Firespell by Chloe Neill
Dark elite, Book 1. Orion, 2010. ISBN 9780575095403.
(Age 14+) Lily's parents have sent her off to an elite boarding school
in Chicago. It's the last place that she wants to be. The other girls
at St Sophia's are rich and snobby, and play cruel practical jokes. The
only person who makes her life bearable is Scout, and she disappears at
night, going off on mysterious jaunts, which she refuses to talk about.
Then one day Lily finds Scout running from monsters and her life is
changed forever. She discovers that Scout belongs to a group of rebel
teens that have sworn to protect Chicago from demons, vampires and
Reapers who use magic powers. Does Lily have the power to join this
elite group?
This is an engrossing story that kept me reading to the end. Told in
the first person by Lily, the main character, the book has an
entertaining and witty voice. I enjoyed Lily's descriptions of the
school and its rich pupils and empathised with her attempts to fit
in. I particularly liked the character of Scout, who is depicted
as strong and caring and I look forward to seeing more of her in
further books in the series. The boys from a nearby boys school
were less memorable as characters. Lily is attracted to Jason, the boy
who is more than he appears, and he is a sufficiently attractive hero
to keep girls interested in the romance in the book. I anticipate that
these characters too will be more fleshed out in future books.
Neill is adept in creating a setting that makes her world come alive
and has the writing skill to make it memorable. I found the
descriptions of Chicago engaging, and St Sophia's, with its corridors,
crypts and strange appearance, is certainly more interesting than some
of the boarding schools featured in other vampire books. This is
because Neill has an excellent way with words, and her dialogue and
descriptions of shopping certainly provided moments of hilarity.
I raced through this book, enjoyed the action, and am sure that girls
who are into the vampire genre will love it.
Pat Pledger