Read in one sitting, but not my cup of tea. I had high hopes the first couple of chapters but struggled to finish. I will pick it up in a little bit again just in case it was an off day for me!

I made it through about a quarter of the book somehow, and I didn't much like the writing or the premise. It was hard for me to warp my head around a lot of it, so I couldn't really take the book seriously, nor could i finish the book. I did like reading the ownvoices Filipina representation though. Any of my opinions are my own; the book just wasn't for me personally.

Thank you so much to Tor Teen and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review an e-arc for A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price! This book is definitely different from what I normally read, but I’m so glad I decided to request it (and I’m so glad that I got approved to read the e-arc).

A Thousand Fires 4.5/5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Shannon Price's A Thousand Fires is a breakout contemporary debut―think The Outsiders meets The Iliad―that's perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Veronica Roth.

10 Years. 3 Gangs. 1 Girl’s Epic Quest…

An extraordinary debut set in San Francisco and inspired by The Iliad…

Valerie Simons knows the city's gang wars are dangerous—her own brother was killed by the Boars two years ago. But nothing will sway her from joining the elite and beautiful Herons to avenge his death—a death she feels responsible for.

But when Valerie is recruited by the mysterious Stags, their charismatic and volatile leader Jax promises to help her get revenge. Torn between old love and new loyalty, Valerie fights to stay alive as she races across the streets of San Francisco to finish the mission that got her into the gangs.

As usual, let’s start with the characters. At the beginning, I didn’t like Valerie at all. I understand that she was still grieving and that she blamed herself for her brother’s death, but it took me a little while to like her and really see her as a great narrator. I liked the interplay between Valerie and the rest of the Stags. And the Herons- man I loved them at the beginning because they seemed so cool and sophisticated, but as we dug deeper as readers, it was so interesting to see how much decay there was in the Herons and how much Valerie was lied to.

The plot itself was really interesting and I love how it was set in San Francisco. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities so it was nice to recognize some of the land marks. The story moved at a pretty good pace- it didn’t move too fast or drag anywhere and I really felt like everyone really grew within the book. Overall, I really liked this book and I definitely think y’all should read it! A Thousand Fires comes out on November 5th, so make sure you pre-order it or request it from your local library!


*Review to be posted on my blog closer to publish date, so a link will be added closer to that time*

A retelling of The Iliad. It was mind-blowing amazing! I devoured this book and now I am left with heck of a book hangover!!

TW: Self Harm

Here were my main gripes with this book.
-Why have they be broken up if they are literally going to get back together in the first chapter? 💁🏻‍♀️
-The obnoxious “Don’t fall in love with him” line 🙄
-The "why am I jealous I don’t like him" trope
-Self-harm plotline that is not truly addressed.

4.5/5 stars round up!

I just want to start off by saying that I found myself in Val. I connected to her in a way that I haven't in a long time. The last time I connected to a character so strongly, and actually found myself in them, was August Flynn from This Savage Song. I had read that over a year ago and haven't felt such a strong connection since. Val, however, made me connect to her in a different way. Her struggling to come to terms with her younger brother's unjust death, her finding calm in self-harm, and her wanting to take out justice on those who destroyed what was precious to her and her family. Val and I had different stories, paths and outcomes, but it still hit close to my heart.

3 rival gangs in the Bay Area, San Francisco to be exact, get their picks to recruit a new 18 year old on their birthday. If the recruit accepts, then they are to remain in the gang and participate in the Wars for 1 year, which after they can leave or remain for as long as they wish. The chance of violence is certain, and their lives are always on the line. The Herons make up the "money bags" of the 3 gangs. They gentrify the city, bringing in outside corporations in the name of "improving" the city, when in reality it's to line the pockets of those up top. The Boars are the more violent ones, but they include of only San Francisco natives. They go against the Herons at every turn, often making extreme demonstrations. A Boar is also one responsible for killing Val's brother, Leo. Lastly are the Stags. They newest, and the smallest by far, of the gangs. Little is know about them, and most tend to ignore they exist. That is, however, until Val becomes a new recruit. The Wars are starting to get heated, and more questions are surfacing as Val tries to determine how far she would go to get justice for Leo.

I fell in love within the first few lines. This was such a refreshing book, having a good pace all throughout. I personally loved how the story played out, and found myself getting nervous multiple times as I cheered for the Stags. I felt myself become wary along with Val, and I also had my heart broken many times as revelations and events happened. We get to know about many of the characters, but there's still more that could've been done. Micah and Val had the most development, but I really wanted to know more about the others. Jax, most of all, was one that should've had more revealed about him. There were too many blank spaces, too many gray areas, that needed to be filled. I also would have liked more info on how the Westons play into everything. i didn't feel that what we got was enough. I took off a whole star for this, making my review a 4/5. However, as you can see, I added the star back. Which brings me to my next point...

I added the star back (but it's still 4.5/5), because of my reflection after i finished reading. I took an hour to myself before writing a review. I was upset at how this had ended. I wanted closure on certain characters whose fates were left up in the air. i wanted to know how the gangs reacted to the conclusion. i wanted to know everything. Then again, did I expect this book to end in a happily every after? Actually, no. I didn't. When I started, i didn't expect a happy end, but as i read and fell in love with the story and characters, I desperately wanted it to be true. This doesn't end in happily ever after, but it also doesn't end in tragedy. It ends with a feeling of hope for the future, and that life goes on. It's open-ended, and I actually came to appreciate that. While I wanted to know everyone comes out fine and that all my dreams came true, I know deep inside that this was a good ending.

With all this said, I loved this book. I urge everyone to give this a shot. It deserves far more attention than what it's currently getting. I say with complete sincerity that I look forward to whatever else Shannon Price writes. I'll be first in line when that next announcement is made. If you take anything from this review, know that it's a remarkable contemporary that everyone should try to read at least once.

ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A girl joins a gang to search for her brother's killer.

That is vastly oversimplifying the plot of this wonderful book.

I loved Valerie as a character and her relationship with the Stags is very found family.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor-Forge for a copy of this book.

I see some reviews that tell me this is a re-telling of a book I never read which honestly is fine with me because I rarely read re-tellings.

I could not put this book down and that for me is high praise..
I love the concept of gangs and rivalry, I am all HERE FOR THAT

I did however end this book really sad, like super sad, not crying sad mind you but sad like you didn't get that closure that you needed to move on in life.

I think this is a standalone??

<spoiler>
I need a book that follows Jax so I know where he ended up and if he is ok ok! </spoiler>

Mare~Slitsread

**Review will be posted to my blog on October 5, 2019**

Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eArc.

The blurb for this book sounded so intriguing, I mean, it is inspired by The Iliad and The Outsiders. Because of that description I expected this book to be intense and epic. Yes, there were some intense parts and but also lots of parts where they are just chillin’ and waiting around.

The story is set in present day San Francisco, and there is something called the Wars happening in this city. There are three gangs who fight in the Wars. The Boars, Herons and Stags. The Herons are the rich kids, the Boars are everyone else and the Stags are like the middle-man who tries to turn the tide of the war.

Valerie Simons is a girl on a mission and to complete that mission she desperately hopes the Herons recruit her. Also if she is a Heron, she and her ex-boyfriend, Matthew (Heron royalty) can do their one year, in the Wars together. Now not everyone gets recruited to be in any of these gangs, I’m not even sure what the criteria is to be a Heron. 🤔

So how does this whole story play out? The gangs have lots of beef with one another because of events in the past. It grew from there and became something bigger, The Stags want to help make the world a better place by taking down the bigger corporations that are run by The Herons.

Valerie is an interesting character, I was pleasantly surprised to learn she’s half Filipino and I recognized some Tagalog words. She comes from a nice family, dad has a good job, she and her mom are tight, but she did lose a little brother and she’s riddled by guilt about it. Losing her brother sets her on a path of revenge. Also, Valerie is a cutter. Depression is definitely a theme in this story, it is present in various characters.

As for the romance in this story – clearly Matthew, her ex and a Heron, is the perfect guy. Whereas the Stag she’s attracted to, Jax, is so hot and cold. I can’t say their relationships interested me in this story, Valerie was going back and forth a lot, confused about her feelings. I didn’t like either of the boys. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There is a diverse cast of characters in this story which is nice. My favorite character was Micah because we actually learn a lot about him and his history, unlike Jax who remains mysterious. I felt like there was a lot of vague spots in this book. For awhile I kept wondering, what is the deal with these “Wars”? It didn’t seem important at times. Was anyone else confused by it? Or was that just me?

Overall, I felt the story was choppy. There were lulls and then action and though I enjoyed the diversity of the cast and Valerie being half-filipino, the story just fell short of what I was expecting from the blurb. I’d say the ending had most of the action so at least it finished off with a bang, but sadly I wish I liked this more than I did.

I did not particularly connect with this novel and wonder whether it will find a YA audience. It is set in a version of America where there are three powerful gangs - they are 'almost' legal and are tolerated by the police. When a teenager turns 18 they can be 'claimed' by one of the three gangs and have to run with them for a year, after which they are free from obligation. The story revolves around a girl who is claimed, but not by the gang she expects and also tries to find out who killed her elder brother when he was in a gang. Not enough was explained of how the gang system worked, many of the characters felt fairly flat and I found the gangs remarkably dull and the book lacked spark and I struggled to finish it.

There was a lot of action in this book but it didn't come at the expense of character development. It was gritty and dark at times, but the realness of it is the appeal. The comparison to The Outsiders is pretty spot on, in my opinion, and it's nice to have an updated title for students interested in gang-focused books.

This one left a weird taste in my mouth. The concept was intriguing (although, marketing as 'the outsiders meets the Illaid' seems more than a little off the mark): in the not-so-distance future, teenage gangs run the San Francisco streets fighting over the gentrification of turf land in the city? I think that was the point, at least.

Honestly, most of the plot and the current events of the world were pretty unclear, making this book a confusing read. There is never a substantial amount of information packed in about how these gangs, how they were formed, what their real purposes are, and the whole aspect of pledging to a certain gang is super murky. Moments of total mundanity (let's walk around downtown and grab some food) mix with shocking acts of violence in a way that produces almost no tension throughout the whole story.

Character-wise, I thought the MC, Valerie, was clearly the most fleshed out, but even her motives got a little one-noted and/or unexplainable at times. I don't really feel like I got to know most of the other characters very well at all. The two leading men in the story are a pretty big mystery and fell quite flat and were generally unlikeable. The ending was not quite what I expected, but I can't say that I was upset by it.

This book had an interesting premise that ultimately left me way too confused and not wanting more.

Hello, I will be posting this review to my Instagram, Blog, and Goodreads on October 31st. I will add the links to each review when they are live. Thank you!

This was a book I was really looking forward to reading. I was so excited to start it and the first few pages really draw you in. I felt like this was going to be a great read. Unfortunately, I ended up having some issues with it.

Let's start with the characters. There were some I liked more than others which is usually how it goes. Valerie, the main character, is half Filipino, comes from a decent neighborhood, and is dealing with the loss of her younger brother. She blames herself for it and wants revenge. She does have good development throughout the plot but there was just one thing that annoyed me about her. Every time she is around Jax, the leader of the Stags, she becomes enthralled with his looks or smell. When she was first introduced to him, she talked about how hot he was for a couple sentences. It just felt repetitive. 

Since I have already mentioned Jax, let's talk about him. He was an okay character who was a little flat at times. He also wants revenge and will do anything to get it. He is probably one of my least favorite characters overall.

As for the other characters, I really liked the ones that Valerie finds herself surrounded by when it comes to being in the Stags. A few come from harsh backgrounds and they just want the world to be better for those that have a hard time getting by and are trying to be pushed out by the richer ones aka the Herons. A few fell flat here and there but overall some of the minor characters added to the plot in a big way. There is also great diversity in the characters.

The plot is one thing that saved this book for me. It was unique, intriguing, and at times quite heartbreaking. I liked how different the three gangs were. I was not a fan of the romance that was involved and felt that it didn't add to the story. It was insta-love and that's one thing I do not like. As for the plot twists, there were some but only a few were surprising. I also didn't like the ending and felt that it was rushed and didn't have enough closure as to what happened with certain people and the wars.

Overall, I am a bit disappointed I didn't like this book as much as I had hoped. It did have diversity and an interesting plot but it just had one too many issues for me to fully enjoy. Shannon Price's writing is wonderful for a debut novel and I will be looking forward to seeing what she writes next.