Smokeless Fire by Samantha Young
“I can’t have
anything happen to you. And being around me… not good. Starting now I have to
walk away from all of this. From Ohio. From Dad and Rachel and Staci… and you.” (A
conversation between Charlie and Ari, page 251)
Ari is a normal eighteen-year-old girl dealing with normal eighteen-year-old
girl problems. She deals with anxiety of graduating from high school, trying to
communicate better with her dad, and helping out Charlie, her best friend (and
the guy that Ari claims to love), during difficult times that had led him to
drug and alcohol problems. However, all of these problems change in one dream
that turns out to be reality. Aria is pulled out of her normal life and thrown
into the world of Jinn.
In the world of Jinn, Ari has immense power, one that she
could not even have fantasized about. She is the most powerful weapon of an old
family war. Add a hot guy named Jai to her growing list of confusion and
problems and the story gets even more interesting. Jai is Ari’s guardian, hired
to be with her 24/7 to protect her from some of the dangerous of the Jinn
world. At first, Jai is an annoyance for Ari and she doesn’t want him with her,
however, later in the book she discovers her attraction for him. That does not
mean that it is that simple though, because there is still Charlie and it turns
into a love triangle that is filled with tension.
When I picked up this book, I didn’t think I would enjoy it
as much as I did. The reason why is because many of the YA paranormal romance
books I have read have unveiled a lot of information about the paranormal world
and romance that will happen by the fifth chapter or so. In this book, though
they do give some information at the beginning of the paranormal world about
the romance, it takes some time to come to pass. The characters are well
developed and there is a lot of attention to detail not only in one part of the
book, but continuously throughout.
My favorite aspect of this book was the originality of the
story. This story talks about a different world that I had not dove into before.
A lot of details are given within the world portrayed in the book. There is a
chapter that explains the different kinds of Jinn that exist and their gifts, along
with details on how the Jinn world and people function.
The book also switches around in points of view. The story is
told in third person, but it is told from different perspectives throughout.
The reason why it works is because it is clear when the points of view have been
switched and from what perspective you are looking at the story in. My only
complaint about this book is that in the end there is no final relationship established
between Ari and her romantic interests. In order to find out that relationship,
I will have to read the next book (which isn’t so bad, but I want to know).
I would recommend this to anybody who is interested in diving
into an unfamiliar, new world and willing to go along for the ride. People who
might have read books about angels, fairies, and paranormal kingdoms might
enjoy this book as well.
By Gilma Valasquez
