I'm a fan of urban fantasy and like the contemporary setting. I thought this book was right for but somehow it didn't keep my attention.
The world building is interesting, the characters fleshed but it didn't work for me.
Not my cup of tea.

A fantastic story about sisterhood, adventure and what it means to be brave. I absolutely adored this story. The writing was great, the pacing was fast, and the characters were so loveable. Highly recommend if you're looking for a tale about sisterhood that blends myth and fantasy!

Fire with Fire is a story about two sisters, Eden and Dani. They come from a long line of dragon slayers but couldn't be more different. Dani wants to live a normal life where dragon slaying takes place in the background while Eden prioritizes training above all else. When Dani comes face to face to a dragon and forges a soul bond, she uncovers that everything she has learned about dragons might not be the whole truth. Once Eden discovers Dani's bond with a dragon, she turns to the sorceres for help. But that'll take her on a path she might not expect.

This was such a good read! A great, interesting and unique premise. Two sisters on opposite sides of a conflict. Dragons with amazing personalities. Looking at you Nox! Well-layered characters. Great side characters. A thrilling adventure. What more could you want?

I really enjoyed Destiny Soria's writing. The story progressed naturally and the suspense slowly builds up. The action parts were written really well, just as the character-driven parts. Basically all the writing was great. The dynamic between Dani and Eden was written really well and very relatable. I loved, loved, loved the banter between Dani and Nox.

I definitely want to read more of Destiny Soria's work. Highly recommend Fire with Fire to anyone who loves stories.

I love any books with sibling relationships and this one did it really well. With the added dragons this one was sure to become a favourite and it definitely did. The writing was really beautiful and I loved the world in which this was set. I found the world magical and I could honestly sit and read more details about it. Dani is my favourite of the sisters but I do love them both.

Something I was looking forward to going into this book was the relationship among the sisters but it just didn't feel nice or loving. They were rivals and not in a good way. Yes, I understand jealousy but I hated the way it was portrayed here.
Also, I didn't really like how things just jumped in the book from fighting dragons to flirting with a random guy. It was giving me whiplash and was not smooth and that was annoying me.
Also, some dialogues made me roll my eyes and frustrated me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. Both sisters were well-portrayed and you could see everything from both perspectives. Soria also did enough world-building that dragons almost begin to seem like a plausible addition to our reality! The plot moved along quickly but never lost the strength of the characters that made the narrative tick. A great romp.

Fire With Fire tells the story of Dani and Eden Rivera, who could almost be your average competitive sisters if not for one added complication: they come from a family of well-renowned and highly dedicated dragon slayers. Eden is the responsible older sister and Dani is the reckless teenager with little interest in the family’s business but, so as to be as unfair of possible, Dani is of course the young dragon-slaying prodigy that excels in every aspect of her training.

As if life isn’t complicated enough for the Rivera sisters, everything becomes a little more confusing and a lot more dangerous when Dani stumbles across a dragon one night and finds that they may not be the lethal, heartless creatures that she’s always been taught that they are. With dragons, slayers, high school romances, sorcerers and rivalries, Fire With Fire is an exciting story about sibling rivalries gone too far, loyalties, and how it isn’t always easy to know who you can trust.

Although I liked it from the beginning, it took me quite a while to get into this book. When I did get hooked though, around 40% in, it became completely impossible to put down. The plot was exciting and the action scenes were very well-written, but my favourite thing about this book by far was the wonderful cast of characters. The lengths that her anxiety and pride take Eden to make her a fascinating character, and Dani’s growth was possibly even more gripping to read about. The entire set of side characters – Nox, Tomas, Sadie, Kieran – were also really likeable, and the strength of their trust and friendships was so pure and refreshing to read about.

I really enjoyed this book. Its combination of intense and detailed fight scenes, teen angst, magic, sibling rivalry and great representation made it a fun, unique read that I would absolutely recommend.

I liked the concept but overall something was missing for me. I think it's more of a me thing and not the book as i'm not the targeted audience for this. I still think Destiny Soria has a good writing style and concepts.

I got as far as 11%, but I just couldn't continue. The writing style was not my taste. There was a lot of telling and not showing and it went verrrrry slowly. I really hoped I'd have been able to read a great book about dragons, but I really couldn't get into it...

DNF at 11%
Won't be posting to Goodreads, nor my blog.

I'm a bit sad about this one. I love anything to do with dragons, so I jumped at the chance when I saw this was available to request on NetGalley. This is definitely my fault, as I didn't realise this book is set in contemporary America. There's nothing really wrong with it, but contemporary fantasy isn't really my thing and so I wouldn't have requested it had I known in advance and have decided to DNF.

This book has dragons, strong female leads and family loyalty. What more could you want? I really enjoyed this book. The story is set in rural Tennessee and I thought the world building was just brilliant. I loved how the author showed the relationship between the sisters and their live for each other and their competitiveness. My most favourite character was Nox, the dragon. I wanted to read this book because of the dragon. I loved seeing his character grow and hope to see more of this amazing world building. This is absolutely a fun YA fantasy book.

This was the perfect dragon book that I never knew I needed!
I loved the sisterly rivalry and really enjoyed how well written and realistic both main characters were. The writing and fast-paced plot were brilliant and kept me hooked!
I highly recommend this book and will definitely be buying myself a physical copy for my own shelves!
Thank you to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Fire with Fire is a book about dragon slayers and anything dragon you all know I will jump onto. Adding that this was written by Destiny Soria and I knew I had a good book in my hand. I was right.

This book is about two sisters who were raised as dragon slayers. Over the centuries much has been hidden about the history of dragons, slayers and the sorcerers. When one of the sisters, Dani, comes face to face with a dragon and bonds with it, everything changes.

One thing that I always love about Destiny Soria's books is the ease with which I can settle into her books and the ease with which she writes realistic character relationships. One being the sister relationship between Dani and her older sister Eden. There is a strained relationship between them. Eden has always aimed for perfection. In her grades and her dragon slaying training. She hasn't had it easy with panic attacks and anxiety. She struggles with seeing her very talented younger sister Dani throw away her talent. And at the same time she feels a little jealous because she wishes she had the talent or got the attention Dani gets for her talent. Even so, Dani is her sister, and you can see the trust that is also there between them. Its just a sibling relationship, somewhat weighten down by the fantasy elements in their life.

Dani on the other hand just wants a normal life and just wants to do what everyone else is doing in high school. She wants to be a carefree teen, not a bogged down, overly responsible college student like her sister Eden. So of course it stands to reason she sees the first dragon of both of them. And that is where the first cracks start to appear. Dani starts questioning things that Eden doesn't understand. And one sorcerer starts whispering in Eden's ear, making her feel more important and proud of who she is. Eden just wants to be seen.

Other relationships important in the book are Dani and the dragon. They have a grudging starting bond, which is what happens when you initially just wanted to kill each other, that slowly turns to trust and love. But also Dani's friends. Her long time friend and her old friend, just embracing whatever chaos her life is.

Outside of that is of course the plot. There was a lot of manipulation and secret keeping going on that slowly unraveled. About the dragons, about the sorcerers, about the role that their parents played and so on. It comes together well. I was also pleased to see that Eden, who went through a lot of transformations, did not just turn back to the Eden she was at the start. That is not how that works and I'm glad that was remembered.

All in all I thought this was a great character and relationship driven story that is putting Destiny Soria right up to my favorite authors.

The main reason I fell in love with 'Fire With Fire' was the fact that it had dragons. And I personally love any piece of media that has or references dragons. In the world of this book, dragons exist in the modern world and are hunted by dragon slayers. Our two main protagonists, sisters Dani and Eden belong to one such dragon slaying family, in fact one of the more famous ones. My personal favorite out of the two sisters was definitely Dani, I connected to her more and I loved how her character arc progressed. That's not to say, I didn't like Eden; I just had a hard time connecting to her, though her character arc was also enjoyable to see. Another favorite was Nox, Dani's dragon companion. I just loved that dragon so much; he was such a fun character. The world building is simple, and easy to understand, and I love the incorporation of the ancient majestic creatures with the modern world.

All in all, I highly recommend this!

I rate this book a solid 4.5 stars! This book took a refreshing take on the YA genre, we follow two sisters who are training to become Dragon hunters to carry on the family tradition.

Dani is a chilled out teenage who wants to live a normal life and go to parties and hang with her friends. Whereas, her older sister Eden is solely focused on becoming the best hunter she can be. We can feel her frustration through the plot as she has to continually work hard to be at a high level. In comparison, Dani, appears to be naturally gifted. Which is a contentious point for Eden, who feels like she constantly falls short.

The plot is filled with dragons, sorcerers, teenage drama and family tensions which is crafted beautifully throughout the narrative. Destiny is all to weave this in the narrative by having multiple points of view (Dani and Eden). Which is a great technique as we experience both character’s thoughts and feelings and interactions with other characters.

In this book we follow Eden and Dani, two sisters who are also training to become dragon slayers. In this modern world, dragons are reduced to myths and legends, but they do still exist in very low numbers. They are very dangerous and the slayers’s job is to basically make sure they go extinct. But when Dani, who’s the protégé slayer yet a lot less invested in the cause than her sister, ends up with some unheard-of soul-bond to a dragon called Nyx, things change drastically. Not only does she learn that the truths she’s been told about dragons may be complete lies, but she’s also forced to choose between the dragon and her own family.

Going into this book, I had such high hopes. The premise sounded amazing. Dragons in the real world? Sibling rivalry, dragon friends, sorcerers and magic? It seemed to tick all the boxes for an amazing read.

I was, however, very disappointed, and to be honest seriously bored reading this book. Nothing happened. It was just sitting down talking between friends and family and bantering and scenes possibly meant to build characters and relationships, but it felt one-dimensional, repetitive and incredibly slow.

There was so much focus on the slow and honestly unnecessary everyday chitchat between characters that the main plot and the things that were actually interesting got buried so deep that it was impossible for me to get invested in the story.

Unfortunately, I can’t say more than this. I’m super disappointed and I found the characters bland and boring. The only highlight of this book was the dragon Nox, he was funny and interesting and the best character in the book.

Three stars for premise, dragons and the writing.

The synopsis of FIRE WITH FIRE does sound a little bit like HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON at first glance but it’s a very different story. For a start, it’s a contemporary urban fantasy with hidden dragons, hunters, and sorcerers. The story has a dual point of view narrative from the perspective of two sisters: seventeen-year-old slayer-prodigy Dani, and her older, more dutiful, sister Eden.

I thought the author really captured the complexity of the sibling bond and its push and pull effect. I found myself sympathetic to both characters, especially Eden’s anxiety and perfectionism. After Dani forms a soul bond with sarcastic dragon Nox, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. It’s understandable that Eden finds it harder to unlearn a lifetime’s lessons in such a short span of time and instead chooses the path she does.

The story was well-paced and the tense fighting scenes were engaging. Calla, the High Sorcerer, made a suitably unlikeable antagonist and the build-up to the climax paid off well. The side characters were endearing and I loved any scene with Tomás especially. I’d recommend FIRE WITH FIRE to fans of the CROWN OF FEATHERS series.

I would like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Fire with Fire by Destiny Soria is a young adult urban fantasy about two sisters living both the mundane world and the world of magic and dragons. This novel seamlessly merged contemporary settings and fantasy elements. With its fast paced plot and interesting characters, I was definitely hooked from start to end.

The story followed two sisters, Dani and Eden, who were from a family of dragon slayers. Eden was determined and thrived to be the best dragon slayer, while Dani just wanted to lead an ordinary teenage life. The conflict came when Dani magically bonded with a dragon, and Eden got mixed up with sorcerers. Now they were caught up between two opposing sides, they would still do whatever it takes to save each other. I've been avoiding YA fantasy books lately because they just seemed not to work for me, but thankfully, this novel hit different. Plotwise, what I liked the most was the concept of sisterhood. Having an older sister myself, I could understand the complexity of rivalry, jealousy, and respect between siblings. Moreover, it was fast-paced and the writing style was straightforward. Lastly, the Latinx people, bisexuality, and anxiety rep were well-written. It tackled the fear and confusion one can experience, as well as how having constant mental battle does not mean you are weak.

I like the contrasting personalities of Dani and Eden. While Eden was adamant and perfectionist, Dani was more carefree and untroubled. I was not sure if I liked Eden at all, but I guessed she grew into me. Nox was my favorite. He was sassy yet loveable. Plus, he had a compelling and emotional background that made me adore him more.

The minor issues is how I would love to see more of the world building and history. There was not many details about how dragon slaying and the sorcerers. Also, I was not quite a fun of the romance. This was more of a personal preference since I just didn't enjoy romance in fantasy books lately.

Overall, Fire with Fire Destiny Soria is a solid YA urban fantasy read. It has dragons, magic, and sorcerers! If you're into those things, I recommend this book.

3.75/5 stars!

First things first, I found this book enjoyable all around. I loved the premise. I appreciated the diversity of the characters - Biracial latina, dragon slaying sisters? Hell yeah! Plus one of them had anxiety and the other identified as bisexual (on the page! YES!). I even loved some of the banter. I especially loved that it was a standalone, because although I enjoy fantasy I hate that it's often delivered in massive series.

However, I really struggled to get through it. Honestly, part of this was me (I've had a lot going on recently), so please take these comments with a grain of salt. Reading is a highly individual experience and I can see that others would absolutely adore this story. Maybe it was just the wrong place and wrong time for me to read this particular novel.

I had a hard time from about 25% to 75% as the chapters were really long. Some chapters would take in excess of 40 minutes to read (and my reading speed is typically average, from what I can tell). This slowed the pace of the plot for me and I became a little disengaged even though I liked where the plot was going as a whole. This was compounded by the intricate writing style - usually I love this, and I did enjoy the descriptive and detailed points, but when the chapters were already really long I ended up resenting it a bit.

There were some character reactions and actions that seemed unlikely, which also threw me off. About halfway through the book there was a massive shift in the plot (to be expected with a turning point), but it felt like a stretch for that character, even with the build up that had been happening. As such, the second half felt like a completely different book. As much as I loved it being a standalone, it may have actually read better as a duology.

Overall, this was a mid-way read for me. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It was just in the middle. I hope it wins over others more than it did me.

2.5/5 stars.

An urban fantasy perfect for summer, Destiny Soria’s new release, Fire with Fire is the fun, dragon filled fantasy you didn’t know you needed. Full of pop culture references and sibling rivalry, Fire with Fire left me entertained and wanting more. I can’t believe this is a standalone, the second I closed the book, I searched for information about the sequel. The fantasy element felt so light and easy to take in – the blend between reality and fiction was seamless.

Dragons are often accompanied by connotations of rage and destruction. Soria introduces us to Nox, a sarcastic, stubborn dragon who wants to strengthen his magic enough to hatch some of the last dragon eggs.

Fire with Fire is split into two perspectives, Dani and Eden, two sisters on opposite sides of a war. Dani was such a great protagonist, she was easy to root for. All she wants is a normal life, unlike Eden, her older sister, who only wants to be the best dragon slayer in the Rivera family. Both characters were well written, the sarcasm and the banter felt really natural. There were also some great side characters, I love the trope of the unsuspecting friend being pulled into the chaos of the magical world, and this book did it so well.

My only complaint is that the romance felt too much like insta-love for me. With standalones, I often find that it happens fast to wrap the story up, and sadly, while I liked the pairing, it was too quick for me to fully believe.

This book delves into sorcery, magic and power, but it also handles themes of mental health and sexuality with such care. Fire with Fire was unlike anything I expected, and this fun fantasy is one I’ll be recommending for a while. Now to manifest a sequel . . .