Review: Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows

Before She Ignites

Author: Jodi Meadows

Release Date: September 12, 2017

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Fallen Isles Trilogy Book #1

ISBN:  0062469401

ISBN13: 9780062469403

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Edelweiss

Before

Mira Minkoba is the Hopebearer. Since the day she was born, she’s been told she’s special. Important. Perfect. She’s known across the Fallen Isles not just for her beauty, but for the Mira Treaty named after her, a peace agreement which united the seven islands against their enemies on the mainland.

But Mira has never felt as perfect as everyone says. She counts compulsively. She struggles with crippling anxiety. And she’s far too interested in dragons for a girl of her station.

After

Then Mira discovers an explosive secret that challenges everything she and the Treaty stand for. Betrayed by the very people she spent her life serving, Mira is sentenced to the Pit–the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles. There, a cruel guard would do anything to discover the secret she would die to protect.

No longer beholden to those who betrayed her, Mira must learn to survive on her own and unearth the dark truths about the Fallen Isles–and herself–before her very world begins to collapse.

Mira has grown up in privilege as the Hopebearer, but when she questions the disappearance of the beloved dragons, she quickly finds out that being the Hopebearer won't save her from those looking to hide the truth about the seven islands. BEFORE SHE IGNITES wasn't an instant hit for me, but by the end, I was dying to read more.

Mira didn't instantly catch my attention, but slowly her story started to unwind and I found myself rooting for her. I expected her to be one way and although she started out as being weak, she really grew with every situation and turned out being incredibly strong. The dragons were really neat to learn about. They are a big part of the storyline and we really only got a little bit of the overall story, but I am excited to get more and learn more about Mira's role with them.

I wasn't crazy about the timeline jumping in BEFORE SHE IGNITES. It was very confusing in the beginning and it took me a bit to fully understand what was happening. Thankfully I did start to get it and it was smooth sailing once I did. I enjoyed the world so far and look forward to reading more about it, but I wish the author would have branched out a bit more from the plot. There were little mentions of things or places, but I couldn't picture all of them with the information I was given.

BEFORE SHE IGNITES did a great job of opening up a new series for Jodi Meadows. The story pulled me in and the characters kept me interested. I hope we don't have to wait too long to read more.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.