Synopsis:
A pulse-pounding thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life--and her own.
Time is slipping away. . . .
Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to the middle of nowhere for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying--and she's helpless to change anything.
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.
The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?
I've wanted to read this book for a while. It was added to my to be read pile and I forgot about it until I found it at the library the other day. I have to say that it mostly lived up to the hype that I built up in my head.
I thought that the idea of animal companions or pandoras was an interesting and unique idea. I can't really say to much about them without giving some things away but each of the contender's pandoras had a special set of skills that made me want to keep reading so that I could find out what else they could do.
The contenders that we are introduced to in the book were also compelling. They each had different back stories and reasons for entering the race. I was suspicious of pretty much all of them that came into contact with Tella because I didn't feel like any of them were telling her the whole truth. I found myself feeling particularly wary of Guy during the course of the book. I was curious about him much like Tella was and wanted my questions answered before I committed to thinking of him as someone who could be trusted.
However, I found Tella annoying at times. She could be very shallow and it made her come off weak and useless. I mean, who cares about nail polish or what your hair looks like when your brother is dying and you are fighting to stay alive!?! I found myself hoping that she would change over the course of the book because I knew that I wouldn't want to read the next book in the series if I had to put up with her having the same attitude. It could be possible that I have been spoiled by the other female characters like Katniss and Tris which makes it harder to except characters like Tella.
There were a lot of layers to the story which I appreciated. It led to many questions that I couldn't automatically figure out the answers to like I can with other books. I love books that can keep me guessing and this one did just that. It was also action packed beginning early on in the story and continuing throughout making for a thrill ride of a book. It reminded me of Hunger Games in the sense that there were people controlling the game and contenders had to deal with not only the elements but also the other contenders.
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