Fire Girl Review (A Tale of Witches and Wolves)

No such thing as fate or magic—16-year-old Samantha wouldn’t be caught dead wishing upon a star. But when she stumbles upon a crime scene resembling her worst nightmares, something inside her comes undone. A mysterious guy, who’s as handsome as he’s weird, shows up at her side. And her summer break becomes suddenly a whole lot more interesting. So interesting, it tears her life apart.

Daniel, 17-year-old wolf-shifter and known to make bad choices, is forced to protect Samantha who’s a witch denial of her powers. To him, the only good witch is a dead one. Cursing his unnatural attraction to her, he balances love, hate and danger as he tries to save the life of one clueless witch. – Goodreads Synopsis

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Fire Girl Review

Fire Girl read insanely fast, for the fact that it is 385 pages long. It’s a quick, easy read. It’s a good read, but not a great one.

For at least the first third of the book, Fire Girl is missing the spark (not asking pardon for that pun) that turns a plot into a story. I could definitely see where the author was going, I just didn’t care about the getting there.  I thoroughly enjoyed the main character’s smart mouth, but I didn’t care about any of the characters.  It gives a very disjointed feeling that doesn’t allow you to lose yourself within the pages. Instead you find yourself wishing for just a bit more.

I think part of the problem is that, at least to my understanding, this is a transition novel. The author is moving from middle-grade to young adult here, and hasn’t quite shed the writing style middle grade needs. What worked for middle-grade doesn’t work well for young adult reads. More room is given for introspection, world building, et cetera. However, after you hit the halfway point, you can see the writing style transition into a more appropriate form. It begins to read a lot more smoothly and, by the last quarter it’s a truly enjoyable story. The last quarter saves it, but it doesn’t make up completely for the troubles that came before it.

Overall, Fire Girl shows flashes of the talent I know Andy Mulberry possesses. I have no doubt that her next young adult novel will be a wonderful read. There was a refreshing lack of a love triangle in Fire Girl. The main female was sassy, but not super-powered. There was a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. These are all great things that, if replicated in further work, will take her far.

Title: Fire Girl: A Tale of Witches and Wolves | Author: Andy Mulberry (site) | Publisher: Self-published | Pub. Date: 2016-4-26 | ISBN13: 9780692706602 | Genre: Urban Fantasy | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 3 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-6-23 | Source: Kindle Unlimited