Series Review: Wildefire Trilogy by Karsten Knight
This blog post was written by a human.This is a spoiler-free review.Hi readers and writerly friends! Below is my review of the Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight! Check out my other book reviews here!
A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight in a gold wire basket. Photo by Payton Hayes.
This book review starts with my first-ever book hunt in my Midwest City Dollar-Tree. I was shopping for some containers and noticed the store had an awful lot of books and many of them I’d either seen before, heard of the authors before, or the covers were just so gorgeous that I couldn’t help myself. I think I left the store with 20+ books. And guess what book just happened to be amidst all those tomes I scurried out of the store with? That’s right—the aforementioned Wildefire by Karsten Knight. I had no clue what this book was about. I’d never heard of the author or the title and the only reason I bought it was because the lovely cover sucked me in, and the punchy writing kept me hooked. It’s true, I totally judge books by the cover.
It’s been on my to-be-read list for quite some time now, and I fear I might not have seriously picked it up if it weren’t for COVID-19. But I am so glad that I did, because once I got into it, I couldn’t stop. I binged the series in less than a week and found myself highlighting passages because the writing was just. that. good.
A photo of the paperback copy of Wildfire by Karsten Knight in a gold wire basket. Photo by Payton Hayes.
As per the Wildefire Goodreads page:
Every flame begins with a spark.
Blackwood Academy was supposed to be a fresh start for Ashline Wilde. A secluded boarding school deep in the heart of California’s redwood forests, three thousand miles from her old life—it sounded like the new beginning she needed after an act of unspeakable violence left a girl in her hometown dead. But Blackwood is far from the peaceful haven Ashline was searching for. Because terrifying, supernatural beasts roam the forests around campus. Because the murderer from Ashline’s hometown—her own sister—has followed her across the country. Because a group of reincarnated gods and goddesses has been mysteriously summoned to Blackwood...and Ashline’s one of them. (Knight)
A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight laid out flat on a white bookshelf. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight stacked atop a white bookshelf. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight leaning in a gold wire basket atop a white bookshelf. Photo by Payton Hayes.
I can confidently say, that if you enjoyed reading any of Rick Riordan’s mythological fiction, you would likely love this series. I would categorize it as a mythological thriller because it revolves around reincarnated gods and goddesses from all different kinds of mythologies including Norse, Greek, Roman, Polynesian, Japanese, Mayan, and Aztec, and it was an absolute page turner! Without spoiling, the YA fiction is centered around the main protagonist Ashline Wilde and her newfound friends at Blackwood Academy in Southern California. She and her friends find themselves face-to-face with some unsettling foes—the seemingly nefarious cloak, inky, black creatures with singular blue flames for eyes. They are all given unique quests to carry out as they familiarize themselves with their own newly realized god/goddess abilities and struggle to fit in with their mundane, human classmates. However, school life quickly becomes the least of their worries when Ashline’s treacherous older sister appears out of the blue, other gods force Ashline and her friends to go on the offensive, and schoolmates end up caught in the crossfire.
A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight shelved with other YA books on a white bookshelf. Photo by Payton Hayes.
I of course, don’t want to give too much away because I implore you, dear readers, to please give this series a try. The pacing was fantastic (and kept me turning pages into the wee hours of the night), the characters were compelling as all-get-out, and the prose was simply exquisite.
I can only describe Wildefire by Karsten Knight, through the title—a ruthless wildfire that swept through me, a ravenous hunger to breathe, sleep, eat, and drink in the entire story until I’ve had my fill. Unfortunately, now that I’ve actually finished it, I can’t help but want more. This story was a whirlwind of romance, mythos, angst, and a deep desire to belong. It was a wild ride and I enjoyed every second of it.
Every one of the characters are carefully constructed. You can clearly tell that Knight took his time fleshing out each character from the names down to their personality traits and compelling developments over the course of the trilogy. Everything was intentional. At times, I saw myself in Ashline Wilde, and at others, she felt like my best friend—as if we’d known each other forever and I was just now embarking on this insane journey with her. Books that achieve this level of relatability in the character-reader relationship can hard to find. Each and every character is meaningful and when some of them leave the story, it comes like a punch to the gut.
If you need more reasons why I loved this series, I’ve left a few below:
The writing—duh! Fantastic, believable, well-written prose laced within an excellent premise that upsets me for the sheer fact that I had not come up with it first.
Compelling, relatable characters that make you swoon, cry, and grit your teeth.
Knight’s expert ability to weave and interweave plots within plots to create a constantly enthralling and complex storyline that is guaranteed to keep you turning pages.
The mythology. Like I said, if you enjoyed Percy Jackson or any of Rick Riordan’s prose, you would likely enjoy this series simply for the employment of many different kinds of mythologies. The mythos used in Karsten Knight’s Wildefire is well-researched and expertly infused within believable character development. It doesn’t seem forced at all and where creative license is used, it is minimal and justified.
While it’s a paranormal YA fiction, set (initially) against the backdrop of a boarding school, Knight’s take on centuries’ old mythology and paranormal romance is new, interesting, and refreshing.
And that’s it for my spoiler-free review of Karsten Knight’s Wildefire trilogy. It honestly means the world to me. If you enjoyed this post, please consider signing up for my newsletter below! Tweet me or comment below if you decide to read this book and let me know what you thought of it!
Bibliography
Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight in a gold wire basket.” September 25, 2020 (Thumbnail Photo).Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the paperback copy of Wildfire by Karsten Knight in a gold wire basket.” September 25, 2020.Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight laid out flat on a white bookshelf.” September 25, 2020.Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight stacked atop a white bookshelf.” September 25, 2020.Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight leaning in a gold wire basket atop a white bookshelf.” September 25, 2020.Hayes, Payton. “A photo of the paperback set of The Wildfire Trilogy by Karsten Knight shelved with other YA books on a white bookshelf.” September 25, 2020.Knight, Karsten. Wildefire. Goodreads. Accessed September 25, 2020.
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This blog post was researched, written, and published by a human author without the assistance of generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI). Gen-AI models are trained on text written by humans, therefore, the presence of specific punctuation, verbiage, tone, or predictable, marketing-style phrases alone are not sufficient indicators of gen-AI usage. I implore readers to use context clues, critical thinking, pattern recognition, research, and employ their best judgement when determining the validity of human authorship of print and digital media today. If you want to learn more about my stance on gen-AI and it’s role in media and the publishing industry, I plan to release a blog post on this topic very soon, so stay tuned for that. This disclaimer will be updated once that post goes live. In the meantime, I will continue to be transparent about which tools and resources I use in my work.
