Young Adult Review: Scorched by Mari Mancusi

Scorched by Mari Mancusi

Hardcover, 352 pages (I read an e-arc)

Expected Publication: Sept. 3rd, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire

Source: Publisher

Trinity
Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...

Connor
He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world.

Caleb
He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.

Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed.

 

I was so excited to read this book, I just love dragon books and this one sounded fantastic!  Unfortunately the book didn't live up to my expectations though I did enjoy some aspects of it. 

The story line and idea of it all is great, I really loved the whole concept and the story itself.  The mysteries unfolded pretty well and I wasn't really able to predict things most of the time.  There's a lot of questions about who's right and who's wrong and it's easy to be swayed by both sides.  I felt like it was one of those things where both groups are right, and both are wrong.  They just need to find a better way to approach it.  Clearly dragons ruin our earth in the future, but there's a possible explanation for that, or why dragons did that.  So should we just stop the whole thing so there are no dragons, ever?  It's easy to say yes to that.  Until you actually meet the dragon.  And then you get another story and see how maybe it's possible to not end up like that.  There are twists and turns and reasons for everything, and I enjoyed the ride waiting to see where we ended up.  

My biggest issues with the book were that I didn't connect with the characters.  I didn't dislike Trinity, but I didn't like her either.  I felt disconnected from my emotions in general while reading the book.  I didn't have a favorite brother and felt pretty much nothing when it came to the romance, which was a love triangle and one that I definitely don't like. I could possibly even rant a bit about the romance, but I don't think it'll tell you anything knew, so I'll just leave it where it is.  And the fact that I just don't really have anything to say about the characters at all definitely tells you something.  

I've struggled a bit with the rating for this book.  The total disconnect with the characters and even just not feeling much emotion when reading really speaks volumes, but I still think this book had so much potential to be great.  The whole concept of it all is brilliant, I just wasn't feeling it.  So I think maybe 2.5 stars would be my most accurate rating, but I'll round it up to 3.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book free of charge for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.