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 It seems like every YA book is compared to The Hunger Games and Fire & Flood is no different. The thing is that Fire & Flood shares few similarities with Suzanne Collins's novel except for the fact that the main character joins a competition to protect a sibling. In fact, Fire & Flood is not dystopian fiction, rather it is an unique blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements. 
 Fire & Flood is about the Brimstone Bleed, a competition in which competitors race for a cure for any illness. Tella wants to help save her brother from his illness and she joins this insanely odd competition, which begins with selecting an egg. The Brimstone Bleed takes readers on a deadly journey and readers will absolutely love reading about the rich environment that Scott has created. 
 Victoria Scott is gifted at writing humorous dialogue and helps make Fire & Flood a fun read. Tella is a protagonist who isn't afraid to be herself and I loved reading about her little quirks. At times, Tella flip-flopped from being extremely entertaining to a bit on the annoying side with her whole attitude. Tella was like that friend who you love being around, but if you spend too much time with them you'll get overwhelmed by them. I wasn't a fan of the way Tella was so concerned with the way her hair looked and other trivial things about her appearance when the stakes are so dire. Hearing her complain about her appearance was exhausting and it made me question why anybody wanted to team up with her. Also I couldn't fathom why the competitors didn't question the loyalty of those who they teamed up, it seemed that one second after meeting, teammates were willing to risk their lives for each other. 
 Tella's character is really fleshed out, but I wanted to see more of the other characters' personalities. The problem with F&F is that there are so many characters and so few pages in which their characters are explored. Scott helps readers understand each characters' motives, but we never really learn anything significant beyond that. I really wanted to know more about Tella's brother and the bond that they shared because I felt that too little time was devoted to this. Also what's up with Guy Chambers? Everytime I read his name I felt like his name sounded like a fancy term for the Mens' Room and I truly wished that we learned more about this enigmatic character. I understand that Guy is somewhat of a mystery, but I feel like holding back on info regarding him didn't work in Scott's favor. 
 The plot of Fire & Flood burns by at such a quick pace and the reader is quickly drawn into this tale. As with most action-packed thrillers, the character development is minimal and there is more of a focus on the Competition. The whole idea of the Competition feels a bit ridiculous, but in order to appreciate the plot, I just had to roll with it. I loved the way Scott made the competition so intense and high stakes for our main character, Tella. This is life or death and her brother's life hangs in the balance. I devoured Fire & Flood and the action scenes were completely engrossing, but the plot has quite a few illogical plot holes. 
 The Pandoras are these creatures that hatch from the eggs the competitors chose and they serve as companions. After reading Fire & Flood, I want my own Pandora immediately because they were incredibly epic. Who wouldn't want a pet that had all sorts of super-powers? Including the pandoras was an incredible move on Scott's part and I think that the pandoras shine more their human counterparts. 
 The romance in F&F was acceptable, but there wasn't anything that made it different from any other YA romance. It didn't interest me and frankly, I couldn't root for Guy and Tella at all. I didn't like either character enough to care, to even feign an interest in the romance. 
 Fire & Flood is a fast read with mediocre romance, character development, and a simple plot line. Victoria Scott's latest isn't the best fantasy read out there, but it's definitely a fun guilty-pleasure kind of read. I'm extremely excited for book #2, despite my ambivalent feelings regarding Fire & Flood and I'm curious to see what happens next. I hope there is more explanations regarding the Brimstone Bleed and that the romance and character arcs are better explored.