Wildfire

by Shania Renaud

The Northern Forest has been left untouched for generations of humans for one simple reason - elves. They're reclusive and mysterious, and haven't bothered interacting with human communities for longer than anyone can remember. When a party is sent out to scout the mysterious forest for long left untouched resources however, Lucian finds himself surrounded by more elves than he could ever have wanted - mostly because he's their captive. The suspicious and pouty elf in charge of him isn't exactly friendly, but at least he isn't cruel. When it comes down to it, maybe that's just why Lucian can't leave him for dead when the tables are turned.

Genres: Fantasy, LGBT, M M Romance, Fantasy Romance, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Queer

493 pages, Paperback

Published August 3, 2020

Reviews

[buwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Which I guess isn't too bad a score for a book with no synopsis on its Goodreads page. I added this mostly because I just really liked the cover art. It made me think this was going to be a fantasy featuring East Asian-inspired elves and elf culture, which has been something I've desperately been craving. I'll get to how that turned out in a second. As a warning: this book contains depictions of graphic violence, death, sexual assault, nonconsensual body modification, human trafficking, internalized homophobia, and sexuality.

This story is about Lucian: a young and green militiaman whose job is about as entertaining as standing in a corner preventing bar fights can be. When the city decides to send Lucian and his fellow militia into the Northern Forest: a place that has been avoided since time immemorial, he jumps at the chance for a little excitement in his mundane life. But the Northern Forest is off-limits for a reason: the elves. Reclusive and thought by some to be nothing more than a fairy tale, Lucian and his team venture into the forest expecting to find nothing more than some wild animals and big trees. However, they soon find that the elves are alive and well and very unhappy about human intruders in their home. Abandoned by his fellow humans and surrounded by elves who take him prisoner, Lucian bides his time and holds out hope for escape as he waits for the torture to begin. But it never does. His unfriendly captor, Jaemyun, is cold but not cruel. And when the tides turn and Lucian finds himself in Jaemyun's shoes, he finds he cannot turn his back on him.

1. Plot's Pretty Standard
This plot is definitely nothing groundbreaking: it's the typical case of an outsider is shown a culture that values nature and they're shown why that one is a beautiful way of life and not as savage as they've been led to believe. Glimpses of the elf culture are shown, just enough to paint the picture we need but nothing too crazy: the elves live in the forest in trees, they grow and hunt their own food, and they talk to the forest. Pretty normal elf-y stuff, and as an elf lover, I was pretty into it.

2. The Asian Elves
I want to talk about the reason I picked this book up in the first place: the beautiful cover art. Asian-inspired elves are something I would really love to see in more media, and with this cover, I thought I was getting exactly that. However, I don't like to be presumptuous, so I was open to this not being the case and instead was going to try and piece together what culture the elves were based on by what I could find in the text. Granted, there's not a whole lot pointing this into the direction of being Asian-inspired elves other than the way their physical features are described, a couple of very minor cultural things mentioned, and Jaemyun's name sounding really Korean. That said, I'll be discussing this next part WITH IN MIND the idea that these elves are meant to be interpreted as East Asian-inspired.

⚠️ Keep in mind that the author's bio in every place I've searched is blank and there is no official website for the author or this book at the time I'm writing this, so I know nothing about this author's background. I'm not accusing this author of racism or aggression, intentional or otherwise. This is purely for review's sake to point out something that stood out to me as an Asian American reader that others may not have noticed. It is something to think about, nothing more. ⚠️

This scene takes place as Lucian and his men are being ambushed, and Jaemyun (at this point an unknown person to Lucian) attacks Lucian:

At first, he thinks he's being overpowered by a woman. The elf's expression may not be cordial, but they are undeniably beautiful, breathtakingly so. Hooded eyes are alight with fire, colored a dark brown that seems to be molten with an adrenaline rush that is no doubt similar to Lucian's in the moment. Their nose is wide and flat, and though it's twisted in a grimace their mouth is magnificent. Naturally pink flushed lips are thick and soft, maybe sultry when the owner of the face in question isn't seemingly trying to crush a person's skill between their palm and the ground.

The savage elf trying to subdue him is gorgeous and soft, but no... the jaw is too sharp, the brow too is too strong. Gorgeous and soft and equal parts masculine as he is feminine. Androgyny at its best.

Despite what I'm about to complain about, I'm actually pretty pleased to hear these features described in a way that is pleasant and desirable. However, where this becomes a bit of a concerning theme to me is the way that the book keeps emphasizing that Jaemyun looks like a woman. There are also several instances emphasizing how small Jaemyun is compared to the humans around him. I really wish that there were other elves besides the one half-human half-elf character we get and the elf who chooses to pass as a human and doesn't get much of a physical description. This very well could be a "Jaemyun thing" and not an "elf thing," but since Jaemyun is the only clear picture of an elf we get, I guess it could be either.

The feminization of East Asian men is an issue that affects a lot of East Asian diaspora. At first glance, this doesn't really seem like an issue, but its purpose is to emasculate the East Asian man and elevate others, particularly white men, as being more masculine and more desirable (to women). There is also a concerning amount of fetishizing of East Asian men as "just as good as a girl," so to speak, because of this. With this in mind, Jaemyun's beauty, size, and androgyny are used to emphasize his sexual appeal and play a huge part in his being later captured and sold for sex slavery. He is later physically and sexually violated many times by multiple people, and his gender is brought up multiple times alongside the general sentiment of it not mattering "what it's packing" because you can't tell what "it" is anyway.

That said, there's nothing wrong with having a protagonist that is just beautiful and straddles the line between masculinity and femininity, and perhaps I'm scrutinizing something that isn't there. But these things combined, it definitely starts to smell a little suspicious from the lens of someone who's heard time and time again about men of their race being sexualized for their femininity and size. Were this a story about an all-Asian-adjacent cast, this wouldn't stand out so much, but I get the feeling of the elves being the Asian culture and the humans being the European culture. Take that as you will.

3. Good Soup
All that said, I actually ended up enjoying the book overall. This book really relies on its characters to drive the story, and by the ended I enjoyed most of the characters we met.

Lucian's inexperienced but good-hearted attitude and hope to do right by Jaemyun.
Jaemyun's quick wit, dry humor, and total badassery.
Artis's friendly and warm demeanor with a dash of being a crybaby.
The adorable dynamic of the gregarious Bolaine and stoic Tenin.
Even Septimus and his love for ficus.

This isn't exactly a cast overflowing with characters, but the ones who are here do grow on you. The scenes between Jaemyun and Lucian are really cute and their banter together is enjoyable right from their unfortunate first meeting. If you're here to get any sexy action from these two, you won't find it here, but watching them get together and dance around the tension building between them is plenty for me.

TLDR: Fun, easy, cute. The handful of things I squinted at or side-eyed doesn't outweigh how much I enjoyed reading Jaemyun and Lucian getting together. I'll probably end up picking this one up for a reread, 3 to 3.5 stars for now.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turns out this is one of those unfortunate cases where the best thing about the whole book is its cover.

This reads more like an early draft than a novel ready for publication - the worldbuilding is barely there, with the language used sounding entirely too modern and doing nothing whatsover to convey a sense of time and place consistent with the world this is supposed to be set in, the characters are both underdeveloped and all over the place, and the whole thing is in desperate need of an editor. There could be a good story in here somewhere, but it needs a lot more work.

[Ashleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

i liked this but the writing was very odd. sometimes i couldn't tell who's perspective it was because it would just switch randomly

[julia ✪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐3.5

[Kiri Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book could definitely use a bit of copyediting in terms of story placement, POV shifts, etc. it was a very good book. You can tell in areas that this is self published, specifically at the start of the novel. It has a very cliché and awkward start, but as the story progresses so do the characters. There are some definite plot holes, such as the captivity scenes where it seems a bit underwhelming for being so much of the plot. Some reviews mentioned potholes in basic needs, but I assume it is meant to be a "common sense" situation where the author assumes the reader understands that he most likely had a toilet in the tent or something. Though I do agree with the reviews, this would have been an excellent plot point where we could see maybe the drastic fear of the elves of letting him go to the restroom outside the tent and could see some interesting character development from Jae reacting to the bathroom situation.

Further along I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Plot holes didn't really matter later on in the story as they were not essential and the writing was very well done. At specific points later in the book I did feel pity and empathy for both MC's and it made my heart yearn for their success.

Overall a well written story and a must read for those who enjoy a slow romance development between men.

[Alastair · Rating 3 out of 5]

M/M, hea, human/elf, slow burn, KU, single pov? (Sorta)
Cw: mentions of human trafficking

The bones of this story are good. The writing style is a bit strange and while the story is mostly told from the perspective of Lucian, a human, it sort of jumps around. I admit there were certain parts I glossed over because the beginning was a slow start. We meet Lucian who is a human guard who seems to do what needs to be done and nothing more. He wants more, but no one else in his city ever does more with their life. Not that he's seeking excitement, but the monotony of the day to day seems to have run down his spirit. The mayor of his city wants to send some guards to inspect the forest for any sort of materials for harvesting and that's where things go awry. There were so many moments where I felt scared and choked up right along with the characters and I think that is a good sign that the book has something going for it. While it isn't something I'd usually read, I am glad I did. This book seemed to find me when I needed it.

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, i think the reviews were way too harsh for this book.

Was the book extremely wordy with alot of additional and unneeded information and internal dialogue? yes absolutely but was it so bad that if affected the writing ? not at all

My only issue with this book was with how fast the relationship between them progressed during the last few chapters instead of over the coming of the book, like it was obviously they found each other attractive but it went from not trusting each other, to sort of trusting him, to this huge traumatic experience and then full trust and love ?!

I also didn’t like the slave segment at all, it was so unnecessary and so icky to read about, i felt so bad and just dreaded reading it, especially how it effected him after and how much he struggled.
you don’t need to assault your characters in order to “dehumanize” them yknow.

but overall this book was good, the angst and drama was to die for and felt so heartbreaking to read.

[Diomaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an amazing book! I couldn’t put it down as I always needed to know what was happening next! I enjoyed the slow burn. Everything made sense and I also got invested in other characters as they were described so warmly. I genuinely enjoyed this book and would read another one by you, thank you!

[將薇 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm 93.67% sure this was originally a BTS fanfic, which is completely fine, but unfortunately it still reads like one. The writing is juvenile and I highly doubt it was professionally edited before release, but the basic story is interesting if a bit simple. Jaemyun's complete 180 personality change was a bit jarring, and the ending is pretty abrupt. All in all not terrible, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[Lisa Tobleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad but not great

As far as BL love stories go this is is about average. The biggest issue is with how much this story could use a good editor. Far too much passive telling and not enough showing. The story is confusing in parts because the voice changes mid page, for no apparent reason other than to narrate something in Jay’ head before returning to Luci’s POV. It also suffers from what I call narrative impatience. There is a decision to be made: is this a fluff romance or meant to be serious? If it’s fluff then the lack of depth and character development is fine. It can be a bit of light wish fulfillment with magic thrown in randomly and with poorly mapped out cities because ultimately they don’t matter. However, if it is supposed to be more serious, the story needs more time and space to develop. Escape shouldn’t be that easy, nor should everything be so conveniently easy to achieve. A ring just given because “let me pay it forward”. Inns where a screaming child is soothed by a stranger. And for the record No Mom would allow a stranger to come in the middle of the night and handle their child. Five scouts being sent into a haunted elf forest on their own to what? Pick blackberries? Also, what the heck are modern references like “Stockholm Syndrome” doing in a period fantasy piece? Anyhow, I’m being pretty generous with my three star rating but it’s not high fantasy and I was able to finish it in under two hours.

[Sara Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally don’t write reviews, but since this book has so few reviews, I decided to write one. I loved the story and the characters! We don’t get a whole cast of characters, but the characters we do get are nicely developed and we really get to know them. You can tell this book is more character centered/driven than plot driven, but there still is a plot, it just takes a while to get to that part of the story. This isn’t a bad thing, as we get spend a lot of time getting to know the main character and his jailer/love interest before the crazy stuff starts. I enjoyed the pacing of the book, and the overall themes and story. And oh my gosh, the romance and tension was everything! I am very tempted to give this book 5 stars (I rate books high often, as I rate them based mainly on personal enjoyment), but I do have to give it 4 stars as there were some issues with the writing. Many times, the writing did not flow the best, which made it a tad bit hard to understand at times. Also, there were times where a sentence could have really used a comma. Overall, solid story/plot, nice set of characters, it is just the writing that could use some improvement.

[K.B. Broday · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH. MY. GOD.

Look, I saved this book because the cover reminded me of Jimin and it was LGBTQ, boy am I happy I did.
The cute banter, amazing descriptive world building, and wonderfully unique characters stole my heart. I will admit that, at first, I was was a bit impatient and wanted the story to pick up. But once I wished for it, the book delivered.
I loved that the author easily evoked my empathy and my laughter throughout the book. The characters even had a strong chemistry that enraptured me, making it quite easy to read the entire book, start to finish, in one sitting.
At points, it definitely felt like an incredibly well written fan fiction because, honestly, Jaemyun is a bit too closely written to fit Jimins characteristics. But I'm definitely not complaining.
This book more than earned 5 stars and I highly recommend it.

[Katie Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book recently because of the interesting description and cover much like most books, however I didn’t finish it, I usually try my hardest to push through a book but I just can’t with this one.This book desperately needs an editor, I couldn’t read this book smoothly like others as I was constantly stuttering and stumbling over my words due to spelling mistakes, glamour errors, and words that just don’t make sense.Not only that, the author uses curse words (I don’t got a problem with it) but they use it in descriptive sections instead inner dialogue, we are never given a description of Lucian besides the fact that he was brown hair, this book also should have warnings about slave trade (women/children) as well as molestation, both of which I think were poorly written.

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author shows lots of potential, so I'm interested in future books. This story was good, but would benefit from a skilled editor. Main issues are shifting perspectives, overexplaining things, and forgetting that prisoners have bodily functions that would need to be attended to (you can't leave someone tied to a post for days on end and not have a smelly mess to deal with). I think once this author gains more experience, they have the potential to write some really amazing stories. I loved the characters and the gradual development of their relationship. They're such a sweet couple. It was an easy read, and I didn't want to put the book down.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

For what seems to be this author's one and only published book, I thought it was pretty good. There is far more description and thoughts mainly from Lucian than there is dialogue, and there aren't many characters, so thankfully the two we see the most of are well developed. Sometimes there is a random POV change in the middle of a scene though, and while the POV switches do help the story out a bit, it feels awkward at times. Regardless of the rambling narrative and occasional brief switches of POV, the story was quite readable. There really should have been several trigger warnings though.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. I liked the characters but the story/plot was definitely something I’d read before. The sentence structure was odd at times and the dialogue didn’t fit the atmosphere (could definitely use an editor). Still a fun read though. Very quick to get through and I really liked the world!

[Eve zzzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 ⭐️
It was a nice love story between an elf and a human boy. The book is about the relationship of those two. At first they were enemies then friends and at last lovers.

The writing was good but it could have been better, especially when explaining the places. I just wanted to read more of the author’s imagination

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not like the perspective at all. It was weird since I normally read from a 1st POV but other than that. The ending was super sweet and I loved the development of the relationship throughout the book it was a good comfort read.

[Dave Waite · Rating 2 out of 5]

needs a LOT of work

whoever wrote this needs a better editor , if they had one at all. the writing is bad, the story overall is like a badly written wattpad fanfic. it has potential, but… just please, work on it a little bit.

[Pantea · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest I bought this book because of the cover, the character looks like Jimin from BTS and because it's a MM and I actually end up enjoying it. It was a fun ride, cute story of enemies to lovers. Lucian and Jaemyun grow close to each other slowly and learn to trust each other on the way.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely perfect.

Short and sweet. It’s not often you get a good romantasy mm that isn’t six books long. This is a slow burn but in all the right ways. I loved it through and through.

[ila · Rating 3 out of 5]

rating: 3.5 stars

[Eel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

This book handles background characters exceptionally. It felt like a story twice its size. I wasn’t aware there would be SA mentions, though, but it wasn’t too bad.

[Ana Lopes · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and fast read. Could save you from a reading slump (it saved me)!

[Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book, I had a hard time putting it down!!some spice hinted at, but it does get fairly dark in the middle (Trigger warning Slavery), very good overall with a HEA

[AlexZandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll give it like 4.3 stars. I won’t pretend it didn’t have its own issues but how cute the MC’s ended up being honestly had me giggling at times and kicking my feet. I loved it sm

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and enjoyable read, I loved it. I really liked Jaemyun's character and the cute slow burn romance and that it wasn't too heavy on the fantasy.

[Cj Minx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite this not being my usual genre, I couldn't put it down. It is a sublime balance between softness and action while not missing any details in the mix. The descriptions are so vivid and lively that I got totally lost in the world she created. When I finished this book I wanted more. Possibly a sequel please? I have read many books by some very famous authors and some have not left me wanting more as much as this author. All in all a very notable first novel, I hope she writes more in the future!

[Ticha_11 · Rating 3 out of 5]

POPSUGAR 2023 READING CHALLENGE - A book about a forbidden romance

3.25 stars

Well, this book is ok I guess. However, I did enjoy reading about the main couple and how it was quite a slow burn. Please see the TW before reading, there's quite a few.

Also, that cover is absolutely gorgeous.

ALSO, was this originally written as a fanfic? It kinda reads like one which is not something bad at all.