Because iPads are terrible, this is the second time I will be writing this review. My thoughts likely won't be as detailed as they were the first time, but this is where we are, so I apologize. Despite the fact that I really enjoyed the premise of this book, I really struggled to invest in it or finish it. The characters weren't developed well, the plot felt rushed, and there never seemed to be any real stakes to the action. Despite my lack of any real emotions regarding this book, I will do my best to give it a fair and honest review, as I like to support debut authors in whatever way I can.

<i>Divided Fire</i> follows the story of Kesia and Miren, two sisters who live in a world where some people are given the ability to control the elements with their voices. While Miren doesn't have any powers, Kesia is a Fire Singer, giving her the ability to create and control flames with her Songs. Miren and Kesia's country is in the middle of a terrible war, however, and most of the Singers (including their parents) have been drafted to fight.

Luckily, Kesia has escaped this draft by claiming a childhood illness took away her powers. Everything changes when their small village is attacked by pirates, and Kesia is discovered when using her powers to save someone from their wrath. While Kesia is whisked away by the pirates to be sold into slavery, Miren teams up with the Fire Singer's boyfriend Davri in the hope of saving her. Along the way, the two sisters are tested by many challenges, and learn what it takes to fight for their freedom.

I'd like to begin with the positives, as I want to do my best to be fair and constructive when it comes to this book. First of all, I really enjoyed the premise and overall concept of this world. The Singers in this world remind me a lot of the benders in <i>Avatar: The Last Airbender</i>, and there seems to be a lot of culture ingrained in their powers. For example, the book begins with the sisters going to a ceremony called Skyflame, where older Singers symbolically welcome new Singers and awaken their powers.

I also really loved the inclusion of sign language, as that is a lesser utilized language in the realm of YA. When Singers gain their powers, they lose the ability to speak, and must communicate using sign language instead of their voices. The sign language is incorporated using italics, and while we can't see the physical signs, the inclusion of this was really cool to me. It even presented sign language as being powerful, as it denotes someone as a Singer. Though the use of sign language is not always clear (I'm still not sure if it's something everyone learns at a young age in this world or just a select few), I thought it was a cool addition to the world-building.

Unfortunately, however, this is where my praise must end. While the premise and setup for this novel's main story are unique and intriguing, the characters and actual plot are not as well done. I'll begin by examining the characters. Filippo has the rather unfortunate habit of telling us how the characters are feeling instead of showing us. For example, we are meant to believe Kesia and Davri are deeply in love and close to becoming engaged, but we barely see them together in the novel. I honestly felt like Davri would've been more suited to Miren, as they begin the novel by reluctantly teaming up to save someone they both love.

In my opinion, this story would've worked better if Davri and Miren had begun to develop feelings for one another during the journey, going from initial dislike to admiration and then love. There would've been an added element of drama, as the two would have to wrestle with the guilt of betraying Kesia, but this would've been far more compelling than what we got. Similarly, the relationship between the two sisters is <i>described</i> as being incredibly close, we really only get to see them together for two chapters (one of which is a flashback) before the plot kicks off in full force. As it is, both the reunion between the sisters and Kesia and Davri felt hollow to me, as there wasn't enough time dedicated to fleshing out their relationships to one another.

Similarly, the plot felt very rushed to me, and every challenge the characters face is almost instantly resolved and tied into a neat bow. Davri and Miren are imprisoned by Davri's uncle? They almost immediately escape and a minor character shoots the antagonist dead before they flee. Kesia is imprisoned and forced to work on an airship as a slave? Let's have her work there for a few chapters before escaping with little issue, only to go back later and rescue an entire factory's worth of slaves with just her own powers and the powers of a twelve-year-old boy. I didn't find it particularly believable that these two kids would be able to do something that a huge group of fully grown adults with elemental powers couldn't by themselves in the span of one night.

There are never any consequences for the actions of the characters, and while they may ponder what they've done, it never feels like there are any stakes. At one point, Kesia brutally bludgeons one of her jailers, but the novel never pauses to let her reflect on the gravity of the murder. While the murder was likely justified (the man had just killed five other Singers), Kesia had never killed before, and I don't feel like enough gravity was given to this situation. Similarly, there is a moment when Zuriel, a young boy Kesia meets after her escape, is drafted into the army at age twelve. His parents are terrified and wondering how to get him out of it... and the plot goes nowhere. Zuriel teams up with Kesia to help the slaves escape the factory, and Zuriel's parents are never mentioned again. Little moments and plot threads like this add up to a lot of missed opportunities, making the plot feel even more rushed than it already was.

Lastly, I feel the need to talk about the minor characters, as there are so many of them that I literally can't keep any of their names straight. From the family of servants that help Davri and Miren escape, to the little Fire Singer Kesia meets in the factory, there are many characters I felt had wasted potential. While a little effort is made to develop the family (Liviya is a pretty cool matriarchal figure), there is yet again a noticeable lack of substance when it comes to the rather large cast of characters.

As I mentioned before, the servant Hana and her young son Ori are left behind in the end, even though it felt like the author was trying to develop them more than other minor characters. Kesia meets a young Fire Singer slave who is used merely as someone to rescue; she has very little personality aside from being meek and shy. I wanted to see Kesia form a strong female friendship with this character (because I adore a strong female friendship in YA), but she's really only used to be a damsel in distress. There were some interesting ideas within these characters, but it felt like Filippo wasn't always quite sure what to do with them.

As before, my criticism stems from the fact that too much is introduced far too quickly, and while some plots are tied in a neat little bow, others are left with large, looming question marks. For example, we never find out what happened to Kesia and Miren's parents, and we have no idea what's going to happen when the protagonists return home. Considering Davri's father was going to have Miren arrested for concealing her sister's powers, I don't imagine returning with a boat full of escaped Singers is going to end well for the party. I'm not sure if this book is meant to be the first in a series, but if it's a stand-alone, it left a lot of questions while making other conflicts (freeing the slaves, reuniting the sisters, saving Liviya's family) far too easy and convenient.

Overall, this wasn't the most terrible thing I've ever read. I want to encourage Filippo to continue writing and improving, as I think this idea has a lot of potential and her writing style isn't bad. In the future, I would like to see her focus on building characters and appealing to the reader's emotions, as I feel a lot more connected to a character when I can empathize or relate to that character. I also think she would benefit from slowing down the story, and taking time to develop things through both dialogue and character-driven scenes. Instead of dragging her protagonists from one obstacle to the next, I would like to see the settings, characters, and plot work together to create a more coherent story.

If the author sees this (and I almost hope she doesn't, because I would hate to discourage her), I hope she is able to see this criticism as constructive rather than attacking. Publishing your first book is no small feat (I should know, as I have never had the guts to try publishing my writing), and I have no doubt that she'll be able to hone her skills with every book she writes. I wish her the best, and look forward to seeing what she writes in the future. That being said, I would not necessarily recommend this book, as I've seen everything in it done better in other YA fantasy books and series.

This book was amazing! Strong plot! Powerful characters! A plot that held my attention the entire time!!!! I couldn’t put it down. I needed to find out what happened next!