Review: Embers and Echoes

Sunday, September 09, 2012




Title: Embers and Echoes
Author: Karsten Knight
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Genre: YA, Mythology, Adventure, Fantasy
Publication Date: August 28, 2012
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Source: Bought at Chapters for Review
Rating: 5/5

Purchase
Amazon | Chapters.Indigo | Book Depository



Synopsis
Fan the flames: A teen goddess fires up her search for love and family in this sequel to Wildefire. Ashline Wilde may have needed school to learn that she is actually a reincarnated goddess, but she’s ready to move beyond books. She leaves her California boarding school behind and makes for Miami, where she meets a new group of deities and desperately seeks her sister Rose, the goddess of war. But she’s also looking for love—because even though her romance with Cole had to be snuffed, Ash is a volcano goddess—and she doesn’t get burned.

     This sequel to the edgy and action-packed Wildefire continues a fiery drama on an immortal scale.


My Thoughts
Where do I start? When I first read Wildefire last year I didn't really know what to expect, especially from such a young and new writer. But what I found was a story that grabbed my attention right from the beginning, and a protagonist that had grown to become one of my favorites. 

In Embers and Echoes we continue to follow Ashline, as she begins to grasp her new powers as a Volcano Goddess. As you may realize, I love novels that are based on any type of mythology, especially ones that are done well. And I will say that this one was done very well. 

In this jam packed sequel, Ashline continues her witty and sarcastic banter with all of the new and old secondary characters. This alone is one of the reasons I love this series so much, but also for the amazing prose, heart pounding fight scenes, and for the dialogue and the way Karsten's characters communicated with each other. The sarcasm was by far my favorite part, it added a sense of humor to a very grim storyline, and it shows that Ashline doesn't take herself or others around her that seriously. 

Karsten Knight has a very eloquent way of writing. It becomes both beautiful and comical at the same time, a feat that is rare in many novels. He is not afraid to maim or permanently harm his main characters, whether that be physical or mental. I loved that the attraction between Ashline and Wes was slow building and felt real. His ability to write an amazing love story is very commendable, especially when readers might be hung up on certain characters from the first novel. He let us experience the romance through Ashline eyes and I absolutely loved that. 

The flow of this novel was great, the plot kept me guessing most of the time and the driving force behind every action was fascinating. And the end! I did not see that coming at all and I felt myself feeling genuinely surprised.

Overall I loved everything about this novel, the characters, the back-story, the mythology and of course, the sarcasm. I must warn those who love short chapters, you will not find any here.  This was the only part that I found frustrating because I always found myself wanting to read until the end of the chapter, but that would mean reading 50 pages! Other than that I can't say one bad thing about this book! I loved it!

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4 comments

  1. I've been meaning to read Wildefire and have bought Embers as well. Your review pretty much nudge me in the right direction.

    Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Oh Good! Im so glad, these books are some my favorite YA reads :)

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  2. Lol. I thought the author's name was Kiersten White! Silly me :P

    I haven't read Wildfire yet but if it's about a Goddess I need to get on the bandwagon and go read it!

    Oh hey1 You almost reached your goal. I unfortunately have to lower it but go raise it up!

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