Series: Fire & Flood # 1
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: February 25, 2014
Goodreads
A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own.
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.
The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?
I have a huge problem with ignoring book summaries and most of the time, if the title and the cover of a book interest me, I will pick it up based on that alone. That's what happened with this book, I saw it on Netgalley and it just looked interesting so I requested it, without knowing what it was about. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes doing it this way can backfire, big time. However, I feel like since I went into Fire & Flood not knowing what to expect, it made this story more powerful.
Tella's brother is dying and her parents up and decide it would be a good idea to move them to the middle of nowhere. But what Tella doesn't know is that they are only trying to protect her from entering the Brimstone Bleed. The Brimstone Bleed is a race that lasts over three months and it throws the contenders in horrendous environments and circumstances and the one person left standing at the end wins a cure for their loved one. Tella's parents move them to a place where they think they won't be found in hopes to keep her from entering the race. But once she learns that there is a chance to save her brother, she will do anything to make it happen.
I adored Tella from the start, her personality shins through from the first moment we meet her, she's caring, determined and a little bit stubborn. She has such a big heart and she isn't afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right, and that is such a rare trait. I also really liked Guy, at first he seems so tough and focused on the race but as the race goes on and he lets Tella in, we get to see glimpses of another side to him and it's that side that makes it hard not to fall for him.
Overall, Fire & Flood is an action packed adventure that will have you glued to the edge of your seat, dying to know what will happen next. Scotts writing is incredible and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us in the next installment.
