Vanish

Gr 8—11—Jacinda is a draki—she can shift from human to dragon form on command. She's done the unthinkable—shown her true form to a human, and a hunter at that. But she did so to save his life, because she happens to be in love with him. Jacinda is rescued by her sister, who suddenly manifests her draki form for the first time, and by Cassian, son of the draki pride leader. Jacinda and her sister both have powers that have not been seen in the pride in several generations, and so they stand out—yet Jacinda repeatedly risks her life and the secrecy of the pride to be with Will. Resting on touches of a "Twilight" story line and the shape-shifting many-powered beings does not help this supernatural romance stand out of the pack. A sequel to Firelight (HarperCollins, 2010), it opens mid-action, leaving first-time readers feeling a bit left out. There is not enough character depth to believe Jacinda's obsessive school-girl love, and the setting is only lightly developed. The draki world may have been formed in the first book, but does not carry through to the second. The ending leaves no doubt that there is more to come. Purchase where there is a following for the first book.—Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada