Tell the Wind and Fire

by Sarah Rees Brennan

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Le sigh. I wanted to love it, I wanted to soooo badly. But alas. It wasn't bad, but it was a bit underwhelming I suppose. Lucie and Ethan just did not excite me as characters, nor did I feel any real chemistry between them. Ethan was akin to watching paint dry, but at least he wasn't always around. Lucie just didn't strike me as a noteworthy heroine. She didn't really do much of anything, nor did she really inspire anyone or anything.

But the hardest part for me was the lack of world building. Okay, we're in New York, but some kind of weird New York, where there is Light and Dark, but I'll be damned if I know why or how. There was also a pretty sizeable info-dump which may have explained some of it, but I started skimming because I was bored. And I am not a skimmer by nature. And why did these people not like each other? I still don't understand. The Dark residents were clearly treated as "less than" by the Light Dwellers but I am still not sold on why. Then there was a revolution, because of course there was. Some of it felt like it didn't make sense, and the rest seemed clichéd. Lucie was "special" to the revolution (which, in itself was pretty underwhelming), and the "not-quite-a-love-triangle" was extra special. Actually now that I think about it, there were a lot more similarities and tropes than I initially realized- but they're spoilery, so I can't even talk about them. Let's just say this checks a lot of boxes on the "generic dystopian/fantasy" trope list.
I did like a few things about the book. Mostly Carwyn. More of him and his snark, please and thank you. I feel like his presence made Lucie's personality "pop" a bit, and I liked their interactions together. I also liked Lucie's concern for her family, and the lovely family that took Lucie and her dad in after Lucie's mom was killed.

Bottom Line: I was mostly confused and underwhelmed, but there were a few bright spots. Still, definitely not what I had hoped for.
*Copy provided by publisher for review