If her love life is going down in flames, she might as well spark a revolution.
Finding out on your sixteenth birthday you’re a shape-shifting dragon is tough to swallow. Being hauled off to an elite boarding school is enough to choke on.
Since Bryn is the only crossbreed at the Institute for Excellence, all eyes are on her, but it’s a particular black dragon, Zavien, who catches her attention.
Zavien is tired of the Council’s rules. Segregated clans, being told who to love, and close-minded leaders make freedom of choice almost impossible. The new girl with the striped hair is a breath of fresh air, and with Bryn’s help, they may be able to change the rules.
At the Institute, old grudges, new crushes, and death threats are all part of a normal day for Bryn. She’ll need to learn to control her dragon powers if she wants to make it through her first year at school. But even focusing on staying alive is difficult when you’re falling for someone you can’t have.
I want to begin this review by stating I received an Audible code via Audiobook Boom for an honest review. What follows is my opinion and mine alone. There was no compensation made for this review.
Now, I want you to look at the cover. It doesn’t look very interesting, right? Just a girl who looks like she may have a skin issue. Well, this girl doesn’t need to speak with a dermatologist, she needs someone to keep her anger in check and this girl is angry. Bryn McKenna had a pretty normal life and didn’t have much to worry about. That is until a stalker comes into her life and she learns a few things. Turns out, she’s not human and when someone angers her, they can get burned.
Going Down in Flames starts pretty predictably. You get your normal girl turned powerful and you have your angry people who don’t like it. That said, It turned around close to the 15% mark. I found the story itself enjoyable and the world interesting. What I loved most about this book though was the main character.
Bryn McKenna is a strong and stubborn young lady. Despite most books with the “powerful girl” trope having a powerful girl who only seems to pretend to be stubborn, Bryn definitely felt like it. She is kicked hard and low but keeps coming back up and kicking hardcore ass. She holds her own in the world she is thrust into and I found her relatable.
The narration isn’t bad though I do think the narrator was a bit slow. This is easily taken care of if you just speed up the reading in the audible app. For me, it works at 1.05 speed. So, it didn’t take much to help it along. The narrator herself wasn’t exciting at first, but once the world really started going, so did the voice. I feel the narrator was a good match for this book because of that.
In the end, I found myself being disappointed that the sequel is not in audio yet. I want to fly into this world more and see Bryn’s evolution as a dragon. I would recommend this for young adult readers and readers of urban fantasy shifter fiction.
Final Rating: 4/5
Casia's Corner 