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. (as found on Amazon.com)
The book cover is what caught my attention, it called to me, it was so dark and mysterious and pretty. I didn't search for the book, I hadn't heard anything about it, I didn't even know who Karsten was. I didn't even know that name existed. But I saw the cover, on the lower left hand side of my monitor, right on the Amazon Website and I kept clicking and clicking until I learned more about it.I clicked on the cover which directed me to some reviews. I told my booktwin Mary about it and we were like, oh okay, yeah, it comes out in a couple of months, I think we might like it. I told her, all these people had read it already and I wanted to read it. Then I thought to myself, what else is going on with this book? Why am I so interested in it? I clicked some more and went to the author's site. And I was like, what?! He's like, young, he's like my age, and he's writing from a girl's perspective. I had to know more. I had to know what he was about,
Karsten has these "Vlogs" on his site, mind you, I had no idea what a vlog was, oh I was SO naive and I eventually clicked on one of his vlogs. And OH MAN, he had me cracking up, I laughed out loud, I laughed my butt off, I tea-kettled and I kept watching more. My name is Jenn, and I was addicted to KarstenKnight.com...I kept texting Mary and telling her she had to watch his vlogs and check out his site. I couldn't get enough of Karsten Knight! Everything he said and did made me laugh, I even had my husband watch some of his vlogs, i.e. Centaurs, Cheap Champagne and Slippery Quesadillas and eventually it was like:
Me: watch! watch! It looks like a chicken nugget!
Me: watch! watch! he likes boy bands too!
Me: watch! watch! he's going to talk about how he drank that week old cup of water!
Me: hmm, I wanna buy him a tumbler!
Me: watch! watch! he's hackysacking!
Me: watch! watch! he's going to dance like Risky Business!
Husband: okay, Jennifer, I get it, he's funny
Me: but don't you think he's so funny?!
Husband: ...
Me: (grabs phone, texts Mary) omg isn't Karsten so funny?!?
haha, that was me for like two months, needless to say I was super bummed his book tour only consisted of three locations ALL ON THE EAST COAST...yeah, yeah, he's from Boston. (Side note: Mary and I were suppose to go to the East Coast, BOS/Nantucket/NYC, inspired by Starcrossed by Josie Angelini and other beloved YA novels, we called it our YA Literary Trip. Anyway, we were also going to search for Karsten's hidden, signed copies of WILDEFIRE in Boston. But mother nature had other plans, and we were forced to cancel our YA Literary Trip...super sadface).
I am also sorry to say that this review turned out not to be a review of WILDEFIRE. This post just explains why I wanted to read WILDEFIRE soooooooooo bad. Karsten sold me on the book, he's the reason why I downloaded the book at midnight on July 26. Of course, I work full time so I only managed a couple of chapters before I knocked out but he's why I couldn't wait for the book. I felt like I knew so much about him and I in turn, knew so much about Ash.
I will write a review, SOON, but for now, I'll just end this post by telling you I loved WILDEFIRE.
Okay, I lied...I'll end with these series of questions that we would have asked if we attended one of Karsten's book signings.
Our mini series of twenty questions.
- What is the strangest thing that you have ever googled?
- Who cuts your hair? (Jenn: He does...WHY do you cut your own hair?)
- What inspired you to write in a female perspective?
- If Ash were a real person, would you either date her or be her?
- If you couldn't write, how else would you express yourself?
- In what ways do you relate with your main character, Ash?
- Your vlog on hackey-sacking is super funny. Has anyone ever told you that you remind them of Freddie Prinze, Jr. (She's All That)?! Hac...key...sack?
- What was your favorite book growing up, other than the picture book you wrote as a child (well done, by the way)?
- If WILDEFIRE could be made into a movie or TV series, would you make a cameo? If so, as who and what would you be doing?
- What message would you say your book is trying to give?
- If your life was a book, what would the title be?
Okay, okay, I'll add some serious content...but it's only because I want you to get this book ASAP and cause we loved it so much.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 400 pages
This is the best non-review, ever. I had the same introduction to Wildefire. Which definitely lived up to the hype.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had to cancel your trip, it sounded amazing. If you reschedule I may have to follow you around.... =)
Haha! Thanks Hannah...yea, I read WILDEFIRE too fast, so I'm going to read it again before I post a review. I really did love it AND I loved Colt lol. Mary & I cracked up at crayon comment. I forgot to add that in my NON-Review ;)
ReplyDeleteReally excited to read Wildfire now! I mean how can I not take your recommendation after Starcrossed. Still in love with Lucas and can't wait for the next book in the series.
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