Author: Lana Popovic
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Katherine Tegen via Edelweiss
Goodreads
“Lush. Delicious. Bewildering. And darkly magical. Popovic has created a world that you tumble into from the very first words and wish you could stay in forever.” —Evelyn Skye, author of The Crown's GameReview by Nara
“Wicked Like a Wildfire was like devouring a succulent fairy fruit—it will rob your time, settle into your dreams, and leave you starving for more.” —Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
Fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo will be bewitched by Lana Popovic's debut YA fantasy novel about a bargain that binds the fates—and hearts—of twin sisters to a force larger than life.
All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love.
But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever?
Wicked Like a Wildfire is the first in a two-book series. Readers will be rapt with anticipation for the sequel.
Wicked Like a Wildfire was a beautifully written novel about twin sisters who have inherited a magic shrouded in darkness.
The premise and plot were quite engaging, with there being secrets upon secrets regarding the origin of the sisters' magic. You're not quite sure who to trust with many characters from their mother's past coming forth to tell them tale upon tale of what should be done by the sisters from here. The characters were very well developed, with many of the side characters flourishing as perhaps even more interesting than protagonist Iris.
The biggest downfall was how many infodumps there are throughout the book. I'm used to there being infodumps at the start of a novel when the world is just being built from scratch, but if anything, there were more infodumps in the second half of this novel. I mean, they were beautifully written infodumps, but they definitely greatly brought down the pace of the novel.
In fact, pacing was probably another issue I had. I have to admit, there were quite a few parts of the novel where I felt a bit lost as to what was happening because things were zoomed past very quickly. There were one or two occasions where I actually went back and reread sections because I was so lost as to what was going on- although perhaps that also might have been because I was reading it too quickly. This is definitely a novel that takes a fair bit of concentration to keep track of the whirlwind plot.
Overall, a very decent debut with beautiful writing and great character development. I will definitely be reading the sequel.
Liked it
RatingsOverall: 7/10
Plot: 3.5/5
Romance: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
