Hidden
by Sophie Jordan
Series: Firelight #3
Publication date: 11 September 2012
HarperTEEN, Hardcover, 260 pages
Source: Library
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WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FIRELIGHT AND VANISHED.
Jacinda was supposed to bond with Cassian, the “prince” of their pride. But she resisted long before she fell in love with Will—a human and, worse, a hunter. When she ran away with Will, it ended in disaster, with Cassian’s sister, Miram, captured. Weighed down by guilt, Jacinda knows she must rescue her to set things right. Yet to do so she will have to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory.
The only way Jacinda can reach Miram is by posing as a prisoner herself, though once she assumes that disguise, things quickly spiral out of her control. As she learns more about her captors, she realizes that even if Will and Cassian can carry out their part of the plan, there’s no guarantee they’ll all make it out alive. But what Jacinda never could have foreseen is that escaping would be only the beginning….
Loyalties are tested and sacrifices made in the explosive conclusion to Sophie Jordan’s Firelight trilogy.
Rating: ★★★
First thing’s first, I need to make it clear that I loved Firelight when I read it two years back. Which is why I find it so sad that I didn’t enjoy Hidden as much. Truthfully, I had not been crazy over the sequel, Vanish, either. Maybe it’s just that after reading 200+ books, my tastes has changed?
Anyway, Hidden is the last book in the Firelight trilogy by Sophie Jordan. It is about drakis (half human, half dragon) and revolves around the protagonist’s, Jacinda’s, life. I unfortunately found myself frustrated at Jacinda in many parts of the book. I mean, there were countless times when she couldn’t figure out things (which I shall not mention in the name of spoilers) any normal person can, let alone a fire-breathing draki. However, Jacinda still amazes me at times with her selflessness.
As for Will and Cassian, I did not really pick a side. Both of them had their flaws and good attributes. With Cassian, he could be a serious jerk at times in the previous two books but in the end, aren’t bad boys kind of hard to resist? While with Will, I found him a little too perfect. He’s always so understanding, caring and just plain perfect, it got pretty annoying and unrealistic. However, by the end of the book… Will finally grew a backbone!
Moving on to the plot. I’ve always found the idea of drakis original, interesting & fascinating. However, I wished the story was less predictable. Predictability can ruin a whole book and it came close to that with this one. I also wished Ms. Jordan didn’t leave so many loose ends untied, it sort of felt like she just wanted to get the trilogy over with. I wanted to know more about what exactly happened to Jacinda’s father because I have this ‘don’t believe someone’s dead unless described explicitly’ policy with books. Moreover, I also hoped whatever happened at the end with Cassian and Jacinda was more well explained.
Some other comments is that I really loved the introduction of a particular draki for Tamra. She might have been a pain in Firelight but she had her reasons and I truly believed she deserves happiness. The conclusion of the book was pretty abrupt and actually, the length of the whole book was shockingly short (260 pages) compared to the other two books, making it seem that Ms. Jordan just wanted to get the trilogy done and over with.
In conclusion, I’m quite disappointed with Hidden. I was hoping the trilogy would end off with a bigger bang so Hidden definitely pulled down my interest in the entire trilogy. I’m also unsure whether I would read anymore books by Sophie Jordan but you never know.
A Page of Heaven 