Fireborn by Aisling Fowler

I am so happy to be involved in this blog tour as I am a secondary school English teacher, so I am always looking forward to expanding and updating my list of recommendations for any keen readers I meet! The cover and title of this book is definitely magical and exciting!

Blurb:

Set in the snowy northern forests of an imagined prehistoric world, Fireborn is the middle-grade debut of the decade. At turns exciting, funny and heart wrenchingly sad, it marks the introduction of an unstoppable new voice in children’s storytelling.

Twelve has spoken the Pledge and now she is a Huntling. She has given up her name to train in the art of fighting monsters and keeping the peace, and she won’t get to choose a new one until she has earned it.

But when the Lodge’s walls are breached for the first time, and a little girl is taken, Twelve is the only one interested in going after a child . . .

Teaming up with Dog, the Stone Guardian of the Lodge, Twelve ends up on an epic adventure that will change her life, her name – and her entire world.

My thoughts:

Let me start by saying this will definitely be going on the list of books I could recommend to students. It is completely different to the majority of what I usually read, but I have loved stepping outside of my comfort zone with this book.

As well as stepping out of my comfort zone, this book has also allowed me to enter a completely different world: a magical world full of drama and adventure. The detailed and wonderful descriptions definitely make you feel transported to this new world and give the book an escapist feel. At the current time, I feel we all need a little escapism, especially young people!

The characters were another great aspect of the book. I loved the character of Twelve and her fierce, steely determination. There were quite a number of background characters but this got easier to follow as you got further into the book, and of course sets up the ability to move between characters if desired in future books of the series.

The story-line itself was a fast paced and jam-packed plot containing lots of action, adventure, and at some points darkness and disaster.

I would say this is a book well-suited for teenagers and I look forward to seeing what the rest of the series has to offer.

🌟🌟🌟🌟