Choice Book Report #4 (And sadly the last)...

Firelight: Sophie Jordan
By: Caysi Simpson
The book I chose to read for my choice book report was the book Firelight, by Sophie Jordan. First of all, before I begin, I just want to say that this book was AMAZING!! All fingers up!! Anyways, the main character’s name is Jacinda. On the outside she normally looks like a regular teenage girl, but she holds a dark secret. Jacinda is normal height with fiery red hair, the kind a lot of people dye to get. The first personality I would describe for Jacinda is that she is very passionate. She is passionate for a couple of things. One thing Jacinda is passionate about is her secret. Jacinda is a draki, a type of dragon. And after her surroundings change, Jacinda will do anything to keep her draki alive within her. She is passionate about the powers it gives her, and most of all the freedom. Not only that, but she has to keep it a secret, so she is passionate about keeping her lips sealed; otherwise her draki (and possibly her) will be killed. Secondly, she is passionate about a boy named Will. She thinks about him constantly, and will put herself in danger to be with him. For example, her mother ORDERED her, with no hesitation, to stay home and not go on her date with Will. But Jacinda just snuck out the window, even though she knew there would be consequences later. The second characteristic of her is that she is daring/reckless, which isn’t the best thing. An example is in the beginning of the book, she risked transforming into a draki in daylight even though she knew that the hunters would be looking to kill her. She risked her life for a little moment of happiness. Lastly, she is ignorant. Not only of herself, but of the ones she cares about. There were instances in the book when I would be upset with her because it seemed like she didn’t care if everyone around her was miserable, just as long as she was happy. When she went into hiding with her mortal human mother and sister, they were happy. They were finally getting the normal life they’d always dreamed about. But Jacinda was miserable, she couldn’t transform into a draki, and she felt trapped. She kept risking voyages so she could transform, which put her mother and sister in danger. It made her happy, and she didn’t seem to care about anything but that.
I think that the author chose to put it in Jacinda’s point of view not only because the book is about her, but because I don’t think you would fully understand the plot of the book if it weren’t in Jacinda’s point of view. You wouldn’t feel the emotions that were intended. It was important to have the story be from her point of view because you need to know the situation she was living in. You needed to understand how trapped she felt, how going into hiding took every strength in her body, how if she took one wrong step, her life would be in jeopardy. If it were from anyone else’s point of view, the book wouldn’t be the same. First of all, because whenever something dangerous was happening to Jacinda, the author explained in detail how her heart would pound, how her breathing would halt, and how her thoughts would race. I think the author put it in Jacinda’s point of view because if it weren’t in Jacinda’s point of view, then you wouldn’t really get to KNOW her. You wouldn’t know the thoughts that echoed through her mind. In my opinion, if you don’t know Jacinda, then you won’t fully get the book plot. At the very beginning of the book, when Jacinda is going against rules to be a draki in daylight, it is extremely important to have the book be from her point of view. When she turns draki, the hunters see and start to chase her. It explains in Jacinda’s words and thoughts how she must use her instincts, strength, and control to escape alive. If it were written in the hunters’ point of view, then all you’d get out of it is that it’s a wild chase for a so called “mythical” creature that’s skin would look great on your furniture. If it were written in the hunters’ point of view you wouldn’t know that drakis are harmless creatures just longing for freedom. And if it were just the authors point of view and no characters’, then you wouldn’t understand the emotions of ANY character, which I think would make the book way more boring because you wouldn’t be able to fully visualize what’s happening, or feel what the character was feeling. Sophie Jordan did an amazing job in writing this book, but sadly I have to wait till September 2011 for the sequel to come out.
This is 821 words long!