Ava is a firebug, one of the few people in the world who can start fires with their minds. Because of her rare ability she is trapped in a contract with the magical mafia--for years she's been the hitwoman for any magical target. Then the woman who killed Ava's mother orders Ava to kill a family friend, and Ava refuses. Ava and her friends are forced to flee the might of the magical Coterie, but unless they can find allies to stand up against the mafia-like organization, they don't stand a chance.Ava's snarky (sometimes edging towards bitter and lonely) voice makes her the perfect protagonist for this story about power and the struggle between allowing evil to endure or making compromises in order to survive. As always, McBride's dialogue is sarcastic and funny. The cast of supporting characters (especially Ava's best friends, Lock and Ezra who are--respectively--a dryad and a werefox) are real and give Ava's character what she most needs--a loyal family unit to fight for when it comes time to stand up to the evil in her world.I would recommend this to urban fantasy readers, 9th grade and up. I listened to this via Audible on one of my long car journeys... and, over the course of the 10 hour ride, I managed to conquer maybe 2 hours of this on and off before I just had to say enough is enough. Though part of that might be due to the narration, I can guarantee you that I will not pick this book up from my library any time soon. It was riddled with cliches, stock characters, and terribly cheesy moments. In all fairness, I only listened to about 7 or 8 chapters, so maybe it gets better. I'm just not interested in finding out.
What do You think about Firebug (2014)?
The writing was good but the storyline was really basic.
—Binxi
