Song of the Fireflies

by J. A. Redmerski

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I kind of liked Song of the Fireflies, but then again, I kind of didn't. It's a weird one for me. It started off rough, but by the end I was mostly enjoying it. I think if the focus had been shifted, and looked more at Bray's arrest and her mental health issues, this would have been fantastic. As it is though, it was a train wreck that I couldn't look away from. It was different from other NA in that it's not about two damaged twenty-somethings finding each other, falling in love, and then being healed by the power of love. Elias and Bray are already together, and then there's a terrible accident that causes them to run instead of facing the problem. Needless to say, their lives become a huge mess.

The first few chapters of Song of the Fireflies are about Elias and Bray's history together. They met as children and became inseparable. She was always loud and reckless, getting into trouble, but he loved her anyway. They never dated until they were twenty-two though. Bray got scared, dumped him, and took off. They didn't see each other again for four years, but now neither of them is letting the other go. Their relationship is super intense and she depended on him way too much (this is one of things she works through at the end). Once their relationship is established, the plot picks up and it was mostly sex, drugs, and mental health issues. It could have been interesting, but it was mostly a jumbled mess and I had a hard time caring about Elias and Bray's problem since they brought it upon themselves.

I was annoyed with this running from a murder plot from the beginning. One of Elias' one-night stands is high as a kite and picking a fight with Bray. Things take a violet turn, so Bray understandably, pushes Jana off of her. Well, she stumbles and falls off a cliff and dies. Bray freaks out and she ends up taking off with Elias since they can never, ever, EVER be apart. It was an accident! It was self-defense! I get that Bray is scared, but she knows it'll be worse for her and Elias if they leave. But they run anyway, and get up to many hijinks on their trip from Georgia to Florida. There's even a cameo from Camryn and Andrew, since we get a scene from The Edge of Always from a new perspective. That was fun, even if everything else wasn't.

Sex. There is a lot of sex. Elias and Bray get it on all the time. There's also two threesomes, and a scene where multiple couples have sex in the same room. The author has also included a pretty detailed anal scene. If this is not your thing, you'll probably want to skip Song of the Fireflies. It's not quite into Erotica territory, but it is close. The characters are also older than the typical NA, so it's kind of expected. No blushing virgins here! In fact, toward the beginning, Bray says she's a sex addict. This actually made me laugh, because enjoying sex and wanting to have sex with your boyfriend doesn't mean you're addicted. She even turned a good heart-to-heart about her struggle with depression into a confession about how much she loves sex. Weird.

Drugs. There is a lot of heavy drug use in Song of the Fireflies. Elias smokes a lot of weed in the beginning, and his roommate is on meth. Then during their "road trip," Elias and Bray do a ton of drinking and some drugs. They're partying it up instead of being responsible adults. This made me feel like they were younger than twenty-six, but what do I know?

Now for the mental health aspect. I was annoyed with it in the beginning, because much like in The Edge of Never, the author glosses over the problem. Bray was a troubled teen, and later we find out why. Don't worry, she doesn't have some tragic secret about abuse or anything. She has a mental disorder which wasn't properly dealt with. After we find this out, it kind of all but disappears. Then at the end, it comes back full force and I was really into it until...it was glossed over again and everything became sunshine and rainbows. I was ready to give Song of the Fireflies another star when I thought Bray's issues were actually going to be looked at in depth. Well, they weren't.

In the end, Song of the Fireflies didn't work for many reasons. I think the author was trying too hard to make this something new for the NA genre, but it was a bit of a mess. I never connected with Bray or Elias, so I didn't really care where they wound up. I found Bray incredibly stupid for choosing to run, and Elias even stupider (I know that's not a word!) for letting her drag him down instead of getting help! I would have been much more impressed if the author had taken a risk and had Bray get arrested early on, so we could see prison life and how it effected her mental health. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.