Book Review: Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
Rating: 4/10
Overview:
Fate of Flames is the first book in the Effigies Trilogy by Sarah Raughley. It tells the story of four girls, each with the power of one element, who fight to protect the world from phantoms. These phantoms can appear out of nowhere, and the anti-phantom technological advancements of the world can't always fend them off. So it's up to Maia and her fellow Effigies to put their differences and daily drama aside to protect the human race.
As a Reader:
From a reader's perspective, this was not one of my favorite books. I only gave it a four because, to be completely honest, it was a little hard to get through. This was frustrating, especially since I have so little time to read anymore. When I finally find time to sit down with a book, I need it to grab onto me or I'll be more reluctant to take time out of my day to pick it up again. Unless a book sucks me in, reading it all the way through is a real chore, and this was just one of those books. It had good qualities of course. I liked the spin Raughley put on an apocalyptic world by making everyone pretty much go about their day to day lives despite the constant threat of phantoms waiting on the horizon. I also liked that the main character (Maia) wasn't some natural born warrior princess. She's completely untrained as an Effigy at the beginning of the book, and it shows. This makes her reactions to each crisis more believable since she's panicking just as much as everyone else. The beginning was great, it basically dropped me in the middle of a phantom attack with no idea what was going on. There was also a serious twist at the end that I did not see coming. I think the biggest reason it was so hard for me to slog through was the overwhelming amount of cliches. Every guy Maia met just happened to be gorgeous (with perfectly defined abs and soulful eyes). The secondary bad guys were stereotypically slimy. Maia's high school teacher was sweaty and had a combover. It was one thing after another that started to make me say, really, again? It was just unfortunate because the plot was unique and fairly interesting, but it felt bogged down by endless cliches.
As a Writer:
From a writer’s perspective, I found myself really focusing on these cliches and wondering if I had any in the stuff I'm working on now. People tell me all the time that reading bad books can be just as helpful as reading good books because they show you what NOT to do. Since this book was sort of half and half, I was able to pick out the things I liked and things I didn't, then compare both sides to my own writing. One aspect I paid special attention to was the ending. Since I'm writing a trilogy as well, I'm constantly thinking about how to keep the reader's attention at the end of one book so they pick up the next one. Fate of Flames JUST missed convincing me to pick up book two. The twist at the end was good enough that I considered reading the second one for a little while, but it didn't quite make up for the other things I didn't like about the book. I wasn't willing to slog through more cliche characters to see what happened plot-wise, and that is DEFINITELY not something I want readers to experience with my work. I've always thought characters were the anchor for any story, the piece your reader falls in love with the most. Fate of Flames really backed this up for me because no matter how strong the plot was, without characters I could love, the book fell through. It's a good reminder to keep the character's at the forefront of my mind while writing, and not get too carried away with crafting the perfect plot.
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