Lish McBride's Firebug
I looooooooved McBride's first two books (Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and Necromancing the Stone--by far two of the best titles ever) and was excited to read her latest, featuring a new cast of characters but set in the same universe. However, this one didn't work for me as well. For one thing, it's missing a lot of the humor of her earlier books. For another, it reads like a typical paranormal YA kind of book--perfectly adequate, but nothing really special. It focuses on a teenage girl with firestarter powers, being forced to work as basically a hitman for the local supernatural-creature-in-charge, all while trying to pretend to be a normal girl for her human boyfriend. I liked the chemistry with her two mission partners, but found all the romance stuff to be mildly annoying. The glimpses of the supernatural world's politics and interesting creatures (particularly the local dryads and a were-rhino) were great, and I wish there was more of that, because the lead character isn't as awesome as I wanted her to be. I mean, her backstory is compelling, and her struggle to control her powers is interesting, but her narrative voice was a little blah. Maybe that's what sells? I prefer the sly black humor McBride is so good at, though. B.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.
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