Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Wildefire by Karsten Knight
Release Date – July 26, 2011
Publisher – Simon and Schuster
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 393 pages
My Rating- 7/10
**borrowed from the library**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

I picked this up as everyone who has read it seemed to have really enjoyed it.

The novel starts with a fight between Ashline and a girl in her school. Immediately, I know what I was in store for. Karsten Knight sets the tone and feel of the entire story right from the first page. Those who have issues with violence and fighting may object, as there is plenty throughout the novel. Ashline is beating up a girl for hooking up with her boyfriend. I had to chuckle a bit, because I knew this would make some people angry. However, it is EXACTLY what happens. The guy cheats and his girlfriend takes it out on the girl he cheated with instead of her boyfriend. If you look at Greek mythology it is filled with examples of Goddesses taking revenge on the woman who caught the eye of her husband. Sadly, it happens.

The writing is full of action and mystery. We learn things as Ashline does for the most part and we really learn only what Ashline knows.

Ashline was a character that I had a harder time relating to. It might be because I am so different from her. She's quick tempered, some what aggressive, and athletic. I found myself liking a lot of the secondary characters though.

The love story in this novel is more "lust at first sight" than love. It's better than the insta-love of other novels, but Colt gave me the creepies. I always got the impression he knew more about Ashline than he was letting on.

The mythology is interesting. I especially liked the glimpse we got into the other gods/goddesses. I just wish we had learned more about the backgrounds, abilities and who these characters were. I am hoping that the next books dive into more of the characters, and allows us to really get to know them.

Overall this was a book that was just ok for me. I enjoyed some aspects, and was frustrated at others. I do think this might be one of those books that is better when looked at as part of the entire series and am curious to see what will happen next.