Not a bad sci-fi story. I liked the premise, the kids being launched off the planet in order to save them. Trattora was a good character, she was strong willed and smart, even though sometimes she was too brash and reckless. Velkan definitely got the short end of the stick of the kids, he's an indentured servant. That would be hard growing up that way. I'm glad they found each other, they work well together. The amount of shit Trattora got herself involved in was crazy. It's like because she was so sheltered on her planet, she decided to do all the dangerous things, including threatening people lol. The ending was a bit abrupt and I didn't like the introduction of Phin at the very last minute. I do wonder what will happen and if any of their parents are still alive. ( )

Trattora and Velkan are two teenagers, each of mysterious background, but who clearly have a common origin, even though they've never met.

Trattora has grown up a chieftain's daughter on a rather backward and isolated planet, while Velkan has grown up a serf--essentially a slave--on a trading ship whose owner-captain, Sarth, is not overly concerned with the law.

Trattora has always known she was adopted, brought to the planet Cwelt by the last trading ship that reached them before Sarth's. It doesn't take the two young people long to discover that they each have one item from their unknown parents: bracelets identical except for the name engraved on it.

Trade negotiations are already not going well when it's discovered just how much Sarth doesn't care about the law, and Trattora is determined to save her new friend regardless of the risks. But when Marauders show up, Trattora's people have no option but to hide in the caves, while Sarth, her crew, Trattora, and two other Cweltans are near enough to Sarth's ship that getting off planet fast is the better choice.

What follows is adventure, treachery, and derring-do, much of it wildly improbable. Trattora often seems simultaneously too naive, given her age and her upbringing as a chief's daughter, and too sophisticated, given her upbringing on a backward world, with no direct experience of high tech except the education programs her father bought for her at the same time he bought her from that last previous trade ship. They visit a prison planet, a couple of trading worlds, and finally Aristozonex, where Trattora and Velkan hope to finally track down some real information on their parents, how they came to be living in such different circumstances, with only the identical bracelets as clues to their origins.

There are many problems with the book, some already mentioned. I don't think enough thought went into the world building, though I could be proven wrong in subsequent books in the series. It is nowhere explained why the Cweltans use "moons" to refer to years, i.e., it has been fourteen "moons" since Trattora arrived and was adopted by parents, and she's now clearly in her late teens. It's silly stuff.

And yet I liked the characters, and enjoyed both their developing personalities and relationships, and the often silly plot. This won't be on anyone's nominations lists, but it is an enjoyable read.

Recommended on that basis.

I received a free electronic galley of this book and am reviewing it voluntarily. ( )

In "Girl of Fire," the first volume in Norma Hinken's The Expulsion Project series, we meet Trattora, the adopted daughter of the Chieftain on a frontier planet. From the opening chapter, we know that Trattora was one of several children that were sacrificed by their natural parents in a bid to give them life and freedom. This is a captivating and totally immersive story that is the best of many genres. The scifi elements are exacting and totally believable, and you're pulled into this world effortlessly and completely. The drama and romantic elements are just right and I can't wait to continue this beautiful and compelling tale. This is a mesmerizing story that you won't soon forget. ( )