The Secret Fire, CJ Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld

Pages: 415

Publisher: Atom

Reelase Date: 10^th September 2015

Edition: UK paperback, review copy

Other Titles by this Author: CJ Daugherty: Night School, Night School: Legacy, Night School: Fracture, Night School: Resistance, Night School: Endgame Carina Rozenfeld: Lucille et les dragons sourds, Le Mystère Olphite, La Quête des Livre-Monde 1-3, À la poursite des humutes, Doregon 1-3, Phænix 1-2, Les sentinelles du futur

A battle against fate

A race against time

Taylor Montclair is a regular girl from the quiet backwater of Woodbury, England. Sacha Winters is a darkly mysterious boy from the City of Lights – Paris, France.

While Taylor is focused on her dream of attending Oxford University, school couldn’t be further from Sacha’s mind…Sacha knows exactly when he’s going to die. He’s done it before.

On the appointed day, Sacha’s time will run out. And his death will fulfil an ancient destiny that could unleash chaos and catastrophe.

Taylor is the only person who can save him. Neither of them know that yet. They haven’t even met.

Hundreds of miles and a body of water separate them. Deadly forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart. They have eight weeks to find each other and unravel an ancient web of mystery and danger.

The clock starts now.

A family curse, a race against time and a breakneck adventure, paranormal fans will lap this up.

This novel starts with a bang and introduction to the curse on Sacha and his family. It’s really interesting and not one I can remember coming across before, especially with the mysterious link to Taylor. I liked that what they were experiencing was very separate and yet inextricably linked. It’d been such a long time since I read a paranormal – a year? Two? – that I'd forgotten how quick and easy they are to read, but also the level of predictability. Though the curse itself felt original and the relationship between Taylor and Sacha was unusually free of insta-love and based more on friendship, it largely followed the tropes of a paranormal YA story.

Though I liked the plot, I liked Sacha, Taylor and Louisa, and I liked the writing, it didn’t really stand out to me at all. It was fun and easy to read, but I honestly didn’t feel much for it either way. I am intrigued about how Taylor’s powers manifest further, the new and improved threat from those trying to ensure the curse is fulfilled and if and how they manage to save Sacha so I’ll probably read the concluding part, but it’s unlikely I’ll rush to it.

Thanks to Midas PR/Atom for the review copy!

Sophie