DNF Review – Before She Ignites (Fallen Isles, Book 1) by Jodi Meadows (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 496 pages
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: September 12, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0062469403
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Fallen Isles series
Source: Bought in OwlCrate
Rating: 2/5 stars

“Mira has always been a symbol of hope for the Fallen Isles, perfect and beautiful—or at least that’s how she’s forced to appear. But when she uncovers a dangerous secret, Mira is betrayed by those closest to her and sentenced to the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles.

Except Mira is over being a pawn. Fighting to survive against outer threats and inner demons of mental illness, Mira must find her inner fire and the scorching truth about her own endangered magic—before her very world collapses.

And that’s all before she ignites.”

This is the first book in the Fallen Isles trilogy. I was very excited to start reading this series since I have loved all of Meadows’ other series. This one was disappointing. I ended up reading the first 100 pages and then giving up.

I struggled to get through the first few chapters; the way it was formatted was confusing and tough to read. You jump from present to different times in the past. In the present our heroine has been locked in a horrible prison. We jump back to different times in the past kind of willy nilly (1 year back, 10 years back, 3 years back). I think this is supposed to slowly reveal the mystery of why Mira has been imprisoned but it came across as sloppy and confusing.

Up to the point I had read not much had happened. We hear how both Mira’s mother and father were abusive in their own ways, how she is being abused in prison, and how she feels abused by the people of her nation as a whole. I am assuming at some point Mira grows a spine and starts trying to do something…anything. However, at about 100 pages in I didn’t really care one way or another and decided to stop reading this.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend. This book was not nearly as good as previous books I have read by Meadows. It was a confusing, unpleasant and boring read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge