FIRE & FLOOD by Victoria Scott ARC review

Title: FIRE & FLOOD
Author: Victoria Scott
UK pub date: March 6th 2014
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: FIVE STARS
Summary: Tella's brother is dying. He's got cancer, and Tella is helpless to save him. Or so she thought. When an invitation arrives for Tella to compete in the Brimstone Bleed, a deadly competition that will lead her through treacherous jungle and scorching desert, she doesn't think twice. Because the prize is a cure to any illness. But Tella will be facing more than just the elements

First of all... new blog account! It's strange moving over from Goodreads to here after so long. Let's christen this new account with an ARC review.

Secondly, thank you to Chicken House Publishing for supplying me with an early copy!

So let's begin.

I. Loved. This. Book

Right. You take the Hunger Games, strip it down to the bare foundations, toss in over a hundred people competing for a prize that will cure any illness, add in a sprinkling of magical animals (yes, I just said that) and a dash of romance and some guys you just wanna punch in the nuts and viola! You have the recipe for Fire & Flood! Plus have you seen that cover? Just when the US cover can't get any sexier, the UK one comes out!

This book is a breath of fresh air in the YA category. It was so unlike anything I’ve ever read before. There’s love, family and did I mention the magical animals named Pandoras? They are kick ASS. Yes, the caps lock WAS needed there. I mean… animals that hatch from eggs, then grow like BOOM and are capable of some pretty amazing feats? What could be more amazing than that? Team Pandoras all the way. I would very much like a tiger Pandora.

Set in parts, each part of the book covers each stage of the Brimstone Bleed. In every section, new challenges kick off, some more deadly than others. One moment you can be trekking through dense forest, the next, tossed into a scorching desert with next to no water. In the Brimstone Bleed where everyone is competing for the same prize, who can you trust? It's a tale of survival as well as competition. I first thought this book was going to be similar to The Hunger Games, but it is completely different. FIRE & FLOOD is mesmerizing.

Tella, our feisty heroine, is competing for the cure to save her dying brother. I instantly fell in love with Tella. She’s such a likable character. To go into detail would be to spoil the book before it's even out, so nope. Not spoiling it. But her attitude to Pandoras and especially her (adorable) own, is amazing. She’s a rare individual in the Brimstone Bleed and I love her. Frizzy, crazy hair included. Incredibly well thought out and such a strong individual who isn't shy about kicking some ass when the time comes.

Guy, Tella’s love interest, is quite the wild card. The revelations and reason he’s in the competition certainly made me love him more. I can’t wait to read more Gella (yes I shall be giving them this ship name, the cuties) He's mysterious, his motives are so intriguing. 

And I want more Madox! YES. MORE MADOX. Who is Madox you ask? Well… you’ll have to read the book to find that out! 

Basically, if you love action, animals, hot guys and romance, pick up this book. It will shatter you at times, break you at others, make you sniffle once or twice and you will laugh like hell all the time. The scene with the cheetah and the finger. I have never laughed so hard in my life. That is all I’m saying on that matter. 

This is a dystopian novel with bite. Victoria Scott has done it again.

This is me waiting for news about the second book.