New recruit Twelve (not her real name) has been at the lodge since her clan, including her family, were murdered. After an argument with another student, Five, the pair are disciplined and taken to the dungeons to spend the night. Whilst there the Hunting Lodge walls are breached for the first time and one of the students is taken. Epic, sweeping and full of heart – FIREBORN is truly something special. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!” —Hannah Gold, bestselling author of The Last Bear Fireborn is a fantastic debut, deftly told with skill and originality. A richly-imagined story, bursting with thrilling magic, terrifying monsters and an epic adventure that leaves you wanting more' Catherine Doyle, author of The Storm Keeper's Island

One evening, after hearing Five remonstrating that she is a bad apple, she pushes a crate of things near to Five that leads to changing her life forever.Themes of friendship, found families, prejudice, bullying, overcoming obstacles, dealing with grief, and more are woven into the story and also add to the character and plot development. I think many of the themes will resonate well with middle-grade readers. Even though Fowler created a fantastical world that is so unlike our own, the themes prove universal.

So, I am writing this just as I have finished reading the book. Phew! Talk about cutting it fine there!

Aisling Fowler Press Reviews

Die dreizehnjährige Zwölf ist zwar eine gute Kämpferin, aber auch eine einsame Außenseiterin. Sie ist zielstrebig und distanziert, und obwohl sie keine Jägerin werden möchte, hat sie Vorbilder, deren Meinungen ihr wichtig sind und die sie eigentlich gern stolz machen würde. Aber meistens sorgt sie eher für Probleme, weil sie sich mit ihren Mitschülern kaum versteht. Die schüchterne Sieben ist die einzige, die Zwölf mehr oder weniger mag, auch wenn man das noch nicht als Freundschaft bezeichnen kann, oft ist es auch eine Mischung aus Mitleid und Beschützerinstinkt. The perfect balance of high adventure, breathless action and eerie wonder’ Jonathan Stroud, author of the Bartimaeus trilogy first of all the banter and dynamics between all the characters are so entertaining. since the characters are young they have that kind of immature kids humour that’s super entertaining. i say this because if i see teenagers or adults act this way i would roll my eyes. i laugh so much at these little interactions when it happens but also on top of that the characters are really complex with their own pasts and even their names that they are forbidden to share. they lose all their identities to train to be hunters. some of the characters are not who they seem and they are a lot more than meets the eye. when i re-read this book i’ll definitely be annotating it and underlining so much of the meaningful messages. There is one overall main lesson in this story and that's, it's never too late to be the person you want to become. Fully grown adults like myself can learn from that too.