Book Review: Flame of Surrender by Rhiannon Paille

Summary: The boy who follows death meets the girl who could cause the apocalypse.

Krishani thinks he’s doomed until he meets Kaliel, the one girl on the island of Avristar who isn’t afraid of him. She’s unlike the other girls, she swims with merfolk, talks to trees and blooms flowers with her touch. What he doesn’t know is that she’s a flame, one of nine individually hand crafted weapons, hidden in the body of a seemingly harmless girl. 

Nobody has fallen in love with a flame until now. She becomes Krishani’s refuge from the dreams of death and the weather abilities he can’t control. Striking down thousand year old trees with lightning isn’t something he tries to do, it just happens. When the Ferryman dies, Krishani knows that he’s the next and that a lifetime of following death is his destiny. 

And Kaliel can’t come with him. The Valtanyana are hunting the flames, the safest place for her is Avristar. Krishani can’t bear to leave her, and one innocent mistake grants the Valtanyana access to their mystical island. They’re coming for Kaliel, and they won’t stop until every last living creature on Avristar is dead. She has to choose, hide, face them, or awaken the flame and potentially destroy herself.

Review: I really wish I liked this book more, but I just can't. The story sounded so promising, about such a unique world with a girl with strange powers who meets a mysterious boy whose love could end up being destructive. When I started reading it, though, I just couldn't get into it. The story was very slow and by 150 pages in, I felt like not a lot had really happened. I didn't really get the chemistry between the two main characters either because they met for a couple of minutes, then couldn't stop thinking about each other for an entire year and a half. I understand if they found each other attractive, but they were practically in love after that first meeting. It just didn't make sense. 

Also, even though the world was very unique, it was hard to figure out how exactly everything worked. It took me a while to understand what Kaliel's powers meant or who everyone was in her life. So maybe if the book had more explanation to the context of the story and more action/momentum in the story, I would have enjoyed it more. Sadly, I don't think this book did it for me. In other reviews, though, many people have loved this book so maybe you'll enjoy it! It was a great fantasy novel, it could just use more oomph to it.