Fate of Flames (Effigies #1) by Sarah Raughley

🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Years ago, everything changed. Phantoms, massive beasts of nightmare, began terrorizing the world. At the same time four girls, the Effigies, appeared, each with the unique power to control a classical element. Since then, they have protected the world from the Phantoms. At the death of one Effigy, another is chosen, pulled from her normal life into the never-ending battle.

When Maia unexpectedly becomes the next Fire Effigy, she resists her new calling. A quiet girl with few friends and almost no family, she was much happier to admire the Effigies from afar. Never did she imagine having to master her ability to control fire, to protect innocent citizens from the Phantoms, or to try bringing together the other three Effigies.

But with the arrival of the mysterious Saul—a man who seems to be able to control the Phantoms using the same cosmic power previously only granted to four girls at a time—Maia and the other Effigies must learn to work together in a world where their celebrity is more important than their heroism.

But the secrets Saul has, and the power he possesses, might be more than even they can handle…

I ended up reading this book because I saw it at the library, read the first couple of pages, and thought that it would be amazing. I wish that I would have taken the time to look at reviews of it first because I didn't end up loving it as much as I thought that I would. The book does start off pretty well with sirens going off because a phantom has appeared near Maia's school. The author was able to set the tone of the book by making it seem like a tense filled moment. The book does not continue down this path for long before Maia begins to show her true colors as a coward and a fangirl. I would have liked this book so much more if Maia was different. Her fangirling over the other effigies was super annoying. There were so many confrontations between her and the other Effigies and she still manages to be surprised every time they end up being less than perfect. I mean seriously!  Quick putting them on pedal-stools already! This topic seemed to be what was focused on with her character. 
I thought that the story itself was intriguing. i liked the idea of monsters coming out of the woodwork and a group of girls have to fight them using elemental powers. I also thought that it was clever to have a girl take the place of an effigy when she dies. There were so many good aspects of the story but I wish that it would have been executed better. Although, I think that I could have forgiven the flaws if the main characters was less annoying. Maia was not the only character that i had issues with. 
I feel like a lot if plot points weren't explained well enough. By the end of book it still wasn't explained where the Phantoms came from and how they cane to be. When the characters discuss it, they come to the conclusion that no one knows and the discussion ends there. I felt like that was such a cop out. Also, what is up with the villain? I feel like his purpose for destroying the world was really odd. Something like that needed to be explained thoroughly early on in the book so that it was established that things like that are possible in the universe that the author created. The way that it was done in the book makes it sound ridiculous and unrealistic.