usually doesn’t like fantasy. If you’re looking for a kick-arse girl power book with realistic alliances, a fascinating mythology, and feels-y characters that are forced to take on impossible situations, this is your book. I’ll definitely be picking up book 2.
-----
FATE OF FLAMES is out in bookstores now. Will you be reading it? Are you into the Avengers or other superhero stories? What about Sailor Moon? If you know of other YA super hero girl stories, let me know - I so want to read them!
Review: Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
Is Fate of Flames is sci-fi or fantasy? I’m not sure it matters. The book has elements from both genres, with a lot about celebrity, teamwork, and memory thrown in.
In the near future, the world has been overrun by phantoms, shadowy beasts who wreak havoc wherever they go. Most major cities on Earth have anti-shadow technology that keeps the phantoms outside of the atmosphere. Sometimes, though, they break through, and that’s where the Effigies - four girl superheroes who can each control an element - come in. The Effigies are able to battle the phantoms, and as such, they are each huge celebrities.
Maia Finley, a New York high school student, just became the new Fire Effigy. She’s an Effigy fangirl, but as she quickly realizes, being an Effigy is different from liking them. In short, she’s terrified, she doesn’t seem to have any powers, and on top of all that, there’s a mysterious new guy with a bad agenda who seems to be able to make the phantoms do his bidding.
To fight off the phantoms and this new guy, the Effigies need to work together with the Sect, the governing body who enforces them. And to do that, they need to dig deep into the realms of memory, history and psyche to figure out how to beat this new menace.
So there are things I really loved about Fate of Flames and things that made me go “enh?”.
On the love side, I adored the mythology of the Effigies. The tagline billed this as Sailor Moon meets Avengers and Pacific Rim. I don’t know much about the latter, but I LOVE Sailor Moon and Avengers, and I think that Raughley got the girl superhero elements so right. This is a cast of girls that you get simultaneously frustrated with and kind of also love.
What unites these characters, is, sadly, the trauma and frustration they experience. Every time they have to fight, they put themselves at risk, and hundreds of others. Watching people die all around you, and knowing that you have the ability to save them, but maybe things just didn’t go your way that day? That’s rough. And you can see the toll that takes on each of them.
On the “enh” side, I found Maia’s voice to be really hard to get into for the first part of the book. There is definitely a giant element of fangirl, and occasionally, that just made her feel too immature for my liking.
At the same time, I recognize that that was kind of what the author was going for, especially since Sailor Moon is one of the comparisons. In a lot of ways, Maia is the weakest, but sometimes the most important link in the Effigy clan, and that really feels like Usagi/Serena from the Sailor Moon series. She’s not a crybaby, but she is the youngest Effigy, and the one who seems to care the most about the people around her.
The other enh for me was how strange it was that Maia was never tagged as being Jamaican until about two-thirds of the way through the book. Even though this is definitely a diverse book, with characters of all ethnicities popping up, I didn’t know that Maia was black for such a long time, and I wonder if that was deliberate or not.
Overall, what I loved most about Fate of Flames was how well the reluctant teamwork storylines played out. This is a realistic alliance, one with a lot of bumps even though everyone has the same goal. Girl power is there, but girls teaming up? That’s hard, and it’s something that the author and characters really fight for and earn.
Bonuses:
Fame and Media: I really appreciated how Raughley went into the celebrity element of being an Effigy, and how much of a responsibility, a liability, and an asset the media can be. Media scrutiny plays a huge part in the opinions of the characters with one another, and I think it was used extremely well here.Memory and Dreams: I don’t want to spoil too much more, but I do want to say that one of the coolest parts of the book is how dreams and memory are built into the narrative. it's very Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Effigies are chosen by fate, and each one carries a piece of the memory of all of the previous Effigies of that element. And it can get crowded in there.Book Theme Song:
Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde (from the Hunger Games soundtrack)
I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm
And the scars that mark my body, they're silver and gold
My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones
It keeps my veins hot, the fire's found a home in me
I move through town, I’m quiet like a fight
And my necklace is of rope, I tie it and untie it
This is the start of how it all ends
They used to shout my name, now they whisper it
I'm speeding up and this is the
Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart
We’re at the start, the colors disappear
I never watch the stars, there’s so much down here
So I just try to keep up with them
Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart
I dream all year, but they're not the sweet kinds
And the shivers move down my shoulder blades in double time
Fate of Flames is a girl Avengers story, with a few elements of Harry Potter thrown in. I really, really liked it. And that’s saying a lot for a girl like me who usually doesn’t like fantasy. If you’re looking for a kick-arse girl power book with realistic alliances, a fascinating mythology, and feels-y characters that are forced to take on impossible situations, this is your book. I’ll definitely be picking up book 2.
-----
FATE OF FLAMES is out in bookstores now. Will you be reading it? Are you into the Avengers or other superhero stories? What about Sailor Moon? If you know of other YA super hero girl stories, let me know - I so want to read them!
January 31, 2020
3.5 stars - not sure how I want to rate this one. It kept my attention, for the most part, but dragged in parts too. I wasn't invested in the characters at all but liked the story itself. It was good, just not great. Not sure what was missing for me. Unlikable characters are a big thing for me, so I think that was a big part of it - I want to like the characters I'm supposed to get behind and Maia was alright but the others were unlikable. I think that was the point though. Not sure I'd read more. Will rate up for now, but may rate down as I let it sit.
April 11, 2017
http://www.leslecturesdemylene.com/20...
17/20 - Maia est une héroïne très agréable dont on prend plaisir à découvrir la vie et les nouveaux pouvoirs !!
17/20 - Maia est une héroïne très agréable dont on prend plaisir à découvrir la vie et les nouveaux pouvoirs !!
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