Fourteen-year-old Jaime Pappas lives with his mama in a small farmstead on the side of a mountain in the Air Kingdom. The Royal Decree based on a prophecy dictates that if any boy turns fourteen in the 15th year of the King's reign, they are to be put to death. Jaime sees this firsthand when they come for his brother, Hildas, and he is forced to watch as his brother is burnt to death on the pyre. The trauma of watching his brother burn unlocks a well of energy within him and he accidentally summons a banestorm; a furious, thunderous monster full of lighting and gales, determined to swallow the Air Kingdom whole. Now, Jaime Pappas has lost his family, gained Sage powers, and discovered that he may in fact be the King's son.

Firstly, this short synopsis doesn't really give the foundations of the story any justice, there is so much more to the story that my little description and I feel it is important to note. The story itself is rich in its descriptions and world-building, and it took me almost the entire book to really get to grips with the world that Jasmine Young has presented us readers with.

Stormfire is described as high-fantasy young adult, and is the embodiment of that description. I think this book will sit well with those who love epic story telling, a new world, and a young protagonist.

Jaime as a character was pleasing. Sometimes, I find that authors writing in the POV of a young teen do not quite nail that angst that is ever-present with puberty. Young writes Jaime's angst perfectly, each decision he takes is tentative, the pubescent rage is present, and the playfulness of youth is illustrated in Jaime's interactions with Toran and Lady Eridene.

Plot-wise, there are more twists and turns in this story than there are on the South Wales valley roads. It was a rollercoaster coursing with magic and mystery and at the helm was a young boy who doesn't have a clue how to direct rollercoasters. The missing rails on the rollercoaster track reflect the many enemies of the prophesied prince and the only tool he has at his disposal to keep us afloat is his access to elemental power. The ride as a whole left me as the reader breathless, suffering with an intense pit of emotion deep in my gut.

I think the only aspect that restricted this read from being a five star is that it felt like such a lot of information to take in, there's a part where Jaime is given a book by his brother that describes the origin of elemental powers and the different regions and I wish that key basics such as that were clear from the beginning. The fast paced writing and pretty much instant drama meant that there was not much time to digest how the Air Kingdom works. But, saying that, the awesome thing about having a knowledge-deprived protagonist is that we, as readers, get to learn alongside him. It was a tad overwhelming in the beginning and could have benefitted from refinement.

This series has never ending possibilities and I've already downloaded the next book to kindle, but I am in sore need of a breather before I dive back into this high-fantasy funfair of a book.

This had the feel of a classic YA fantasy which I know many adore. Essentially it's a coming of age story as the main character Jaime transitions from a quiet unassuming farming lad to a future King. With four kingdoms each representing a God that wields Air, Earth, Fire and Water and another more mysterious fifth kingdom the author introduces a world at war . Every boy child born in the same year as the Air Kings missing son is sanctioned for death. Jaime has never known that he has been fostered and along with his foster brother he suddenly finds himself in grave danger. Is it possible that he really is the rightful heir to the throne ? He is about to go on the adventure of a lifetime as he slowly comes to terms with the fact that his father is a monster who eventually he will be forced to challenge !
I very much liked that we saw this journey through Jaimes eyes as his thoughts charted the progression he makes as a character. He makes friends/allies along the way and if blunt I didn't care for how quickly he suddenly had such strong feelings for them . Without doubt this allowed the author to add moments involving Toran and Eridene that were lighter and if you enjoy the chummy relationship of say for example the Hogwarts type then you will enjoy this side of the story.
I do admit it felt a lot like the author was aiming to include a LGBT character as we were told that Eridene doesn't like males and then bam suddenly maybe she does which honestly felt like a complete turnaround.
The setting is almost Roman or Greek at times with a dash of Japanese thrown in so I was trying to imagine everything but occasionally struggled. There is action here but sadly I again struggled to imagine everything written in the theatre of my mind as vividly as I would like. This ends with Jaime definitely far more wary than he started as he is starting to question everything he has been told. I look forward to reading what happens next as war is definitely knocking at Jaimes door and I want to know more about the mysterious fifth kingdom and particularly Arrys who we meet here who is from it. All in all an interesting beginning to this new fantasy series.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

It started off a bit difficult to follow--a ton of names, terms, world-specific elements, and exposition/worldbuilding all at once without much time to process each new development.

BUT. Stick with it. because I PROMISE that it pays off. After the first few chapters (if you can keep all the names/titles straight!) the plot gets really interesting really quickly.

Snappy dialogue, a cohesive plot that moves quickly but not at an overwhelming pace (and doesn't sacrifice character arcs), and a writing style that balances detail and description make this the beginning of a series you can't miss!

Fourteen-year-old Jaime Pappas expects to live the remainder of his life on the chilly alps of the Air Kingdom. But he doesn't expect the king's men to arrive to his farmstead—or burn his brother for treason.

Forced to run, Jaime's world upends when he discovers a chilling prophecy that will call him to exchange his farmer’s cowl for a crown. Meanwhile, ancient nightmares are returning to the mortal world. Signs abound that the end of times is near. His true enemies might not be who they seem.

Torn between duty and his heart, he will have to decide whether he will learn to bend storms to stop the king...who also happens to be his long-lost father.

Can Jaime rise to liberate his kingdom—even if he must burn with the rest of his family?

Absolutely loved this novel. It gave me Game of Thrones/King Arthur vibes but with a whole lot of magic and excitement thrown in. Young has created the war torn country of Jaypes where tyrant Kings and quarrelsome rulers are vying for leadership and the local townspeople are seen as collateral damage, that is until… Jaime comes along.

I loved Young’s characters, particularly Jaime (the determined protagonist out to save his hometown and people). She creates solid relationships between the characters and throughout his entire quest I felt like I was with Jaime, fighting alongside him, sharing in his triumphs and suffering with his pain and disappointments.

Can’t wait to read the next story in the series.

#bookreviewsbymrsc #stormfire #jasmineyoung

I'm sorry it took me too long to pick this book up but I absolutely love this. The plot is brilliant and exciting the characters are likeable. Overall it's epic and I'll read the next installments as well

Thank you to the Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
This book kept me on my toes with all the twists and turns, I was hooked and had to find out what was going to happen. The magic system with the elements will satisfy those who are fans of ‘Avatar, The Last Airbender’. The POV from the MC Jamie gives the reader a real sense of the angst the teenager feels, and the development he makes as he gains life experience. I am looking forward to seeing where this series will go, especially the fifth kingdom shrouded in mystery.