4 out of 4 stars
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Fireflies is the first book in the Fireflies Trilogy written by Melissa Koberlein. Fate causes two completely different souls to cross paths when Will discovers Marley. She is the one he has been searching for. Not entirely human, Will harbors tiny aliens inside of his body which gives him special powers. Only certain humans are able to host these magnificent creatures within themselves, and Marley is one of the special ones. Impulsively, Will secretly marks Marley to let others know that she is being tracked and recruited by him. As he gets to know her, he begins to fall for her.
Marley herself is drawn to the handsome seventeen-year-old boy with green lights in his eyes. She falls for the mysterious new student and is determined to find out all of his secrets. Why does being around him make her dizzy? What about the strange mark on her shoulder? Does it have anything to do with the strange piece of meteorite she found in her backpack? The pair goes through a tumultuous relationship, especially when Marley learns that she may have to give up everything and everyone to become an alien host, but more importantly to even be with Will.
The premise of this teen novel successfully blends romance and sci-fi. It was an enjoyable read and I was hooked from the beginning to the end. The romance is mild, but it is perfectly paced for teenagers and young adults. The sci-fi aspect of the book was also interesting. It stimulated my imagination as I read, and I found myself brainstorming ideas as to how the alien life forms could function to further enhance human lives. This also added a unique mysteriousness to the alien characters. Will and his family reminded me of the Cullens from the Twilight series since they had supernatural talents like clairvoyance, telekinesis, and slow aging.
Despite it being a romance story, the author also included a villain. He was a different type of alien host - one who used his abilities to turn his subordinates into slaves. When he caught Marley, the book morphed into a full-blown suspense. This made the premise very exciting. It became a real page-turner and I could not put it down as I was scrambling to find out what would happen next. In addition to that, more secrets surrounding Marley’s compatibility with the alien creatures were divulged. This directly impacted the romance between her and Will. These were both unpredictable and surprising. I always like being surprised while reading a book, so I enjoyed this twist immensely.
This book hardly contained any errors. I only found one sentence in which an article was missing. Overall, I am happy to give Fireflies a 4 out of 4 rating! Teen romance readers will devour this book. Fans of Twilight and The Host will also enjoy this book.
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Fireflies
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