I just finished reading “Ring of Fire” by Noelle Kalipetis and even though it’s been a while since I’ve updated here or reviewed since I promised it, I figured that I might as well post my thoughts on it here.

That’s the cover for “Ring of Fire”. This book is a hero story following Lana Williams, a girl who holds both the Sacred Flame and the Dark Flame. The reader follows her journey as she learns to accept her powers, confronts some of her personal emotional blocks, learns how to think beyond herself, and fall in love.

I found that there were brilliant ideas here. The story starts in a small apartment in Chicago where the reader first meets a twelve-year-old Lana and her mother, Sarah. Sarah gets killed by the Lucien Order, the order she supposedly belongs, and Lana is immediately flown to Ireland where she discovers that she has an aunt and a younger cousin. Lana is powerful and a natural with her element, Fire, and as her life takes serious turns where she has to go into hiding, trust people she thought wasn’t supposed to, and ultimately save the day. I found that this book was easy to get through (there was absolutely NOTHING boring about this book!). I didn’t feel like I was going through 300+ pages.

My only complaint was that the story went a little too fast. There were some scenes where I would really have liked to be emotionally invested. There is no question that Miss Kalipetis has talent. I believe that she could take a little bit more time with her story-telling because this could have been a book where I cried when I was finished. Of course, skill takes time to develop. Noelle Kalipetis, I await your masterpiece.

Keep positive and keep on writing.

Ariel Ceylan