Book Shelf: Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken

Mirror mirror, hear my call…

In the Fire world, seventeen-year-old Leah is the illegitimate daughter of one of the realm's most powerful lords. She's hot-blooded—able to communicate with the tempestuous volcano gods that either bless a civilization or destroy it. But then Leah discovers she's a Caller, gifted with the unique—and dangerous—ability to “call” her Otherselves in mirror worlds. And her father will do anything to use her powers for his own purposes.

In the Water world, Holly nearly drowns when she sees—and interacts with—Leah, a mirror image of herself. She’s rescued by Ryan, a boy from school with a secret he’d die to protect. Little do they know, his Otherself is the son of a powerful volcano god at war in the Fire world…and he’s about to fall.

As Leah and Holly's lives intersect, the Fire and Water worlds descend into darkness. The only way to protect the mirror worlds is to break every rule they've ever known. If they don’t, the evil seeping through the mirrors will destroy everything—and everyone—they love…

More info on Goodreads......

 

 

Review:

 

Through Fire & Sea by Nicole Luiken is an interesting fantasy novel published by Entangled Teen that weaves together romance, fantasy and magic. 

I want to be honest here; Through Fire & Sea is in no way a bad book. It’s well depicted and entails all the classic fantasy elements I enjoy, but there was just something that kept me from really connecting with the story and the characters. Personally I very much enjoyed the concept within this novel and think Nicole Luiken does a great job attempting to explore something different, but Through Fire & Sea feel flat as far as I’m concerned. 

Through Fire & Sea is told through the eyes of two very different girls; mirror images of one another, but from very different worlds and who have experienced very different lives. There’s Leah, a scullery maid who lives within a fantasy/medieval style world of fire where dragons exist and magic is possible, and Holly the daughter of a famous movie director who exists in a modern, everyday world much like ours and who is surprised to discover the person looking back in the mirror isn’t just a reflection.

This really is a story about worlds colliding with Luiken weaving her two focal worlds together. At its base there are more than two mirror worlds, but Fire and Water are the only two we have explored so far. There’s a complexity to the theology in Luiken’s mirror worlds that is both intriguing and confusing to me. For the most part I did enjoy this novel but I kept waiting for it to blow me away, like some fantasy tales do but this just wasn’t the case.

Both of the heroines were easy enough to follow, but I certainly preferred Holly over Leah. There was just something about Leah that irked me at times, whereas Holly, even as a generic teenage girl in a modern world was more likable and fighting. Holly was actually the kind of heroine I would happily follow throughout a series as she’s intelligent and though she makes mistakes, learns and then fights for what she cares about. 

The different romances between Leah and Holly and the two boys they date who are also mirror imagines of each other were sweet. Once more Holly’s romance won me over more so than her counterpart, but I did like Leah’s too. Hers wasn’t always an easy journey and I felt sorry for her upon occasion.

Overall Through Fire & Sea features a unique concept that could have soared but just failed to win me over as I initially hoped it would heading into the novel. Whether I decide to read the next instalment remains to be seen, but give this novel a go if you think it’s something you might enjoy; you never know…..

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by YA Bound Book Tours and the author (Thank you ladies!)
Format: Kindle ebook
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks
My Recommendation: Fantasy fans might enjoy this.
Cover: I think the cover is really beautiful
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Probably not.....