Some books contain an entire world and a spectrum of emotions in a simple setting. I, Volcano is one of those stories.

Jalob is already scarred from having left her beloved island which was mostly destroyed by a volcano. She is one of the few survivors and wears the guilt always. Maybe that’s part of the reason she chooses to join a group of medics in the war torn mainland. The need to sacrifice and to heal by fire. Of course, the reality of the suffering and cruelty is overwhelming and yet, Jalob and her friend, Susan, plod on, trying to help as many people as possible. In the midst of tragedy, she finds a bright light, Corail, a sharp tongued, fierce woman who dares Jalob to love her.

I loved I, Volcano with its unique lyrical voice and strong-willed characters. I cried, the combination of the scotus news and simultaneously finishing the bittersweet tale let me grieve into the story. Although, there are flaws, the intent and the heart are present on every page.

I, Volcano had such potential, the premise sounded intriguing and I loved the cover. However, the book itself left me with incredibly mixed feelings. To some degree, it felt almost as though the book itself was torn between telling two disparate stories, and didn't really find a balance within itself. I also found the romance itself to be almost aggressive in how it was presented, particularly as I had struggled to really connect with either character - although Jalob certainly had more of an impact on me. There just wasn't enough to sell me on this one unfortunately.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. This is a debut novel and it was very interesting what the author decided to write. The romance was way to aggressive and not my cup of tea. I know there will be a second book but I am not sure if I would be willing to read it.

I honestly have mixed emotions about this book. I know it was a debut novel but wow, what a subject to pick. War is never good but I found it was not so much a war as people being oppressed. In many ways this made it harder to read and keep going.

I'm having trouble separating my feelings from the book. Parts I really didn't like although admittedly the author handled them well. I enjoyed the romance although aggressively handled.

It appears that there is going to be a second book. Again I have mixed feelings if I would read it. But, honestly I probably would as I hate to leave things unfinished.

I guess I would recommend the book with just a warning that there is a side you may find hard to read.

Enjoy!

3.50 Stars. This was an interesting book but my feelings are a bit mixed. I believe it was a good debut, but I do think the book’s quality was higher than my actual enjoyment. It was a story that felt very different in some ways, but also similar in others and at times is not the easiest to read.

Jalob (she/her, they/them) is training to be a medic. Instead of staying with her father to practice with him in a safe environment, she decides to go to the front lines of the war to aid in the refuge crisis. As you might imagine, there were definitely some parts that were hard to read emotionally. While this book has almost a very light fantasy feel to it, it reminded me of many conflicts and wars that have gone on in the past or are currently still going on. I can be up and down when it comes to reading war books, but this was more about the people being oppressed than the actual war, which made it harder for me to read.

While there are depressing feelings around this book, there is a romance that is at the heart of the book. For me it fell in the okay category. One of the mains was a little aggressive for my tastes, and while I understand why, it took me a bit to enjoy them as a couple because of her actions/personality. The romance was also faster moving that I normally like. It seemed like a case of these two people were destined to be and so they were. This is not something I’m always big on, but for a book that had these sad and tougher moments, the romance even being at a faster speed, helped to balance things out. While I won’t give anything away for spoiler reasons, the way the ending was written, ended up being my favorite part of the book which improved my enjoyment of it as a whole.

I realized that this was going to be a start of a series and my first thought was I’m not sure if I want to continue. Then I read the coming attraction of the first chapter or so of book two and I found myself surprisingly interested. It seems like it moves to maybe a new island or place in this world and I think I want to know more. In the end this was not an easy read emotionally -reading about human atrocities never are- but there was friendship and romance that helped to balance the book out. Not the best match for my personal tastes, but a solid debut.