Wicked Like a Wildfire

Gr 9 Up—In beautiful Montenegro, there are two sisters gifted with powers that can manipulate beauty: Iris makes glasswork inspired by the flowers around her, while Malina can create music based on the moods she senses. Jasmina, their cruel and distant mother, can bake scenery into the elaborate confections in her bakery. The unforgiving Jasmina has forbidden the girls to share their "gleams" with anyone. Kindhearted Malina continues to believe that their mother is protecting them somehow, but Iris, spirited and defiant, spends her evenings partying and ignoring her mother's threatening demeanor. However, when Jasmina is attacked by a stranger at the bakery, Malina and Iris are forced onto a journey that unearths a family curse. What follows is a wild ride of magic and family secrets leading to a discovery neither girl was expecting. For fans of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, readers will be greatly pleased with this debut novel. Popoviç mingles brilliant prose with sensory details that allows readers to smell the Montenegro breezes and see the beautiful old streets. The characterization is excellent: both girls are relatable and blatantly honest in their reactions toward their harsh mother. At the core of this novel is the love that still exists in a family filled with secrets and years of hurt. Nonetheless, the plot moves slowly in the beginning, making it hard to keep some readers enticed. If teens can move past this, they will be rewarded with a roller-coaster ride to the end.