Smokeless Fire by Samantha Young

Smokeless Fire by Samantha Young

Published in 2011, read on my Kindle.

Wow! Amazon showed me this book my recommendations, and this lovely cover caught my eye. The blurb was awesome, the sample snagged me, so I bought it. . .and finished it. . .all in one day! Man, I love being on break!

Blurb from Gooreads:

For the last two years Ari’s life has been anything but normal and on her 18th birthday, when her friends surprise her with a gimmick genie claiming to grant wishes, Ari discovers the truth. The tragic and strange occurrences surrounding her 16th birthday were not coincidental and her life is never going to be the same again.

Ari’s real parents are not normal. They are not loving. They are not human.

They are myth.

They are Smokeless Fire.

They are Jinn.

Wow, wow, wow. I know already said that, but  I don't think four times is enough. This story was fascinating. At first, I wasn't sure what to think about Ari since she wanted Charlie so badly. I thought she was kind of pathetic, like her friends did, but I kept reading. I felt sorry for her because she seemed lonely. Her dad was gone all the time, and she really had no one to talk to. When she suddenly wakes up in this other world and meets her true father. . .well, things just didn't slow down after that!

Samantha Young has created an amazing world with very unique world building. The Jinn have many different forms, and the magic system is really neat.

I really liked Jai. I'm usually turned off by sarcastic, arrogant love interests like him, but I think there was more to him than a typical Jace or. . .okay, I don't read a lot of PNR, so Jace is pretty much the only one I can name :P BUT I liked Jai. I think Samantha did a good job at showing his age. He doesn't act like a 17 year old, and I'm glad she didn't make him that young. He's much more mature than Charlie (groan) and it showed. I really liked the chemistry between Jai and Ari and I was hoping for something to happen. . .but I won't tell if anything did or not.

There were some things, writing style, that rubbed me the wrong way. Mainly mechanics stuff. Like mixing up you're/your? Come on. Or there were a couple sentences I had to reread where an extra comma could have helped. That's mainly the reason it's 4 instead of 5 and because I think Ari could have been a tad more dynamic. I'm not sure how, I just think. . .I'm not sure. I did like her quite a bit. Even in the beginning, I just thought she was kind of naive. I still feel bad for her, too, considering all she's been through. I hope she doesn't let things get to her. I feel like she needs someone she can actually rely on, but she's kind of this island and it's sad.

I'm excited to see what else is coming up in the rest of the series. Obviously, big, epic things considering what's revealed in this book. And the second one comes out in February, yay! I will definitely buy the sequel.