ARC Review--Firebug by Lish McBride

Ava is a firebug—she can start fires with her mind. Which would all be well and good if she weren’t caught in a deadly contract with the Coterie, a magical mafia. She’s one of their main hitmen . . . and she doesn’t like it one bit. Not least because her boss, Venus, killed Ava’s mother. When Venus asks Ava to kill a family friend, Ava rebels. She knows very well that you can’t say no to the Coterie and expect to get away with it, though, so she and her friends hit the road, trying desperately to think of a way out of the mess they find themselves in. Preferably keeping the murder to a minimum, in Lish McBride's Firebug.

I received this ARC from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.


Lish McBride's Firebug was a story with an interesting premise. Ava is a firebug, and can basically control fire with the flick of a wrist or whatnot. But it makes her...no pun intended...a hot commodity and in turn, she must work for the supernatural mafia, so to speak, and kill whoever they tell her to. And when her next hit is a family friend, Ava refuses and all hell breaks loose.

While the story was interesting and had definite potential, I just never fully got invested in it. Ava was a great character though. She was very deep and had a history that we got to learn about through multiple flashbacks. Each flashback was somehow important to the story and gave us a little more detail about her. Ava and her mother were on the run from this mafia for ages, Ava's mother used to work for them, and knew they would want her daughter one day, so she ran and kept running for Ava's whole life. Until the day she was killed. Then Ava goes to her mom's friend Cade, who in turn raises her.

But naturally, the mafia got their hands on her and she was forced into employment. It wasn't all bad, as she met her best friends, Lock and Ezra there and the three of them became a team to go out on these assassinations.

I guess I was just expecting more to come from the story when Ava is told she has to kill a family friend. Ava's boss sees this friend of hers as being a threat and she wants him eliminated. And soon the story becomes a run away as fast as you can, then double back and plan on how to take the boss out.

I had just been hoping for more excitement from this one! The tension would be building up and then you just kind of crest along the path. There was no exciting thrill afterwards. I wouldn't say it was an entire letdown, but it was mildly disappointing.

Ezra though became a favorite character for me. He was a "pretty boy" but he was also funny! He always lightened whatever dire mood was about with just a few simple sentences and he wasn't even trying to be funny, at least I don't think he was! It was all in his attitude. Lock was another enjoyable character, he was more the silent and serious type, but he has heart. He cares for his friends and he teams up with Ava and her fight against the boss without hesitation or asking.

There was some romance in the book. Ava has a boyfriend and they are a rather cute couple. Although tensions run between them early on when a date turns sour. Then there's the tension just radiating between her and Lock that you wonder what kind of love predicament we'll be walking into. And really, matters only get more complicated as the story moves on.

Overall, Firebug was a decent read. But I can't say full heartedly that I would continue with this series. There was just something missing for me while reading it. The tension and pacing were good, but then the outcomes and reveals were just kind of mild. I was hoping for something a bit more exciting after such buildup. All in all, it was just an okay read.


Overall Rating 2.5/5 stars


Firebug releases September 23, 2014