{"id":1762,"date":"2016-06-20T08:30:47","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T12:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?p=1762"},"modified":"2016-07-23T22:52:20","modified_gmt":"2016-07-24T02:52:20","slug":"tell-the-wind-and-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?p=1762","title":{"rendered":"Review: Tell The Wind and Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.<\/p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/TelltheWindandFire.jpg\" alt=\"Review: Tell The Wind and Fire\" title=\"Review: Tell The Wind and Fire\" class=\"ubb-cover-image alignleft\"><strong>Tell the Wind and Fire<\/strong> by <a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?book-author=sarah-rees-brennan\">Sarah Rees Brennan<\/a> <br><strong>Published by<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?book-publisher=clarion-books\">Clarion Books<\/a> on April 5th 2016 <br><strong>Pages:<\/strong> 368 <br><strong>Format:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?book-format=earc\">eARC<\/a> <br><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/?book-source=netgalley\">NetGalley<\/a> <br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tell-Wind-Fire-Sarah-Brennan\/dp\/054431817X\" target=\"_blank\">Buy on Amazon<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/tell-the-wind-and-fire-sarah-rees-brennan\/1122302066\" target=\"_blank\">B&N<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/geo.itunes.apple.com\/ca\/book\/tell-the-wind-and-fire\/id1018652321?mt=11&at=1000l9EE\" target=\"_blank\">iBooks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Sarah_Rees_Brennan_Tell_the_Wind_and_Fire?id=gGQpCgAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\">GooglePlay<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1tDHrVR\" target=\"_blank\">Kobo<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.booksamillion.com\/p\/Tell-Wind-Fire\/Sarah-Rees-Brennan\/9780544318175\" target=\"_blank\">BAM<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bookdepository.com\/Tell-Wind-Fire-Sarah-Rees-Brennan\/9780544318175\" target=\"_blank\">Book Depository<\/a> <br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/16221851-tell-the-wind-and-fire\" target=\"_blank\">Goodreads<\/a> <br><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star-half-stroke\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span> <br><blockquote class=\"ubb-synopsis\"><p><em>Tell the Wind &amp; Fire<\/em> is about a young girl called Lucie who lives in a New York very different from the New York we know: the city is torn between two very different kinds of magic, and Lucie\u2019s own family was torn apart years ago by that conflict. Lucie wears magic rings and carries a burden of guilt she can\u2019t share with anyone.<br \/>\nThe light in her life is her sweetheart boyfriend Ethan, but it turns out Ethan has a secret too: a soulless doppelganger created by dark magic, who has to conceal the face identical to Ethan\u2019s with a hood fastened by a collar nobody but a Light magician with magical rings can take off\u2026 and who introduces himself to both of them by, for reasons nobody can understand, saving Ethan\u2019s life\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>        <script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n            {\n                \"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n                \"@type\":\"Review\",\n                \"datePublished\": \"2016-06-20T12:30:47+00:00\",\n\t\"description\": \"Tell the Wind and Fire is based on Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and comes with a fantasy twist. New York City is divided between the Light City and the Dark City \\u2013 a distinction that creates a\",\n\t\"publisher\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Silk &amp; Serif\"            },\n            \"url\": \"http:\\\/\\\/silk-serif.com\\\/?p=1762\",\n\t\"itemReviewed\": {\n\t\t\"@type\": \"Book\",\n\t\t\"name\": \"Tell the Wind and Fire\",\n\t\t\"author\": {\n\t\t\t\"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t\t\t\"name\": \"Sarah Rees Brennan\",\n\t\t\t\"sameAs\": \"http:\\\/\\\/sarahreesbrennan.com\"            },\n            \"isbn\": \"054431817X\"            },\n            \"author\": {\n                \"@type\": \"Person\",\n                \"name\": \"Debbie\",\n\t\t\"sameAs\": \"http:\\\/\\\/silk-serif.com\\\/\"            },\n            \"reviewRating\": {\n                \"@type\": \"Rating\",\n                \"ratingValue\": 3.5,\n\t\t\"bestRating\": \"5\"\n\t}\n}\n\n\n        <\/script>\n        <p><em>Tell the Wind and Fire<\/em> is based on Dickens&#8217; A Tale of Two Cities and comes with a fantasy twist. New York City is divided between the Light City and the Dark City \u2013 a distinction that creates a world of inequality based on birth and magical abilities. Light is good, Dark is bad, or is it?<\/p>\n<p>Our story follows Lucie, a girl born in the Dark city who earns her way into the Light city. Her experiences border on shock that the Light city is so comfortable while those in the Dark City are condemned to live in poverty and darkness. <strong>Meanwhile, the Dark City uses Lucie\u2019s rise as a motivation for a bloody revolution.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the end, I found <em>Tell the Wind and Fire <\/em>a pleasant and entertaining read, but after some time away from the story I&#8217;ve come to realize the novel was not particularly memorable. The world building, strife and larger issues explored in this novel were more memorable than he characters themselves. I needed to return to the novel to remind myself of most of the plot concerning the love triangle and Ethan&#8217;s own issues with his family.<\/p>\n<h2>After some time away from this novel I&#8217;ve realized that overall my response to this novel is largely a &#8220;meh&#8221; feeling with memories of pleasant prose.\u00a0I wouldn&#8217;t necessarily say this is a bad thing, I really enjoyed this novel, but it didn&#8217;t impact me very deeply emotionally.<\/h2>\n<p>Of course our heroine meets her prince charming in Ethan, who is the son of one of the ruling families in the Light City. I honestly found myself rolling my eyes at how attractive Ethan was, how powerful his family was and how kind Ethan is regardless of his family\u2019s beliefs. The ensuing love triangle pretty much put the nail in the coffin for the romance aspect of this novel for me. Sorry, just love triangles are never written well or necessary. Period. <em>Tell the Wind and Fire<\/em> is no exception, the plot could have been further developed without any kissy face with another guy.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, I liked the world building with magic, the story of the struggles between opposing peoples, the overarching historical details and the lovely imagery. <strong>Although <em>Tell the Wind and Fire<\/em> could have come with more details of where the magic came from in the first place rather than \u201cit just appeared\u201d and the disjuncture between \u201cdark\u201d and \u201clight\u201d magic is never explained in a satisfying manner \u2013 the story has some serious promise.<\/strong> <em>Tell the Wind and Fire<\/em> is a standalone, but is written more like a first installment of a series which I believe will largely hinder this novel in satisfying its intended market. YA readers love their series.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tell-Wind-Fire-Sarah-Brennan\/dp\/054431817X\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2032\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/WindandFiirePromo.jpg\" alt=\"WindandFiirePromo\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/WindandFiirePromo.jpg 300w, http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/WindandFiirePromo-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brennan creates a beautiful city of light and contrasts the city of dark exceptionally wel<strong>l. I found it easy to be enveloped in a world where the virtues of birth makes you part of the ruling class or part of the lower caste.<\/strong> I especially enjoyed the idea of a bloody revolution where a people oppressed fight against their oppressors, but is led by a leader who creates the revolution for very personal and very wrong reasons.<\/p>\n<h2>This was my first novel by Brennan, but I was pleasantly surprised by the writing style and the interesting plot she created. I will definitely check out more of her work when I get the chance to compare it to <em>Tell The Wind and Fire<\/em>.<\/h2>\n<p>This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy fantasy, classic novel re-adaptations, strong female heroines, struggles between &#8216;good&#8217; and &#8216;evil&#8217; (although in this novel the good and evil aren&#8217;t entirely obvious) and young adult stand alone novels. I suggest this as something to read to enjoy the language and world building rather than looking for the next &#8220;book boyfriend&#8221; or new relationship to &#8220;ship&#8221; &#8211; I don&#8217;t really think Luice and Ethan were on the same level as many YA &#8220;power couples&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ubb-final-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-solid fa-star-half-stroke\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"ubb-about-author\">\n<h3>About Sarah Rees Brennan<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/SarahReesBrennan-80x120.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignleft ubb-about-author-photo\"><\/p>\n<p>Sarah Rees Brennan is Irish and currently lives in Dublin. For a short stint, she lived in New York and became involved with a wide circle of writers who encouraged and supported her, including Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. She has developed a wide audience through her popular blog, mistful.livejournal.com, where she writes movie parodies, book reviews and some stories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ubb-author-links\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sarahreesbrennan.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/836009.Sarah_Rees_Brennan\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Goodreads<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/sarahbreesbrennan.tumblr.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<table class=\"rating-report\">\n<tr>\n<th colspan=\"2\">Rating Report<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Plot<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Characters<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Writing<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Pacing<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Cover<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\">\n<div class=\"rr-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"ubb-rr-overall\">\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-title\">Overall:<\/td>\n<td class=\"ubb-rr-section-rating\"><span class=\"star_rating\"><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><i class=\"fa-regular fa-star\"><\/i><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tell the Wind and Fire is based on Dickens&#8217; A Tale of Two Cities and comes with a fantasy twist. New York City is divided between the Light City and the Dark City \u2013 a distinction that creates a world of inequality based on birth and magical abilities. Light is good, Dark is bad, or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,53,56,3,55,1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fantasy","8":"category-paranormal","9":"category-review","10":"category-romance","11":"category-science-fiction","12":"category-uncategorized","13":"category-young-adult","14":"book-author-sarah-rees-brennan","15":"book-publisher-clarion-books","16":"book-genre-fantasy","17":"book-genre-fiction","18":"book-genre-general","19":"book-genre-paranormal","20":"book-genre-romance","21":"book-genre-young-adult","22":"book-source-netgalley","23":"book-format-earc","24":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1762"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2073,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1762\/revisions\/2073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/silk-serif.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}