THE MARK OF FALLEN FLAME

A teenager must grapple with an epic battle of good versus evil in this debut YA fantasy.

Seventeen-year-old Emma Duvall and her mother, a surgeon, have always moved a lot, but the teen doesn’t ask too many questions. As Emma approaches her high school graduation, Seattle is feeling like home; it’s the first place the pair has set down roots. Things are great until Emma starts seeing supernatural creatures with shining eyes, but the biggest surprise is her mysterious ability to fight them. During combat, she “drank their power” until her eyes glowed green and they were vanquished. Add in the new boys Rowek Zennett, who is “gorgeous in a dangerous way,” and Blaze Thomas, who is hunting him, and life just got extremely complicated. They each tug Emma’s heart in a different way and seek her allegiance along with her power. It’s unclear whether they want to protect her or merely possess her. When Emma finally gets some answers, an ancient battle between demons and the warriors who seek to eradicate them on Earth is revealed. Either Rowek or Blaze could be a demon, but they only tell stories that suit themselves, so Emma can’t trust anyone, her mother included. Until the origin of Emma’s amazing ability and how her mother’s enigmatic past figures into it become clear, the teen can’t follow her heart toward love or desire. As a first-time author, Matsen already wields impressive worldbuilding chops. In this scintillating series opener, the newly unfurled clash between Rowek and Blaze is smoothly and satisfyingly fleshed out, although the power struggle among different demon generals who command various underlings becomes confusing. There’s also no shortage of romantic tension, at times pushing the boundaries of what some parents will be comfortable with in a YA novel. Emma’s mother is the biggest weakness, feeling one-dimensional and absent, although this is somewhat explained by her duties as a surgeon. But Emma’s burgeoning power and her fantastical love triangle set the stage for an intriguing conflict in the next volume, one that readers will be eagerly anticipating.

A captivating tale of a teen torn between two loves and threatened by demons.