This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic 
 The Brimstone Bleed - a secret, dangerous race, where a select few are chosen to compete. They all have someone close to them who is sick and are told if they win the race they will be given the cure to whatever ails them. Tella is fighting for her younger brother - he's been sick for awhile and no one knows what's wrong. He may be her annoying kid brother, but she would do anything to save him. 
 I instantly connected with Tella. Particularly her sense of humour. She has a very dark, sarcastic way of looking at the world, which is how I like my narrators. Her observations made me giggle more than once. Such as, 
 "Once, when we still lived in Boston, my mom took me to hot yoga. It's normal yoga but for masochists." 
 I also liked that she wasn't perfect, nor was she weak or timid. She was balanced - she had good characteristics, like her humour, her compassion, her empathy. And she had flaws, like her over-dependence on others and lack of assertiveness. And just because she was brave enough to compete in the Brimstone Bleed, doesn't mean she was brave all the time. In certain moments she was completely terrified but the important thing was she pushed through. So even though her actions sometimes annoyed and frustrated me she always felt realistic. 
 We're told the Brimstone Bleed will take place in four arenas - the jungle, the desert, the ocean and the mountain. This instalment deals with the jungle and desert portions of the race. I think that Victoria Scott used the settings to their full advantage. I had no trouble picturing the landscapes, the wildlife and the weather. The descriptions are great and the race is sure to come alive in your mind. The world-building beyond the settings however is a bit lacking. I have so many questions about the race itself, how it functions, why know one else in the world seems to know it's going on and the motivations behind the organizers. I suppose these questions could be answered in the next book, but it prevented me from suspending my disbelief and really getting into the story. I just couldn't accept that this race was taking place because some over-zealous scientists and that they were able to hide all trace of it from the rest of society. 
 And there's a boy. Because there's always a boy right? Guy is your typical survival type - jungle, desert, it doesn't matter. He's got this. I actually liked his character for the most part. Except that he was so knowledgeable and so capable that in my head he was older. Much older. Like army veteran older. So when the romance started to develop between him and Tella it totally threw me off. Scott does mention near the beginning of the book that he is about the same age as her, but despite that his characterization made him feel much more mature. I'm still not sure how I feel about this pairing. It wasn't horrible, and it didn't take over the story. But I think we could have done without it as well. 
 Through all the highs and lows of the book there was one thing that I loved above everything else - The Pandora's. Contenders are allowed to choose one Pandora (an egg) at the start of the race. Eventually they hatch and they have an animal companion. Animal companions are always a plus in my book. (I blame Disney movies). I think it would have been neat if their choice had somehow reflected their personality, rather than each person receiving a random animal. But regardless they still added an interesting and unique dimension to the story and many of the animals became my favourite characters. 
 Fire and Flood is a high concept, adventure story that I really wanted to love. But ultimately I found it a little rough around the edges. Tella and the Pandora's were great but the world-building and the tension weren't quite there and I had a hard time getting invested in the story itself as well as believing that any of it could happen. It's possible that the next book could address some of these concerns, but that might be too late for some readers.