I love a good academy book. This one kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't get enough, I read this book so quickly

Don't Fear the Fire is a great young adult read, full of interesting magical powers, really unique characters, and a the fight between a late bloomer and herself as she struggles to fit in with everyone around her. On top of all this, she's moving from her home in a lighthouse with her deaf aunt to a really rich boarding school. The worst part? She hasn't gotten her powers yet. And that's a problem. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone personally in the story, and learning about just how in depth the world that they live in is.

Scarlett, our main character, has lived with her non related aunt as long as she can remember. Because she's deaf, they communicate through sign language, and she's never known her real parents. After being home schooled for her entire life, she's excited to move out of the lighthouse she's grown up in and move to a really rich boarding school. The only catch, is that she hasn't gotten her powers, and it's a magical school. The kind of school where everyone is branded with their astrology sign.

At the fall equinox, one of the girls in her school is outed as a diobalus, and kicked out of the school. There's rumours of a boy one too, and at this point I'm starting to wonder if Scarlett is one too. She has an altercation with another girl in the school, but there's something much bigger going on: being assigned soulmates, or soul twins, as they're called in the book. Though this story is branded as an adult school book, I really felt like it was more for younger teens, closer to high school aged. Scarlett isn't paired up with the boy she has a crush on though, she's fated for a boy named Claude, the girl she got in a fight with's older brother.

Claude isn't a peach though, and turns out to be quite rough with Scarlett when he doesn't get his way. And even worse? Scarlett's aunt is sick back home, and though it happens more often than not, she's not able to be there and take care of her this time. The story continues on as Scarlett's birthday passes, and her group of friends sneak out to have a little party for themselves, to drink and play with a ouija board. But of course, it doesn't turn out according to plan, scaring everyone and sending them running home. And it continues when the "big wigs" come in to check everything out the next day.

See, the oracle predicted a spirit to be released, and that's exactly what the group of friends did when they played with the ouija board. Scarlett actually performed necromancy. And after finding out all this, she's sent on Christmas break with her soul twin Claude, to spend it with his family. As it turns out, they're more interested in finding the second diabolus than meeting her.

This and so much more is inside this book, and it really kept me on a rollercoaster of emotions through the entire thing. I do worry that we have a Mortal Instruments series type thing, possibly an accidental siblings romance thing going on? But despite this, I really think that this is one of my new favourites. After all, I'm a sucker for all things boarding school, as someone who grew up watching Zoey 101. Definitely recommend checking it out if you get the chance, though as I'm finished it now, I can confidently say that this is more of a teen book than an adult book.

I finished it a while ago and I don't have the story clear enough to give an accurate opinion right now about the story details.
I only know that I had a hard time connecting with the story at the beginning, but then with the things that start to happend at the school it hooked me and I was able to finish it and I really liked it.
I really loved the familiar and now I want one .

This was such a great book. I love the academy and how they all are learning and have two schools one for boys and one for girls. I also find it interesting about the different types of beings there are. I love how they were explained and how there are stories told about the beings. I find Scarlet to be a great character and I love how she is doing her best with everything that is thrown her way. I cannot wait for a second book as this world has me drawn in.

I struggled at first to get invested but once the male character came into the plot it got better. Still wanted more from the story

It was a good read but just felt lacking a bit. I really liked the magical school premise but it just at times felt a bit hard to connect with the characters

Don't fear the fire is an interesting debut featuring a unique magic school that focusses on starsigns. Full of mystery and intrigue, it will suit young readers that enjoy the tropes found family, magical school, and good versus evil. Whereas it wasn't the read for me, the characters were well developed and unique in their personalities and quirks, and the plot flowed smoothly.

DNF'd at 33%. I just could not get into this book. The plot was slow, the characters were uninteresting and flat. I really wanted to like this but I just could not bring myself to even finish it.

So Scarlett Dalton finally turns eighteen and gets to go to Leighton Academy (about time!). It's this school for kids with magikal powers, and she's SO ready to get out of boring old Whistlington.

She's never really fit in anywhere, you know? So she's thinking Leighton will be her big chance to start fresh. And when she meets her roommates - both Sagittarius like her - she's like, "Yes! Finally found my people!"

But then weird stuff starts happening at school. She ends up having to work with this guy Claude Richardson from the boys' academy next door (not part of her plan). As they dig into what's going on with the students and these deities in their world, Scarlett's wondering if maybe she's on the wrong team...

Honestly, I had all the feels reading this. I stayed up way too late finishing it because I just couldn't put it down. The characters actually talk like real teenagers without being annoying, and Scarlett's not one of those "chosen one" types who's automatically good at everything.

It was such a quick, fun read, and thankfully not another copycat YA story. The magic system is super cool - they did this whole thing with astrology and magical creatures that really works.

If you're into good characters, soulmate connections, magic stuff, plus lots of "OMG didn't see that coming" secrets and betrayals - you should definitely check this out.

Don't Fear the Fire was an interesting read. In the beginning, the scenes and writing style felt disjointed, though that became less of a problem later on. However, the writing style was not one that worked well for me. I felt that I didn't really know the main character well, as well the romance plotline didn't exactly make sense. Information given was not delivered well, as in, later on, we find out more about the world, and certain things we find out exist that were not introduced earlier in the book, so I felt a little confused when that was just randomly dropped. We also did not know the side characters well, and the fact that it was set in the 1960s I found completely pointless, as it does not come up later in the book or relate to anything in the story. The plot I also found to be cliche.
The magic system I found very interesting, though there were parts of it I didn't like, and I loved the boarding school vibes, with the creepy forest and the studying in the common room or the library.

4/5 stars
“Her mind refused to focus on anything other than the flame that lingered in her hand.”
Finally old enough to attend Leighton Academy, a school for those born with magikal powers, eighteen-year-old Scarlett Dalton cannot wait to escape from her small, mundane hometown of Whistlington.
Having struggled to fit in her whole life, she hopes Leighton Academy will offer her the fresh start she’s always craved, and when she meets her two Sagittarius roommates, it feels as though her dreams of building a strong friendship group have finally come true.
But when strange happenings begin to occur at the school, Scarlett is forced to work alongside Claude Richardson from the rival boys’ academy, and as they start to uncover the secrets of the students at the academy, and the deities that reside within their world, Scarlett starts to wonder if she might be fighting for the wrong side…

I loved this book. I really liked the characters and the storyline. the only thing that didn't sit right with me was the ending, for me there were so many options on how this book could have ended but this ending wasn't it.

Lois Miller crafts a powerful narrative about resilience, healing, and the complex emotional journey that follows a life-altering event.

If you loved the crave series than you will love this book! The setting was really fun and I loved the characters in it!

Magik School - Soul Mates - Secrets - Twists & Turns.
Such a great debut YA novel that I couldn't put down!

The world created within this story was fantastic and easy to understand. I loved that there were different elements to the magik system (astrology, fates, magical creatures)
The characters were interesting and extremely likable. Scarlett (FMC) made some really great connections along the way and I loved reading about her finding her place within the world.
The ending has left me wanting more (it's not a cliffhanger though!). I would love to read more about the magik system and learn more about the characters!

A great story of friendship, belonging and finding yourself.

This needs some editing I feel like. I can tell it's a debut and it's not that great. This reads somewhere between middle grade and ya and I was expecting different, which isn't bad but definitely not for me. Has a magic school and a believable romance but I just really wasn't invested at all in any of the characters. Plus a lot of the side characters are utterly forgettable. Thanks Netgalley for an early copy but unfortunately not for me.

I want to say thank you to the author, the publisher and netgalley for this book

This was hands down a 5 star read!
I was so hooked on it, I had to tear myself away!
I was apprehensive about the outsider fmc going to a school setting and being the outside if you will but let me tell you, Scarlet can hold her own and she's very assertive And is such a well rounded character, this is wrote unlike other books of the same setting. The story is written so well and you can imagine everything that is happening and have a clear picture in your head.

100% if you want a story where you have a love triangle of sorts, a well written school system, great characters and more, pick this book up!

Sadly, I did not enjoy this book. The writing felt cliched and unoriginal, the heroine was completely unlikable and selfish, and the plot was painfully obvious. So much went unexplained and felt random, while people changed personalities constantly. None of the encounters between characters felt organic and realistic; instead, everything served to push the heroine's storyline.

Story: Scarlett is happy to go to Leighton Academy for the magically gifted. While she isn't sure about her magical ability, she hopes to finally be with people who will accept her. But not all is as it seems at the academy.

I probably would have enjoyed this when I was 16 - feisty but dense heroine, eye wincingly emo love interest, the usual "adults ruin the world" storyline, overblown melodrama and painfully cliche dialogues. But I've read enough books now where I am more impressed when the heroine is NOT a speshul snowflake with no brain power whatsoever, when not everyone falls inexplicably in love with a person who is rude and unpleasant to be around all the time, and when the the love interest changes personalities every five pages so as to fit into the heroine's storyline better.

In all, it's not a terrible read but it does lack the strong writing skills that would have made it a more nuanced, believable, and engaging story. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

DNF at 47%
It was not enjoyable for me but I can’t see how it could be someone’s cup of tea. Overall the writing style was good and I just did not find the plot interesting. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

Lois Miller delivers a powerful and gripping story with vivid storytelling and deeply compelling characters, this book explores resilience, courage, and the strength it takes to face life’s toughest challenges. The emotional depth and fast-paced narrative keep you turning the pages, making it impossible to put down. A must-read for those who love stories of perseverance and transformation.

Don't Fear the Fire by Lois Miller
A fierce and inspiring story of resilience, Don’t Fear the Fire is a novel that burns bright with passion and strength. Lois Miller delivers a protagonist who faces adversity head-on, making for an empowering read that blends raw emotion with a captivating narrative.