3,5 stars. 
 I enjoyed this book way more that I could've imagined when I started it. 
 I started it, knowing how it had a lot of similarities to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. And it did. The competition, there can only be one winner, trying to save a sibling, etc. And I believed that I'd hate this book while reading it because of those similarities. Or at least I would just give this book 1 star, shrug and never look at it again. But I didn't. If anything, I quite liked the story, and at the same time I had my problems with it. And here's why. 
 (From this point on there might be spoilers!) 
 First of, Fire and Flood is about a sixteen year old girl named Tella Holloway, who gets a mysterious invitation to participate in the Brimstone Bleed, a competition in which the victor can inquire the Medicine, a medicine that can apparently cure the 'unknown, uncurable' disease her brother is dying from. When hearing this, Tella doesn't have any doubts and just goes for it. I won't go into detail about how she got to the race, all you need to know is that she has to pick up her Pandora, an egg that will hatch into an amimal with "powers" (Honestly not the best nor most interesting powers in my opinion) that will help her during the race. 
 What I liked about this book is: 1. the pace is has. It's a quick read and most chapters and with (small) cliffhangers that leave you wanting more. 
 2. Tella. God, she was such a girly-girl to me, and normally that wouldn't be an MC I'd like to read about. But Tella was different. Her stupid comments about nail polish, massages and hygiene made me laugh so much. I don't know how Scott did it, but she made Tella so likeable for me that I started rooting for her after the first page. The other thing I liked about Tella, was that she was just a girl. No surviving skills, no badass, not necessarily brave (although she becomes braver during the book) no anything. She acts the way I would probably act when I would participate in such a competition. She basically runs around and tries not to die, following people and making friends so they can survive this race together. For me, this made the story quite realistic. 
 3. Madox. O my god, Madox you cute little thing. Tella's Pandora is adorable. That's it. 
 In overal the story wasn't bad, it was likeable and a good read, but it just wasn't refreshing. It did feel like reading a different kind of Hunger Games. I just missed something new to this story that would make it different from al the other books I've read that have a competition of some sorts in them. 
 Besides this, I didn't care for most characters in the book, besides Harper whom seemed to be the only one quite interesting. And don't get me started on Guy. He's alright, to be honest, but he wasn't 'Mysterious' in any why if you'd ask me, although Scott wants us to think of him like mysterious. Honestly it felt like Tella needed a love interested and Scott decided to throw in a "hot" guy with a troubled, unknown past. Perhaps it was because Guy didn't interest me very much, that the romance in the novel didn't capture my interests either. If anything, it felt rather awkward and forced to me. (Like that scene in the desert where they're hugging, I really didn't understand why Scott put this in, it felt so awkward.) If the romance would've taken longer to develop throughout the book, it might have been better for me. 
 My biggest problem with the book was that the Brimstone Bleed wasn't explained very well. I only got to find out who made it and why it was created in the first place. But why is it still being held? And by whom? I hope to find out more in Salt and Stone, so fingers crossed. Most of this book felt like a setup towards the second one, so I'll definitely be reading it. 
 All I can say, is that if you wanna give it a try, you should. Find out for yourself if it's something you're looking for. Personally, I don't mind it when a book is similair to a book I've read before, like The Hunger Games, as long as it's enjoyable. And Fire and Flood was, together with a great MC and an okay plot. I just hope Salt and Stone will show me where this series differs from the others.