Blog Tour - Q&A and Review: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan

Hi guys! Welcome to my stop on the Tell the Wind and Fire Blog Tour! Before we get to the Q&A with Sarah and my review, here's a little about the book!

Tell the Wind and Fire

by Sarah Rees Brennan

April 5, 2016

368 pages

Goodreads  Indigo

Goodreads Summary:

Tell the Wind & Fire 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’s own family was torn apart years ago by that conflict. Lucie wears magic rings and carries a burden of guilt she can’t share with anyone.

The 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’s with a hood fastened by a collar nobody but a Light magician with magical rings can take off… and who introduces himself to both of them by, for reasons nobody can understand, saving Ethan’s life…

 

Q & A

 

BCP: Why did you choose to write a retelling of A Tale of Two Cities?

SRB: A Tale of Two Cities has always been my favourite Dickens novel. I never really got Dickens, then I read A Tale of Two Cities, cried my eyes out, read a rare edition of it in the bath…

And yet at the same time, the thing that inspired me to write a retelling of this particular book is that there were always things about it that made me uncomfortable, like the fact the heroine hardly ever talks, is never given information about her own life, and spends the end of the book totally unconscious and being bundled off in a carriage like a suitcase. ‘Don’t mind us, heroine coming through!’ I wanted to write a story as moving as A Tale of Two Cities, as powerfully written and urging social change and arguing for the potential magnificence of the human spirit… and to make the heroine a real person. To make her the real heroine.

Maybe that’s the spirit behind all retellings: ‘Or what if it went like this.’


About the Author
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.

 

Website    Authors Goodreads

 

 

Review

Tell the Wind and Fire left me with some mixed feelings. I had a very different impression of the book (from the synopsis) as compared to what I ended up getting from the story. Maybe because I never read A Tale of Two Cities? Nevertheless, I found certain parts of the story to be quite interesting.

 

I'm going to start off by saying I was underwhelmed by the story. It felt flat in the beginning and I wasn't very excited with what was happening on the pages. That being said, the tone of the story, the contrast between the light and the dark and the helplessness of the characters were very well-done. There wasn't one minute where I didn't feel how hard it was to be in these characters' shoes, being under pressure in tough situations and having to make life and death choices.

Lucie carried a heavy burden. One she willingly took on but the poor girl just cannot catch a break. Literally everyone wanted something from her. She lived in fear until she met Ethan. He was the brightness in her life. "People understood blood, but nobody could quantify romantic love, the alchemy that could transform a stranger into someone as close as family..... Love was the mystery nobody could solve, the fairy tale everyone loved to listen to and not quite believe in." (ARC, p.155). To me, Lucie felt like a half-way heroine. She was hailed as the Golden Thread in the Dark but I didn't feel like she lived up to the title because of all her hesitations. When she finally does something, it felt too late. Yet I do admire her ability to make hard decisions on the spot. She reacts quick and does what's best even if it doesn't lead to the most desirable outcome.

The darkness to Tell the Wind and Fire made it somewhat of a depressing read. Even so, I enjoyed how the shadow brought about hope and salvation. Carwyn's fateful appearance saves Ethan and sets off a chain of events that eventually brings about changes. I was fascinated by the concept of the doppelgangers. The purpose to their creation and their barely-tolerated existence peaked my interest. I was a bit disappointed they didn't have more involvement.

The story only really picks up near the end but a few realizations had me nodding my head. We get closure for the incident that started it all  (Lucie realizes Ethan is the rebel afterall) while another piece of information that comes to light had me questioning its importance (Lucie's mom died while out saving Carwyn's life). It was a bittersweet end for most. No matter what happened though, I like that there was hope for the better.

 

I think I'm missing that special connection with Tell The Wind and Fire because I haven't read A Tale of Two Cities. I feel like I would've appreciated the story more if I had. In the end I did enjoy the story. I'd say don't hesitate to give this book a try because it just might be in your element ;)

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way. All quotes were taken from the Advance Review Copy I received.

Now, be sure to check out all the other blog tour stops!!