Review: Firespell by Chloe Neill

Book Description:

As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia’s boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she’ll have to face…

When Lily’s parents decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia’s. Lily’s ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she’s hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building.

The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout’s a little weird—she keeps disappearing late at night and won’t tell Lily where she’s been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster.

Scout’s a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who’ve sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who’ve been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own—at least none that she’s discovered yet…

Source: Won from Larissa (Thanks!)

My Thoughts:


Every student in St. Sophia seemed to be involved in some kind of drama before they were accepted there. Speaking of drama, the brat pack – a group of three girls, led by Veronica – was always looking for drama. And they found Lily, the new girl. A prank resulted to Lily getting locked up in the custodian’s room in the basement – a very bad thing.

Neill created a hidden world of power revolving around magic underneath an academic institution where every single day is a manifestation of power, wealth and connection.

St. Sophia was an interesting school. But what captured my attention more and drew me in like magnet was what was under St. Sophia. Lily already suspected that her roommate and new BFF, Scout, was in some kind of trouble. But what she didn’t expect was that she would find Scout being chased by people possessing powers. And during the chase, she got hit by something green, hot and painful. Firespell.

I enjoyed reading Firespell. There wasn’t a time that I was bored. Reading about Lily’s life and seeing her find out that her parents have been lying to her and that she has been marked on her back two days after she got hit by firespell was enough to make me so curious that I’m already planning to buy the sequel – Hexbound.

The hidden war of the Reapers and those who rebeled against them pulsed with tension. As it turns out, the rebels were actually the good guys, the ones who were protecting humans from any threat. Of all the rebel teens, Jason caught my attention. He claimed that he was different from the rest of the group, that his magic was something different. He came to care about Lily and worked to protect her in ways that she didn’t expect. As the story progressed, I got to see more of him, as well as hints about his identity. Paranormal fans will love this blue-eyed guy.

Some people say that almost all books have flaws and this was one of those books, unfortunately. Near the ending, there was a battle scene wherein Lily, Michael, Scout and another rebel teen named Jamie were fighting against the Reapers. They were outnumbered. And at that time only Jamie was doing the fighting for them. In the end, no one got seriously hurt which was impossible in my opinion. Because the Reapers were many and they could have attacked at the same time. Plus, their head, an elder of the Reaper, ordered them to “finish” Lily and company. Although I did like how Lily discovered her magical skill and ended the battle. I was looking for more action. At the back cover, it said that Scout’s rebel group fought demons and vampires too. I was kinda looking forward to that and was a bit disappointed that there weren’t encounters with the said enemies.

Firespell is a story of secret, friendship and trust in the dramatic world of St. Sophia and what lies underneath it. And it’s also about standing up for what we think is right.

Rating: