This was a gripping re telling of The Illiad

The three rival gangs were really interesting and I was hooked from the beginning. The constant action kept everything interesting and the characters were really well developed.

A really good ending and it really tied the story up well.

Solid YA for fans of Hunger Games / Divergent, etc, though it could have been a little more unique personally, something that makes it stand out among other very similar YA premises.

Ugh, I was so excited for this one! And I hate giving negative reviews but this just wasn’t for me. I usually love YA dystopian—it’s my favorite genre to read—but I couldn’t get into this book. We’re supposed to root for Valerie, but her first act in the book is to hurt her grieving parents by joining the Stags (a gang). She wants to kill the gang member who murdered her little brother--understandable--but she is easily distracted from her mission by Jax, the leader of the Stags. She falls for him, but I have no idea how or why because I couldn’t stand him. They are supposed to be our protagonists but I didn’t connect with either one of them. In fact, the only character I liked was a background character who meets a terrible fate in the book. There’s no redemption story or hopeful ending. The whole thing just left me feeling disappointed and confused. Also, the language was really strong for a teen/YA novel. It was an interesting concept, and Shannon Price is a good writer, but this wasn't my cup of tea.

What a wild ride! I received an teaser excerpt of A Thousand Fires a while back before receiving the whole novel, and I inhaled it. It definitely had me interested enough to keep going, but it did fall a little flat for me in the end.

A Thousand Fires is being marketed as a story that is “The Outsiders meets The Iliad” so if you are someone who likes battles between groups that have been divided by a feud started long ago – this may be the book for you.

The story takes place in San Francisco, where youth gangs have become a norm. The Boars, Stags, and Herons are all gangs which are in a war across the city. They dabble with the rich of the city and recruit the city’s youth to do the dirty work on the ground. This is what our main character, Valerie AKA Valentine, is swept into when she is recruited by the Stags.

A mix of action-packed scenes and everyday life as part of a youth gang, this story is something that could be compared to stories such as The Shadow Game by Amanda Foody. I admire the amount of subtle diversities that have been implemented throughout the story and the character arcs as well. Each of these diversities, while not integral to the story, play a part in how each character adjusts to their life as part of the gang wars.

A Thousand Fires hooked me so fiercely with the first chapter. Then it lost me in chapter two with a line something like, “He was the hottest guy I’d ever seen.” Le sigh. I hate writing reviews like this, so I’ll endeavour to keep it short. Beware of spoilers below.

First, a quick note about trigger warnings. There is self-harm, depression and potential suicidal moments. I have yet to see anything anywhere about these being in this book. I am not an individual who would be affected by these, but I was shocked when all of the sudden the main character starts cutting. It was out of the blue and frankly not necessary, so please be advised if you are interested in reading this book.

For a book that revolved around gangs recruiting people the second they turn eighteen, gangs they can’t get out of for an entire year, I expected a heck of a lot more … you know, edginess. Instead this was pretty weak, and I don’t know why anyone would call these three groups gangs in the first place. The Boars are just there to f**k sh*t up by not really doing anything. The Herons are the children of wealthy Silicon Valley people. And I guess the Stags are there to stop San Fransisco gentrification? What did I tell you? Weak gangs. There is next to no violence or actual gang work that would have interested me. Instead there is tagging buildings—in water-based spray paint so it comes off no less—plastering streets in flyers, and arranging protests against, you guessed it, gentrification. That’ll stick it to those Herons. When it finally started getting twisty and surprising, it was too late for me to even be bothered to care.

Man, did I ever feel prissy and wholesome while reading this. Apparently the edginess and grit of the book comes from the incessant underage drinking and smoking pot. For a while it felt more like a frat house with five people than a gang. Oh, wait. They’re almost all 18 years old and have nothing to do but bum around in a house the leader’s mama bought for them and feel like they’re dangerous and untouchable. Not my kind of people.

I have a potentially random bone to pick with YA novels, namely when it comes to high school. Unless you were held back a year, there is absolutely no reason why you should be turning 18 years old in November/December and still be in high school. Like why would you do this? Do authors think we’re all too slow to do the simple math and realize that the only people eighteen in high school are those with birthdays between January and June? I turned eighteen the April before I graduated. My sister, eighteen the February before she graduated. Twilight did the same thing and it still bothers me to this day. Valerie turns eighteen sometime just before Christmas and is still in high school when no, that would not be the case. Just call it her gap year and move on.

Overall this felt really cliche, tropey and all around trying too hard to make things seem more than they are in an effort to be emotional and traumatic. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be looking to read more from Shannon Price.

This is a solid 3.75 star rating. I really enjoyed the writing and storyline. I couldn't fully get into the story because I don't know much about the Iliad which is what this book is "based" on. The world was steeped in the violence which was definitely interesting. The sole purpose of this book was revenge and revenge did I get to see.

Valerie is hours away from her 18th birthday and is waiting to be a Heron, however, things go extremely wrong when the Boars attack and she is saved by the Stags. Valerie is a very strong girl. She takes on the burden of her brother's death and it eats at her emotionally and mentally. She tries to stay strong, but she has moments in which we see her real weakness and struggles. Val is a quick learner, sassy and has a good head on her shoulders. In the world she lives in where gangs are normalized, she does her best to live and survive in it.

Matthew, Val's ex, seemed to be a great guy at the beginning. Breaking up with her to keep her safe was cool. However, as the story progressed I seriously began to hate him -- especially at the end. I didn't get him at all. Was he really trying to keep her safe? Was he putting on a front with Herons? I'll never be able to understand his true motives.

Jax, the leader of the Stags, is such a dark and brooding young man. He's dominating and aggressive, but never on a "deadly" level. He is very protective of his crew and his ideas are the most sound of all the other gangs. Jax was definitely the type of guy that wanted people to target him to protect those he loved. Finding out who his mother was blew my mind. Finding out about his past was insane. Jax is just a big ball of mystery.

The romance was a bit annoying. Val couldn't get over her ex. Matthew was a major dick with how he handled and played things out. Jax, however, was a much better guy for Val. He allowed Val to just be and supported her. I wanted more between the two of them -- but that ending GUTTED me.

The gangs all seems to be very interesting. I truly enjoyed the Stags and what they represented for the people. The Boars were just a group of psychotic people. The Herons -- broken into the Young and Old -- were just greedy, egotistical people. The Wars was just dumb and they all need to get a reality check.

My favorite gang is definitely the Stags because they were not all about the violence. They were pacifists that knew how to protect and fight when need be. The whole crew had a soft spot in my heart. The way things went left for them tore me to bits!

This book deals with self-harm, depression and other mental issues. I think it was well written in combination with gangs and violence in this story. It felt completely realistic in seeing each of the characters deal with their own issues and try to find a "balance" for the life they live.

Overall, this was a pretty good read and I would recommend it.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this story and found the romance to be problematic. Thanks to the publisher for an egalley arc.

Ok, I’ve tried reading this through 3 times now, and it’s not working for me. I REALLY wanted to love this book because I’m Filipino-American and I’m from the SF/Bay area, but I think that actually hurt my enjoyment of this book. The book starts out with information about they Bay, and I ended up skipping the history of the gangs because it felt so weird to me since I’ve worked on Industrial and it felt like a bigger deal than what I read through here. I think I’ve also read through a book with gangs this year which has turned out to be my favorite of the year so far, and it’s making me biased against this one. Maybe someone else will enjoy this, but this is not the book for me.

Thank you so much to Tor Teen for providing me with a copy of A Thousand Fires, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.



Valerie has counted on being recruited by The Herons gang on her 18th birthday. She knows her boyfriend will be recruited and she assumes she will be riding out her one year gang service with him. But when a different gang, The Stags recruit her, with the promise of giving her information on who in The Boars gang killed her little brother, her entire world is turned upside down. Caught between the loyalty she must show to Jax, the leader of The Stags, and the boy she still loves, in the rival gang, she’ll need to figure out who she can really trust.

A Thousand Fires felt like such an original book. I know it’s been compared to The Outsiders, and I see why, but it was such a great story in it’s own right. Fast paced and modern, with plenty of emotional moments, the story takes us on a ride where everyone has different agendas and backstories as to why they chose to join the gangs. Although the story is told from Valerie’s point of view, we get to know a surprising amount about the other characters in the story – especially her fellow gang members in The Stags.

There were some heavy topics involved, such as self harm and grief, so proceed with caution if those are a trigger for you.

All in all, I honestly wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did and I’m quite surprised there hasn’t been more hype around it!

It was okay. Not something I would normally read. However I would definitely try more of this authors work in the future

I really did not like this book mostly because of the romance. I found it very harmful and not at all what I expected.

A Thousand Fires promised an impressive premise drawing inspiration from The Outsiders and The Iliad and strangely enough it actually delivered quite well on this, without being too obvious or overplayed. Full disclosure, I haven't read The Outsiders so I could only judge the inspiration from The Iliad and I gotta say ... I'm not mad.

CW: self harm, death (and can I say I'm so happy the author wrote CW's herself and published them on her website)

We are wild, neon-blooded devils as we go into the night

In A Thousand Fires we follow Valerie along her journey of grief and revenge, immersing her in with the gangs that have risen up in San Francisco. The one thing that really stood out for me was that amongst the world building and the character driven storyline, we were also introduced to the effects of gentrification and how privilege shapes our waking moments. These were commented on in a way which came across as really sincere and not as an author hoping to tick off 'diversity points'. Speaking of which, there is a wide range of well written representation in this book, including (but not limited to) Filipino biracial mc, queer supporting character (with no bury your gays trope!) and mental illness.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Whilst some parts were following an easy to guess plot destination, the journey there was no less enjoyable. It's refreshing reading a one-off novel that has a clearly defined ending without too much of a "what if" to spoil it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meh i was a tad bored with the book. I will definitely post a longer review further explaining my thoughts.

I requested an excerpt on Netgalley and really liked it, so when I got approved for the whole ARC, I was happy, but also afraid it’d disappoint. This is a book I’d not pick up myself as easily, which shows that Netgalley can be really useful to stimulate readers. The idea of the gangs intrigued me, especially since there isn’t a lot explained in the first part of the book.

Valerie’s one and only goal is to avenge her brother, which I do respect, but sometimes I wish I could slap her since her actions are not always as easy as she thought they would be. I read this book in almost one sitting (considering I have school during the day and I do have to sleep sometimes, I read it quite fast), and flew through the story.

I loved the friendships that formed in the book, the feeling of a gang being “home” for most of the members, and most of all, the feeling of family. The feelings of guilt (as she thought it was her fault her brother died) eat up Valerie so much, she sometimes harms herself. The gang helps her to think of other things, which takes away the urge sometimes.

There is definitely diversity representation in this book, although not a lot of LGBTQ+ rep, and while that’s not a must, I wish it would have been more than one sentence.

The story was strong, and there were definitely some parts I didn’t see coming. Overall I really liked it, and would definitely recommend it. I didn’t specifically see the “retelling” part, but that might just be me…

And last, but definitely not least: the cover is gorgeous, as with most books that tend to attract me.. ^^;

For whatever reason, going into the book I expected it have some sort of fantasy element to it. I thought it was going to maybe lean more towards some kind of Divergent-like narrative. However, I was very wrong, but also very okay with that fact.

When I first started reading, I wasn't entirely sure if I was going to like it. I'm not much for gangs and wars, but I was surprised by myself, and this book.

I found myself intrigued by the story and its characters, specifically what drove each of them. I think it made the characters very relatable and I was able to grapple with their morality as they did, well, at least the main character.

I did get some Romeo and Juliet vibes from this, which I was here for. It's not like it's the center of the story, but I'm a sucker for romance nonetheless.

I liked that friendship and depression and its different forms played a larger role in the narrative, too. It's something you don't see a lot of in books, and I think that representation is needed.

DNF @ 20%

I tried to get into this, I really did. As an idea it's something that really interests me but it lacked something.

It was fast paced, way to fast paced. With short choppy sentence and no time to connect with characters.

It lacked major world building. I couldn’t understand the city they lived in and set up of the gangs.

Overall it just wasn't for me.

Note: This Review contains NO spoilers

I enjoyed this debut novel from Shannon Price. Although I vaguely remember The Iliad and The Outsiders, I can say that A Thousand Fires definitely gave off a loose reimagining feel of such stories. Anyways, A Thousand Fires is a gripping and captivating story of love, loss, revenge, and sacrifice. Moreover, I think it is more fitting for an upper Young Adult audience since it contains mature content.

Shannon Price created an intriguing story with well-developed and complex characters that made this riveting story almost impossible to put down. With the subtle hints of romance, this story had its fair share of interesting and revealing twists. A Thousand Fires is also an emotional journey of a young woman's search for "justice."

I don't want to say anymore or else I would reveal too much. I am not one to spoil a good book to others. I know this is a read that some may not enjoy, but I can say that the characters alone can be relatable to others. Moreover, these characters have qualities/aspects to real issues that many of today's young adults deal with. So, yah, I think others will enjoy this YA debut novel.

I will be honest, I didn’t quite expect that I will not like A Thousand Fires. I don’t know if I’m the problem or the book. I can’t distinguish if the reading slump I’m right now is the reason. Or I’m still can’t recover from the huge book hangover that the last series I’ve read gave me.

I did enjoy the first quarter of the book, but as I proceed in reading, I find it difficult to understand what is happening. I have lots of questions that keep on coming like who is this character again and the likes.

With this, I don’t understand what the story and character are all about. I tried everything, but I can say that the story is not for me as of the moment.

On the positive side, I can say that I found the writing style unique in the first part. I can say that it is the kind of story with a fresh start that lets the readers not be overwhelmed. It is with the ease that readers can say that they will enjoy and grasp the story fully at their own pace.

If I set aside the negative things about the book, I can say that A Thousand Fires is the book I can enjoy and give a chance to re-read it for the second time around.

a modern day retelling of illiad and pitched as perfect for fans of Veronica roth
was all that i needed to request this new release on the block!!

I am extremely gutted with this one ugh it had so much potential, because let's
be honest the plot is extremely unique and i expected so much from it.
true it was extremely fast paced and i
read most of the parts in one sitting
But god the characters felt disconcerted
and i honestly didn't care for anyone
except micah
The relationship dynamics felt vague and the
narration abrupt!
But,as i said the fast pace seems to
cover that.

I don't know if i am going to recommend this,
probably not. But,if you like gang
wars (although it's most
plotting)
you can pick this up.

3 stars because as I said,it's unputdownable
until you get closure!