Firebug

Starred review from August 1, 2014
An indentured magical assassin just wants a little peace with her chosen family. Firebug Ava, who can set fires with her mind, has been on the run her whole life. When Ava's firebug mother became pregnant, she did the unthinkable and fled from the supernatural mob, raising Ava on the road for years, always in hiding. But nobody escapes the Coterie alive, and Ava's mom was no exception. Orphaned, Ava lives with her mother's human childhood sweetheart in rural Maine. She's allowed to stay in Maine only on the condition of her loyalty to Venus, the Coterie's bloodthirsty vampire leader. Along with her two best friends, also unwilling Coterie employees, Ava's an unpaid assassin. Ava, Ezra, a werefox, and Lock, a handsome dryad, are Venus' enforcers, putting down any supernaturals foolish enough to challenge Venus' power. As long as Ava does the bloody work, she and her loved ones are left alone-but what happens when Venus demands something Ava simply won't do? Ava's exhausted despair, her love for her found family and her coldly practical choices are pre-existing conditions, and the moral decisions she makes are surprisingly nuanced. Deeply enmeshed with a magical world and its impossible choices before readers ever meet her, Ava and her wholly believable despair are a refreshing change from the endless parade of naive heroines found elsewhere. (Fantasy. 14-16)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-'Having the ability to start fires with your mind is all fun and games until those powers are used against you. Ava's firestarter capabilities are at the mercy of a mystical mafia called the Coterie-a group that killed her mother and is now set on assassinating one of the only people she cares for. Few have gone against the will of the Coterie and survived. McBride's follow-up to the popular "Hold Me Closer Necromancer" series maintains her trademark dark humor and engaging, quippy characters. The book exists in the same universe, and possesses the same feeling of incredibly high stakes from the beginning. In some ways, this is a deficit. That the stress and danger of the story are present from the first chapter occasionally leads to anxiety fatigue, and McBride leans heavily on early exposition to establish the suspenseful mood. However, readers looking for a fast-paced narrative will undoubtedly be satisfied with the rollicking plot and its riffs on the classic formula of rebels on the lam. Hand this to fans of her previous series and readers who enjoyed Catherine Jinks's The Reformed Vampire Support Group (Houghton Harcourt, 2009).-Erinn Black Salge, Saint Peter's Prep, Jersey City, NJ

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 When your boss is the same woman who put a hit on your mom, it can really strain workplace relationships. Half-human, half-firebug Ava inherited her pyrokinetic abilities from her mother, who did everything she could to hide them from Venus, vampire ruler of Boston's supernatural mafia, the Coterie. Forced into service after her mother's death, Ava is now the Coterie's reluctant resident assassin. But when her next assignment turns out to be eliminating the closest thing she has to a grandfather, Ava refuses, even if defying Venus means signing her own death warrant. The first in what promises to be another popular series, McBride draws upon her talent of spinning entertaining and suspenseful tales that are fresh, fun, and very droll. Much of the dialogue is devoted to the verbal sparring between Ava and her two wingmengorgeous man-fox Ezra and the smoldering half-dryad Lockkeeping the mood light, even as events turn deadly serious. The final resolution is satisfying but entices readers with hints of action and romance in forthcoming volumes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)