Series: Fire & Flood (bk. 2)
Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller
Subjects: survival, rainforests, deserts, animals,
races, contests, adventure
Setting: Ocean & snowy mountains
POV/Tense: 1st person POV present tense: Tella
Holloway
Age/Grade Level: Teen
Length: 313 pgs.
HC/PB: Hardcover
List Price: $17.99
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Summary/ product description: “What would you do to save
someone you love?
In Fire
& Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and
across the desert, all to remain a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed for a
chance at obtaining the Cure for her brother. She can't quit--she has to win
the race, save Cody, and then fight to make sure the race stops before it can
claim any more lives. In the next legs of the race, across the ocean and over
mountains, Tella will face frostbite, sharks, avalanche, and twisted new rules
in the race.
But what
if the danger is deeper than that? How do you know who to trust when everyone's
keeping secrets? What do you do when the person you'd relied on most suddenly
isn't there for support? How do you weigh one life against another?
The race
is coming to an end, and Tella is running out of time, resources, and strength.
At the start of the race there were one hundred twenty-two Contenders. As Tella
and her remaining friends start the final part of the race, just forty-one are
left--and only one can win.”
My Review: Salt
& Stone is the exciting sequel to Fire & Flood. The first book was set
in a rainforest and a desert. This book takes us across the sea and through the
mountains. This is not the final book like I originally thought. There will be
a third book. The series is thrilling and full of survival. The narrator,
Tella, is funny and quirky. This book is Hunger Games meet Survivor meets Pokémon,
but set in modern times instead of the future. The Pandoras are genetically
engineered animal that can help the contenders survive. The Pandora are so much
like Pokémon in that they came out of eggs and they have abilities. They can’t
put their Pandoras away, though.
Tella now not only has Madox (a fox that shape-shifts),
but a bear she calls Monster, and later gains a iguana. The whole point of this
race (The Brimstone Bleed) is that the winner gets the cure to the disease
infecting their loved one. Guy (what an odd name, unless you are Guy on the
food network) is Tella’s love interest. His Pandora is a lion (M-4). Guy’s goal
is to win and get invited to work for the Brimstone Bleed people and take down
the race. Tella agrees to help is she wins.
Now in the
ocean ecosystem, Tella, Guy, Harper, Olivia, Braun, Jaxon and 3 newer
characters board a pirate ship and set out on a course that it more difficult
that the previous challenges. Crossing
the ocean has different survival challenges. There are storms and sharks and
other dangers. Once in the mountain part of the race they get their first trues
taste of what it truly means to be freezing. Victoria plays with worst-case
scenarios, both the cliché and unthinkable ones. A few contenders even perish
due to unforeseen events.
This book is both fun in scary. I enjoyed it much more
than the Hungers Games. Tella is more relatable than Katniss since she’s a
contemporary girl and like to throw in some pop-culture and acts more feminine.
Although, she gave into the cliché acts of cutting her hair like most dystopian
heroines (Katniss kept her hair in a braid atleast). Tella reminded me of Tris
from Divergent at times to. She shows some selfless, reckless bravery even at
times. She also seemed to have a deep connection to her Pandoras. Tella’s
empathy may not be a superpower (even if I was hoping that she was special),
but her faith in the Pandoras made them better companions.
I recommend this series to those who like Pokémon/Digimon/Yugio
or other creature-battling animes, and survival books like The Hunger Games
& Under The Never Sky, and books about games or contests.
Cover Art Review: This cover is not better that the
previous cover. Sure, I love the blue but so many covers have eyes on them! I
wish that put the animals on the cover.
