Book Review: Fate of Flames

Summary: Four girls with the power to control the elements and save the world from a terrible evil must come together in the first epic novel in a brand-new series.

When Phantoms—massive beasts made from nightmares and darkness—suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the world, four girls, the Effigies, each gained a unique power to control one of the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Since then, four girls across the world have continually fought against the Phantoms, fulfilling their cosmic duty. And when one Effigy dies, another girl gains her power as a replacement.

But now, with technologies in place to protect the world’s major cities from Phantom attacks, the Effigies have stopped defending humanity and, instead, have become international celebrities, with their heroic feats ranked, televised, and talked about in online fandoms.

Until the day that New York City’s protection against the Phantoms fails, a man seems to be able to control them by sheer force of will, and Maia, a high school student, unexpectedly becomes the Fire Effigy.

Now Maia has been thrown into battle with three girls who want nothing to do with one another. But with the first human villain that the girls have ever faced, and an army of Phantoms preparing for attack, there isn’t much time for the Effigies to learn how to work together.

Can the girls take control of their destinies before the world is destroyed forever?



First off, a disclaimer: Fate of Flames is scheduled to be released this November. The copy of it that I read is an ARC, which I obtained at Barnes & Noble's Book-Fest. Legally, I am not allowed to quote this book, only review it in my own words. That's what I always do, but I felt I should note this somewhere in the post.

Now, onto the review.

Fate of Flames is sort of a weird book for me. First, it's a contemporary fantasy about a girl who gains special powers. There are certain tropes and clichés associated with such a story, and Fate of Flames plays right into some of those. There are others that it plays with or subverts, which makes the book as a whole both conventional and inventive at the same time.

On the conventional side, it's a coming-of-age story about a high school girl--Maia Finley--who gains the ability to control fire. As the Fire Effigy, she's thrown into a world where she's expected to team up with three other Effigies--her personal heroes--and fight the monsters that have been attacking the world since the 1800's. But there's a twist--Maia is terrified of fire, ever since a house fire killed her parents and twin sister. And there's something suspicious about the death of her predecessor...

The story itself, at least for three fourths of the book, is pretty conventional. Coming of age story--check. Relatable teenage protagonist--check. Mysterious hot love interest man--check. Shadowy governmental organization--check. Monsters the world must be defended from--check.

But that's not all there is to the book, and that's the part that makes it unique. Yes, it's a coming of age story--but it's one that doesn't shy away from the psychological effect constant fighting has on teenaged soldiers. The relatable teen girl protagonist has many weaknesses and genuinely doesn't know what's going on a lot of the time--there's no way she could've made it through the plot of the book without the help of the other three Effigies (Belle, Chae Rin, and Lake). All three of these other girls also have their own flaws and weaknesses, yet none of them are demonized or set up as one-dimensional rivals for Maia. In the end, they find strength by working together. The mysterious love interest guy is a member of the shadowy governmental organization--and as it turns out, both of them were probably lying to Maia all along. There are only three prominent male characters in the book, and one of them is a government agent with nasty secrets, one of them is a government agent with zero morals, and one is a villain with multiple personalities in his head. He's able to control the monsters that have been attacking the world for over a century.

So there's a lot going on in this book. The plot and characters are a smooth blend of the cliché and the atypical. That sort of threw me in the first half of the book--I never knew what to expect, even when I thought I did. But by the second half, I got to liking it. Fate of Flames is a well-written book with good characters and a lot of interesting concepts. And it's the first in a series, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

So that's my opinion of the book. I've still got one more thing to add: back by popular demand, it's the star rating system that I used to use for movies. I'll be using it to rate this book, and presumably a few more books after it; if like it or think I could use a better system, please let me know!

I'm giving Fate of Flames three and a half stars.

Fate of Flames hasn't been released yet, so I guess there aren't a lot of people out there to discuss it with me. But suffice to say, it's a good book and I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the series. In my opinion, any author who can blend cliché and originality with this amount of skill is someone whose books I'll be keeping up with. 

2015 Recommended Books List

Well, guys, 2015 is drawing to a close. It's been kind of a wild year--then again, what year isn't wild?--and lots of stuff has happened. Some of that stuff has involved me reading books. And some of those books were good. So, without further ado, I present to you: the AJ Gonzalez 2015 Recommended Books List. Seven books that I loved and think you should read. (All summaries are written by me.)

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1. Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Summary: Ciere Giba is one of a tiny percentage of people given superpowers by a vaccine to a deadly virus. For such people with "adverse effects", there are only two options: work for the government, hunting down others like yourself, or be branded a traitor and be locked up. Of course, a few of the effected--including Ciere--have taken a third option: a fast-paced, dangerous life of crime.

So, it's a little hard to summarize both the premise and the plot of this book--but the book itself does a great job of setting up the premise and keeping the plot moving. It's been described as a cross between X-Men and Ocean's Eleven, and honestly that's a pretty accurate description. Besides having an interesting, almost-plausible premise (I read this while the Ebola crisis was in full swing, and boy did that make it more convincing), this book has awesome, fascinating characters and some amazing twists and turns. I thoroughly recommend it. (And I just found out there's a sequel. I know what's going on my reading list for next year!)

2. Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

Summary: Zahrah Tsami was born with dada locks--vines growing in her hair that are supposed to be a sign of special powers. Zahrah doesn't know anything about that; she feels normal, despite what others think. But when her best friend's life is threatened, Zahrah is forced to harness all her courage and all her power to save him. 

I have to say: this book is basically everything I've ever wanted in a YA fantasy novel. It's very well-written with an unusually diverse cast. (All of the characters are black. All of them.) The main character is a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl with realistic emotions, motivations, and character growth. There's no shoehorned romance (actually there's no romance at all). Additionally, the world-building is incredible. You can tell that the author put thought and imagination into the world she's crafted here. In short: this book was a delight and I highly recommend it. 

3. By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson

Summary: Achan Cham is a stray, the lowest of the low in the land of Er'Rets. Vrell Sparrow is a noblewoman, disguised as a common boy to avoid a forced political marriage. Neither of them expect to attract the attention of Kingsguard knights--but they do, setting in motion events that eventually culminate in the revelation of a shocking secret. 

So, this probably isn't the most original book I've ever read, but as far as fantasy goes, it is good. It plays out a lot of the common tropes and plot points of fantasy without being too predictable or derivative. It's also one of the few overtly Christian-themed fantasies I've read. The sequels aren't quite as good, in my opinion, but the second one, at least, is still worth reading. (I haven't yet gotten around to the third.) Even if you decide against the sequels, I'd say By Darkness Hid is at least worth a read. 

4. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Summary: Wealthy, mysterious Englishman Phileas Fogg and his French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in eighty days on a bet--but unbeknownst to them, they are pursued by a detective determined to arrest Fogg for bank robbery. 

Yes, this is an old, classic book. (It was first published in 1873.) Yes, I'm still recommending it, because I re-read it this past year and absolutely loved it. It's not hard to read, as some classics are; the characters are all well-defined and keep the plot moving along. Additionally, there are some wonderful descriptions of travel in a pre-airplane world, not to mention the locales that the characters travel through. So it's just a good book overall, and I highly recommend it.


5. The Memory Key by Liana Liu
Summary: In a world ravaged by a viral form of Alzheimer's Disease, Lora Mint is just like everyone else: she has a "memory key", a computer chip implanted into her brain that keeps her memories functioning properly. But when an accident causes her key to malfunction, an old memory resurfaces--indicating that her mother's death years ago was no accident. Lora determines to find out what happened, but with part of her brain on the fritz, the search may only drive her crazy.

So, this book is a little weird, because it has all the makings of a hardcore dystopian thriller, but in reality it's more of a mystery with a few futuristic trappings. Still, it's a good book--the plot keeps you turning pages, since you want to find the answer to the mystery as much as the main character does. It's also pretty clean as far as language and sexual content, which can be unusual for a YA book. I would certainly recommend it.


6. Grandmaster by David Klass
Summary: Daniel Pratzer is eager to prove himself as a member of his school chess club. But he's only a novice, and as far as he knows his father never played a game of chess in his life. Then the club invites the both of them to a week-long father-son tournament, and Daniel learns that his father was once a world-class grandmaster, until he quit chess for the sake of his sanity. As the tournament goes on and tensions rise, Daniel is forced to question if the acceptance he craves is worth it.

I picked this book up at the library because it looked like an easy read, and because I'd never seen a novel about chess before. I was right on both counts: this is a page-turner that's really fast-moving for a book about chess, and the author definitely knows how work a plot that has chess--and a father-son relationship--at its center. It's also pretty clean, which is always nice.


7. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Summary: Told in novel format, this is the story of Nat Bowditch, 18th Century mathematician and nautical wonder, chronicling his life from childhood to the captaincy of his own ship.


This is the only non-fiction book on this list; but it's here for a reason. Despite being entirely non-fiction, it's written and paced like a story. It has some very hard-hitting emotional moments, and all of the setting are very well described. It's clear the author did her research, but also knew how to incorporate it into an engaging story. So yes, this is non-fiction, but I still enjoy reading it, and I highly recommend it.

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So there you have it: seven books and I read or re-read this year and loved. If you've read any of these, or end up reading them because of me, feel free to comment or email me about it and we can chat. Feliz Navidad and a Happy New Year to everyone!