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A review by shutupnread
The Sparks by Kyle Prue
4.0
Link: https://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-sparks-by-kyle-prue.html
Apparently this book won the YA best fiction in 2015 but for some reason, I must have completely overlooked it because I certainly do not recall ever laying eyes on this book at all. And for a book that won that award, it was so hard to find it on Goodreads. Usually I just search the book title but for this one, I had to actually search via author’s name to find it.
Anyways, enough about that, let’s move on with the actual book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I honestly wasn’t expecting to completely like it – I was more leaning towards simply liking the book but, I have to say, this book surprised me. While the characters could have used a bit more character development, I still appreciated their multi-faceted personalities. The plot was also highly entertaining and I found myself deeply immersed in the story. I also received this book via audiobook so maybe the narrator influenced me into enjoying the novel more. As I stated so often, the narrator’s job is so important – it can really make or break a book.
The whole family feud thing was quite interesting. I enjoyed reading about the various abilities that each family had: Vapros had the ability to teleport and turn their enemies into ash; Taurlum had the ability of extra strength and steel like skin; and Celerius had the ability to heal from anything and speed. Among those abilities, there were also “special abilities” such as causing your enemy to fall asleep or creating earthquakes, etc. The petty infighting was admittedly a bit childish; however, I did like how each of the characters from the different families managed to set their differences aside to achieve a common goal. It felt that the characters themselves really grew up and matured along the way so that was essentially the character development in its entirety.
Another aspect that I liked about in the book was the various POVs; however, there were a few times when I thought it was a little too much. Obviously for the main characters, I think they should rightfully have their own POVs but I recall there being a few perspectives from relatively side characters that, in my opinion, didn’t really further the book at all. It just honestly made the book a little more confusing when I just really wanted to focus on the main part of the story.
Overall, though, I really liked this book. I really want to read the second book in this series but none of my library carries it unfortunately. So until I find it somehow, I’m going to have to give this series a pause.
Apparently this book won the YA best fiction in 2015 but for some reason, I must have completely overlooked it because I certainly do not recall ever laying eyes on this book at all. And for a book that won that award, it was so hard to find it on Goodreads. Usually I just search the book title but for this one, I had to actually search via author’s name to find it.
Anyways, enough about that, let’s move on with the actual book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I honestly wasn’t expecting to completely like it – I was more leaning towards simply liking the book but, I have to say, this book surprised me. While the characters could have used a bit more character development, I still appreciated their multi-faceted personalities. The plot was also highly entertaining and I found myself deeply immersed in the story. I also received this book via audiobook so maybe the narrator influenced me into enjoying the novel more. As I stated so often, the narrator’s job is so important – it can really make or break a book.
The whole family feud thing was quite interesting. I enjoyed reading about the various abilities that each family had: Vapros had the ability to teleport and turn their enemies into ash; Taurlum had the ability of extra strength and steel like skin; and Celerius had the ability to heal from anything and speed. Among those abilities, there were also “special abilities” such as causing your enemy to fall asleep or creating earthquakes, etc. The petty infighting was admittedly a bit childish; however, I did like how each of the characters from the different families managed to set their differences aside to achieve a common goal. It felt that the characters themselves really grew up and matured along the way so that was essentially the character development in its entirety.
Another aspect that I liked about in the book was the various POVs; however, there were a few times when I thought it was a little too much. Obviously for the main characters, I think they should rightfully have their own POVs but I recall there being a few perspectives from relatively side characters that, in my opinion, didn’t really further the book at all. It just honestly made the book a little more confusing when I just really wanted to focus on the main part of the story.
Overall, though, I really liked this book. I really want to read the second book in this series but none of my library carries it unfortunately. So until I find it somehow, I’m going to have to give this series a pause.