Fire with Fire | ARC Review – A Dance With Books

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

Dani and Eden Rivera were both born to kill dragons, but the sisters couldn’t be more different. For Dani, dragon slaying takes a back seat to normal high school life, while Eden prioritizes training above everything else. Yet they both agree on one thing: it’s kill or be killed where dragons are concerned.

Until Dani comes face-to-face with one and forges a rare and magical bond with him. As she gets to know Nox, she realizes that everything she thought she knew about dragons is wrong. With Dani lost to the dragons, Eden turns to the mysterious and alluring sorcerers to help save her sister. Now on opposite sides of the conflict, the sisters will do whatever it takes to save the other. But the two are playing with magic that is more dangerous than they know, and there is another, more powerful enemy waiting for them both in the shadows.

Fire with Fire is a book about dragon slayers and anything dragon you all know I will jump onto. Adding that this was written by Destiny Soria and I knew I had a good book in my hand. I was right.

This book is about two sisters who were raised as dragon slayers. Over the centuries much has been hidden about the history of dragons, slayers and the sorcerers. When one of the sisters, Dani, comes face to face with a dragon and bonds with it, everything changes.

One thing that I always love about Destiny Soria’s books is the ease with which I can settle into her books and the ease with which she writes realistic character relationships. One being the sister relationship between Dani and her older sister Eden. There is a strained relationship between them. Eden has always aimed for perfection. In her grades and her dragon slaying training. She hasn’t had it easy with panic attacks and anxiety. She struggles with seeing her very talented younger sister Dani throw away her talent. And at the same time she feels a little jealous because she wishes she had the talent or got the attention Dani gets for her talent. Even so, Dani is her sister, and you can see the trust that is also there between them. Its just a sibling relationship, somewhat weighten down by the fantasy elements in their life.

Dani on the other hand just wants a normal life and just wants to do what everyone else is doing in high school. She wants to be a carefree teen, not a bogged down, overly responsible college student like her sister Eden. So of course it stands to reason she sees the first dragon of both of them. And that is where the first cracks start to appear. Dani starts questioning things that Eden doesn’t understand. And one sorcerer starts whispering in Eden’s ear, making her feel more important and proud of who she is. Eden just wants to be seen.

Other relationships important in the book are Dani and the dragon. They have a grudging starting bond, which is what happens when you initially just wanted to kill each other, that slowly turns to trust and love. But also Dani’s friends. Her long time friend and her old friend, just embracing whatever chaos her life is.

Outside of that is of course the plot. There was a lot of manipulation and secret keeping going on that slowly unraveled. About the dragons, about the sorcerers, about the role that their parents played and so on. It comes together well. I was also pleased to see that Eden, who went through a lot of transformations, did not just turn back to the Eden she was at the start. That is not how that works and I’m glad that was remembered.

All in all I thought this was a great character and relationship driven story that is putting Destiny Soria right up to my favorite authors.