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A review by jasonsweirdreads
Girl on Fire by Gemma Amor
5.0
**Disclaimer: This review might contain some spoilery material. I try not to do this in my reviews, but I had to gush...
Girl on Fire reminded me just how good Gemma Amor's writing is. It's vicious and pissed off. It's beautiful and ugly and fascinating. This one was my second read by her, Dear Laura being the first. As with that book, I'm going to say the same with this one. It's not my last. And now I doubt there will be a book where I just stop reading her stories. She is quickly climbing up my list to becoming a favorite.
Girl on Fire follows Ruby Miller, our antihero. Her teenage years are filled with pain and abuse, and just as she saves enough money to buy her own car and run away, something happens where she learns that she can create and control fire, and a lot of it, with her mind.
Straight away she's forced to use this newly found power to defend herself, and she kills. Thus begins our journey, a trip to a fiery hell with a whole lot of crispy flesh left on our trail. Ruby begins to lose any sense of compassion or empathy as she goes, becoming less and less human with each new victim. Worse, she self-justifies her reasoning, offering only a shrug if she doesn't have an answer ready as to why she's doing such horrible things.
The Good:
Gemma Amor is a master of the English language. Your brain will crave absorbing her wonderful prose as she takes us through some terrible and terrifying situations. She's also a master at character creation. Ruby, at the beginning of the story, is sympathetic, but as she learns to harness her fiery powers, the less she cares about the lives she takes. So you begin feeling for Ruby, wishing for her to have better. As the story progresses, however, you grow to hate her. And yet you can't help but find her fascinating and continuously curious wondering what she'll do next.
The Bad:
The abusive beginning reads like a literary coming of age, albeit a grim one. We're suddenly and quickly thrust into an adventure story with our antihero supervillain all within the change of a page. It's a little jarring, but Gemma Amor's writing skill is good enough to hold onto the reins and keep you interested. But I think that it's important to address this because it could lose readers. Just know that you're in for a wild ride.
Aside from the beginning, Girl on Fire is fast-paced and thrilling. It's also very short. I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough.
Girl on Fire reminded me just how good Gemma Amor's writing is. It's vicious and pissed off. It's beautiful and ugly and fascinating. This one was my second read by her, Dear Laura being the first. As with that book, I'm going to say the same with this one. It's not my last. And now I doubt there will be a book where I just stop reading her stories. She is quickly climbing up my list to becoming a favorite.
Girl on Fire follows Ruby Miller, our antihero. Her teenage years are filled with pain and abuse, and just as she saves enough money to buy her own car and run away, something happens where she learns that she can create and control fire, and a lot of it, with her mind.
Straight away she's forced to use this newly found power to defend herself, and she kills. Thus begins our journey, a trip to a fiery hell with a whole lot of crispy flesh left on our trail. Ruby begins to lose any sense of compassion or empathy as she goes, becoming less and less human with each new victim. Worse, she self-justifies her reasoning, offering only a shrug if she doesn't have an answer ready as to why she's doing such horrible things.
The Good:
Gemma Amor is a master of the English language. Your brain will crave absorbing her wonderful prose as she takes us through some terrible and terrifying situations. She's also a master at character creation. Ruby, at the beginning of the story, is sympathetic, but as she learns to harness her fiery powers, the less she cares about the lives she takes. So you begin feeling for Ruby, wishing for her to have better. As the story progresses, however, you grow to hate her. And yet you can't help but find her fascinating and continuously curious wondering what she'll do next.
The Bad:
The abusive beginning reads like a literary coming of age, albeit a grim one. We're suddenly and quickly thrust into an adventure story with our antihero supervillain all within the change of a page. It's a little jarring, but Gemma Amor's writing skill is good enough to hold onto the reins and keep you interested. But I think that it's important to address this because it could lose readers. Just know that you're in for a wild ride.
Aside from the beginning, Girl on Fire is fast-paced and thrilling. It's also very short. I absolutely loved this book and cannot recommend it enough.