Review: Didn't knock my socks off, but I'd be happy to read book 2
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2014
I thought DARK FLAME RISING‘s orphan-with-magical-heritage and evil magic users premise was a little uncreative, but it had a cool title and I liked the cover. And a magic-based fantasy with a computer hacker? Keegan’s computer skills sealed the deal.I liked Keegan for the most part. She was smart and stubborn and didn’t always think things all the way through. And for a fantastic hacker, she didn’t spend as much time on the computer as I would have thought. Sometimes she got too stubborn or made a bad decision, but overall, I enjoyed her.Cody, Keegan’s maybe-more-than-friend from town, unfortunately fell flat for me. Keegan had a crush on him, but besides the fact that he was cute and nice, I didn’t know much about him.Chitra, one of Keegan’s friends from the school, was good. She was quiet and sweet, but she could stand up for herself, too. In this book, she was just following Keegan along most of the time, but I hope she gets to lead her own adventure in book two.Ford was another one of Keegan’s friends from the school, and I hope he plays a bigger part in book two. He had very little page time in DARK FLAME RISING, but I think I’ll really like him once I get to know him.I was delighted to find myself surprised at some of the plot twists. It starts off a little unremarkable – strange people, strange place, nobody will tell Keegan anything so she looks for answers on her own. Then once she gets most of the answers (which is easier than I would have expected), it becomes a stay-ahead-of-the-bad-guys thing, with Keegan’s stubbornness kicking in as she tries to help even though the adults forbid her to. I very much enjoyed it, and I’m now extremely curious to how the rest of the series will play out.I did have a slight problem with the magic system – but it was me and not the book. Sometimes even the “good magic” seemed a lot like witchcraft, which bothered me. But most of the time it was fun and interesting.Overall, I enjoyed the book. It wasn’t knock-my-socks-off fabulous, but I’d be happy to read book two.I received a free review copy of DARK FLAME RISING from the author. His generosity in no way influenced, or sought to influence, this review.