Title: Scorched
Series: Scorched,
#1
Author: Mari
Mancusi
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Fire
Publication Date: September
3, 2013
Genre: Young Adult
Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow
Source: NetGalley
My rating: 4/5
SUMMARY
Trinity
Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...
Connor
He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world.
Caleb
He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.
Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed.
Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...
Connor
He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world.
Caleb
He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.
Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed.
REVIEW
I can’t
even begin to explain how excited I was when I finally received my copy of Scorched for review. Not only does it
have an absolutely gorgeous cover, but dragons and time travel all in one
story? Epic! Did it live up to my excitement and expectations? Yes…and no.
The
first chapter jumps right into the action and thus I was hooked. Captivated
even. Mancusi did the world-building for this book brilliantly. The same goes
for character development. She brings fantasy into our world with a flourish
and in many ways made it seem plausible that the discovery of a hidden dragon
egg is possible. I really have to hand it to her. The visuals her scene
descriptions inspire in the reader’s mind, is utterly breathtaking.
I did
have a few minor issues with the plot, though. I’m not going to go into details
because that would mean spoilers. The ending felt a little rushed and a few
scenes – especially the one where Trinity reaches out to her mother in the
nether – felt very…what is the word…formulaic? It’s like I knew what the end
result was going to be because I’ve seen it in so many movies before. But by no
means was the story predictable. There were loads of times I had no idea what
was going to happen next, and thus I was often surprised. Yet, by the time I
finished the last chapter, I was left with a ton of questions and things that
made no sense to me. Then again, this is the first book in what promises to be
an impressive series, so I’m sure all my questions will be answered in the
upcoming books. Who knows.
Overall,
I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down, and when I had to, I couldn’t
wait to pick it up again and continue where I left off. Emmy crawled into my
heart even before she hatched from her egg. I was so glad I wasn’t in Trinity’s
shoes when she had to make the choice about Emmy’s survival. On that note I
should also mention that the author made that choice nearly impossible. Who is
right? Who is wrong? Which side should she be on? The side that wants to preserve
the dragons’ existence, or the side that wants to wipe out dragons for the
survival of humanity? In the context of the story I can assure you this was not
such a straightforward choice. There were many factors to consider.
Scorched is a book that will set the
imaginations for readers young and old alight with its imagery, dragons past
and future, and the countless trips into the nether where absolutely anything imaginable
is possible. I recommend it to readers who enjoy fantasy, time-travelling,
action and adventure, and of course: dragons.
This
review forms part of my three-month participation in the NetGalley Knockout Challenge for 2013.
READ more REVIEWS
Scorched by Mari Mancusi has 91 reviews on
Goodreads. Read it here.
BOOK TRAILER
You can
watch the awesome book trailer for Scorched
here.
PURCHASE LINKS
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Mari Mancusi used to wish she could become a
vampire back in high school. But she ended up in another blood sucking
profession --journalism -- instead. Today she works as a freelance TV producer
and author of books for teens and adults.
When not writing about creatures of the night, Mari enjoys traveling, cooking, goth clubbing, watching cheesy horror movies, and her favorite guilty pleasure--videogames. A graduate of Boston University and a two time Emmy Award winner, she lives in Austin , Texas with her husband Jacob, daughter Avalon and their dog Mesquite.
When not writing about creatures of the night, Mari enjoys traveling, cooking, goth clubbing, watching cheesy horror movies, and her favorite guilty pleasure--videogames. A graduate of Boston University and a two time Emmy Award winner, she lives in Austin , Texas with her husband Jacob, daughter Avalon and their dog Mesquite.
AUTHOR LINKS
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