Before She Ignites

Written By: Jodi Meadows

Publication: September 12th 2017, by Katherine Tegen Book

Date Finished: May 22, 2018

Would Recommend To: fans of tense, dark fantasies with flawed characters meant to teach

Rating: 4/5 stars

OMG this book made me lose a year off my life from stress, probably, but it's all good. I literally can't stop thinking about it, like I'm still in the world.


Before She Ignites takes place in a world where there are Upper Gods and Fallen Gods. The Fallen Gods fell to Earth eons before to save humanity and to provide land and shelter for the humans, for when they fell, they each created an island with its own unique abilities. And better yet, their children are none other than majestic dragons of all shapes and sizes. However, far after those Gods had fallen, the islands were in chaos and were not abiding by their sacred codes, so their inhabitants wrote the Mira Treaty, named after a girl, Mira Minkoba, born of the same day. The treaty brought about equality and peace, and Mira became the symbol of hope among the islands.

But truly, she is only a puppet, brainwashed to think she is worthless on her own except for her beautiful face, worshiped by the citizens of the Fallen Isles because of the words she is told to say, and humiliated by her crippling panic attacks and obsessive counting. And she doesn't realize that she has been manipulated... until she finds out her government, which includes her family, has done something horribly wrong, and she is punished for knowing too much. Now she must learn to survive.

Goodness, where to start. I was immediately enraptured. At first, the writing was so straight-forward that it started to bother me 🤣, but I got over that quickly. The world is very unique, and DRAGONS. Need I say more??

There was one moment that really annoyed me, and that was the battle scene at the end. I won't spoil it for you, don't worry, but it's very cliche-action-movie-scene. It was cringy, and I wish it was more well-done. However, it didn't take away from the impact of the book, fortunately.

Oh, and the suspense!!! I was tense the entire time I was reading, and I didn't want to stop. Like, I was always so scared for the characters.

Mira definitely annoyed me at first, but Meadows makes it easy to sympathize with her. I can't imagine being in her position. She had no idea how brainwashed she was. It's absolutely so horrible to be in her head and see how worthless she instinctively believes she is, like she doesn't know anything different. And yet, in the Pit, she grows SO MUCH it's astounding, and I literally cried so much to see her realize she isn't so worthless after all. Plus, she kicks government booty at the end, btw.

Of course, all the other characters are perfect! I genuinely loved every character and their roles in the story. Like, even the absolutely evil ones played a role (unfortunately 🤣). And even more deeply, every character had their flaws, and it was more evident in this book than most other YA novels I've read. They've got some deep problems, but they get through it with perseverance and support from their friends. Oh, and it's not corny, I promise.

This is one of the main reasons I love to read so much, I think. It's the idea that you don't have to read a nonfiction novel or memoir or whatever else to learn something. It's so crazy how mere words humans make up can portray a vivid fictional world yet teach about reality.

Sorry, booknerds, but I felt really moved 🤣. Au revoir!