A book that feels almost as if it were written just for me, Pyromantic by Lish McBride is the perfectly satisfying sequel to Firebug, and will remind readers why they fell in love with Ava and her friends in the first place.
Ava is having a rough time. Getting rid of Venus didn’t set her free—she’s still Coterie. Her new boss seems like an improvement, but who knows if he’ll stay that way? The Coterie life changes people. And since she’s currently avoiding her friends after (disastrously) turning down a date with Lock, well, everything kind of sucks.
Then she gets sent to handle two local thugs with were-hare Sid. But when they arrive, the thugs are dead and a necromancer has raised them as mindless, aggressive zombies. Ava is faced with an epidemic—something is turning normal creatures into killing machines. Unfortunately, this means she has to work with Lock and his new girl. Worse than that, she has to work with her ex, Ryan. Compared to facing such emotional turmoil, she’d rather take on an entire herd of flesh-eating kelpies . . . or she could just do both. Isn’t she just the lucky gal?
If you’re a regular reader here at Novel Novice, than you know how much I love YA stories that feature organized crime or crime families in them.
I. LOVE. THEM.
They are, hands-down, my favorite weird little sub-genre in YA fiction and I just can’t get enough of them. So it’s easy to see why I fell in love with Firebug when it came out a little over two years ago. Pyromantic is a blazing reminder (GET IT? Pun totally intended.) of why I loved that book so much.
Because even though it’s a YA story featuring organized crime, that’s hardly the reason I love this series so much. It’s the reason I eagerly dove into the books, sure. But Lish’s whip-smart writing, sassy and endearing characters, and plot-driven storytelling kept me captivated and engaged and happily waiting all those months and years for this sequel. (Lish had her reasons for taking so long; I’m willing to wait for greatness. I was not disappointed.)
Ava is the kind of character who is still figuring things out, and isn’t afraid to admit she doesn’t have all the answers. I love how fiercely loyal and loving she is to the people she cares about. And I love how diverse and funny and flawed and charming and real all of those characters are. Not just Ava, but everyone in Pyromantic is so well developed — I’d happily read books dedicated to each of them. (Hint, hint. Lish.)
Witty, moving, and packed with gusto, Pyromantic is in stores March 21st.
Novel Novice 
You should read Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones. More powered up crime families. I loved the audiobook.