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dunder_mifflin's review against another edition
1.0
i picked this up because it was cheap in costco and i'd quite liked the author's other book. it was a MISTAKE. I REGRET EVERY PENNY AND MOMENTS OF MY LIFE THAT I SPENT ON THIS AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL BOOK
the only way it could have been worse would be by replacing 'fire' with 'cursed' in the title
(protip: stay away from books that have 'the ____ child' as the title )
i hated it because of many reasons so here we go:
- the pacing was awful? it drags on for soooo long then suddenly rachel is pregnant and david beats her up and she reveals her dad's sexual abuse that started when she was 8 and how she escaped but then around 20y/o he rapes her at knife point and she becomes pregnant and she was also in a mental institution because of her dad and like. ook . space it out a bit if you wanna put so much trauma in here author
- david BEATS his wife but then at the end he's like "she got the house in the divorce but i'm happy about it bc now i'm free and i'm loving my life and even tho she could decline me entry to the house she lets me in to see my kid so all is well!" NOOOOOO let him burn in hell
- also then she lied about getting pregnant from her dad (so did he rape her at knife point?? ? who knows if that was also a lie) she actually was a surrogate mother and her daughter didn't actually die the doctors just told her that and she actually had a son who the couple she was surrogating for but had never met got the kid and U GUESSED IT THAT COUPLE WAS HER CURRENT HUSBAND AND HIS PREVIOUS WIFE SO HER INSANE OBSESSION WITH DAVID'S KID WAS OK BC SHE WAS HIS ACTUAL MUM AND MUST HAVE SENSED IT
ill spare you the rest this was awful and a waste of time i'll prob never read anything but this author again lol
the only way it could have been worse would be by replacing 'fire' with 'cursed' in the title
(protip: stay away from books that have 'the ____ child' as the title )
i hated it because of many reasons so here we go:
- the pacing was awful? it drags on for soooo long then suddenly rachel is pregnant and david beats her up and she reveals her dad's sexual abuse that started when she was 8 and how she escaped but then around 20y/o he rapes her at knife point and she becomes pregnant and she was also in a mental institution because of her dad and like. ook . space it out a bit if you wanna put so much trauma in here author
- david BEATS his wife but then at the end he's like "she got the house in the divorce but i'm happy about it bc now i'm free and i'm loving my life and even tho she could decline me entry to the house she lets me in to see my kid so all is well!" NOOOOOO let him burn in hell
- also then she lied about getting pregnant from her dad (so did he rape her at knife point?? ? who knows if that was also a lie) she actually was a surrogate mother and her daughter didn't actually die the doctors just told her that and she actually had a son who the couple she was surrogating for but had never met got the kid and U GUESSED IT THAT COUPLE WAS HER CURRENT HUSBAND AND HIS PREVIOUS WIFE SO HER INSANE OBSESSION WITH DAVID'S KID WAS OK BC SHE WAS HIS ACTUAL MUM AND MUST HAVE SENSED IT
ill spare you the rest this was awful and a waste of time i'll prob never read anything but this author again lol
sylvilel's review against another edition
4.0
I intented to burn through this book in one or two sittings, but some parts were so intense that I got exhausted. It's been really long since a book captivated me so completely, and even while it's been diffucult to keep up the pace, it's also been difficult to put the book down. It took me six days to finish 400 pages.
A spooky, psychological thriller in an almost empty, thousand year old castle on the Cornish coast. Nina, dead wife and mother, and the new wife and stepmother Rachel trying to settle in between the sorrow and ghosts of her husband David and stepson Jamie. What really happened to Nina Kerthen, and is she really coming back to haunt Carnhallow, like Jamie seems to be predicting? Or is Rachel going mad?
A spooky, psychological thriller in an almost empty, thousand year old castle on the Cornish coast. Nina, dead wife and mother, and the new wife and stepmother Rachel trying to settle in between the sorrow and ghosts of her husband David and stepson Jamie. What really happened to Nina Kerthen, and is she really coming back to haunt Carnhallow, like Jamie seems to be predicting? Or is Rachel going mad?
paulabrandon's review against another edition
2.0
Rachel, clearly never having read Rebecca or the 400,000 other similar thrillers on the shelf these days, marries David, a man she's only known for a couple of months, and heads back to his castle estate overlooking several mines, where he lives with his son, Jamie. Both are haunted by the death of David's first wife, Nina - and soon Rachel is too. Jamie is making weird predictions that come true, and Rachel wonders about the true nature of Nina's death.
This gets two stars by virtue of the fact that for a large part of it, I was truly in the dark as to where it was headed! Unfortunately, I was dreaming up far more intricate scenarios than what is finally delivered at the end, that's for sure! My beefs (and they're big ones) contain spoilers!
Apparently she lied about being raped by her father to explain away her pregnancy, as her father had indeed raped her as a child, so she knew the lie would be believed. However, it turns out she knew all along that she was acting as a surrogate, so what exactly did she have to hide?!? Surrogacy isn't exactly some deep, dark, shameful secret from the 1960s. For Christ's sake, there's been TV movies about it since the 1990s!!! And I love those TV movies, by the way. But, in any case, there was no need for her to lie in the first place!
It's put to us that Rachel was suffering postpartum depression and imagining seeing Nina and smelling her perfume, and her own psychosis was feeding Jamie's. Except David's mother smelt the perfume as well, so what the fuck was going on there?!? Excuse my language. Also, apparently all the times that Jamie saw Nina, he was actually seeing Rachel, because Rachel looked a little bit like Nina and was, in fact, Jamie's birth mother.
Yes, you heard that right. The baby that Rachel gave birth to - which she knew was to be given to a rich, childless couple - is Jamie. She was told the baby was a girl and died, and just never bothered to inquire, even once, about what was going on. Of course. This is probably why she ended up marrying an abusive jerk in the first place, as she clearly has very little brains. In any case, why couldn't that little shit Jamie just say that Rachel reminded him so much of his precious first mummy? Ugh, my head hurts just thinking about it.
So there you have it. All of Rachel's fears that she was being stalked by either Jamie and his weird predictions or first dead wife Nina were simply because she was suffering postpartum depression. Except it wasn't postpartum depression because she hadn't even given fucking birth yet. Whatever. It's a cheap, lazy trick to try and cover up the fact Tremayne's plot made zero sense. It also contributes to that tiresome trope that "crazy" equals "dangerous". As a society, we're trying to overcome hurtful casual ableism such as that, and trash like this does that movement no service.
So, while I thought those first two thirds were really quite impressive, I was massively let down by that lousy outcome, which was just bitterly, bitterly lazy, cheap, stupid, offensive and disappointing!
This gets two stars by virtue of the fact that for a large part of it, I was truly in the dark as to where it was headed! Unfortunately, I was dreaming up far more intricate scenarios than what is finally delivered at the end, that's for sure! My beefs (and they're big ones) contain spoilers!
Spoiler
What do you do when you've written yourself into a corner and can't think of a way to explain everything that's happened? You make your main character "crazy", of course! It made my blood boil. All the things don't add up is apparently explained away by the fact that Rachel had postpartum (post-natal) depression. Except, even the book itself says her type of psychosis generally only happens after the baby is born, so that explanation was pretty much full of shit as well!Apparently she lied about being raped by her father to explain away her pregnancy, as her father had indeed raped her as a child, so she knew the lie would be believed. However, it turns out she knew all along that she was acting as a surrogate, so what exactly did she have to hide?!? Surrogacy isn't exactly some deep, dark, shameful secret from the 1960s. For Christ's sake, there's been TV movies about it since the 1990s!!! And I love those TV movies, by the way. But, in any case, there was no need for her to lie in the first place!
It's put to us that Rachel was suffering postpartum depression and imagining seeing Nina and smelling her perfume, and her own psychosis was feeding Jamie's. Except David's mother smelt the perfume as well, so what the fuck was going on there?!? Excuse my language. Also, apparently all the times that Jamie saw Nina, he was actually seeing Rachel, because Rachel looked a little bit like Nina and was, in fact, Jamie's birth mother.
Yes, you heard that right. The baby that Rachel gave birth to - which she knew was to be given to a rich, childless couple - is Jamie. She was told the baby was a girl and died, and just never bothered to inquire, even once, about what was going on. Of course. This is probably why she ended up marrying an abusive jerk in the first place, as she clearly has very little brains. In any case, why couldn't that little shit Jamie just say that Rachel reminded him so much of his precious first mummy? Ugh, my head hurts just thinking about it.
So there you have it. All of Rachel's fears that she was being stalked by either Jamie and his weird predictions or first dead wife Nina were simply because she was suffering postpartum depression. Except it wasn't postpartum depression because she hadn't even given fucking birth yet. Whatever. It's a cheap, lazy trick to try and cover up the fact Tremayne's plot made zero sense. It also contributes to that tiresome trope that "crazy" equals "dangerous". As a society, we're trying to overcome hurtful casual ableism such as that, and trash like this does that movement no service.
So, while I thought those first two thirds were really quite impressive, I was massively let down by that lousy outcome, which was just bitterly, bitterly lazy, cheap, stupid, offensive and disappointing!
debsdavies's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
writer_gabby's review against another edition
2.0
2,5*
Fiquei muito triste porque adorei “Gemeas de Gelo” mesmo assim vou querer ler mais livros do autor e esperar que este tenha sido só uma má passagem
Fiquei muito triste porque adorei “Gemeas de Gelo” mesmo assim vou querer ler mais livros do autor e esperar que este tenha sido só uma má passagem
btpbookclub's review against another edition
5.0
Another big thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book! I have been waiting for this book for what seems like forever, seen as I enjoyed The Ice Twins so much. The Fire Child has received many mixed reviews but I must say I really did enjoy it! I loved it! It is nothing like The Ice Twins but another fantastic story by a brilliant author. The Fire Child will have you hooked throughout and keeping you up all night with this thrilling plot full of twists and turns. I was gripped. I love the way this author writes her stories it makes you feel as if you're there (even when you don't want to be). There were parts I found creepy and disturbing but they just made me want to read on. This is another story I think would make an excellent film! I would highly recommend this story to you all especially if you enjoyed The Ice Twins. I cannot wait to read more by this author. The Fire Child is available to buy now and I would recommend you buy it ASAP, it really is a must read. Especially if you enjoy an outstanding thriller, mystery, suspense and bestselling story.
Enjoy, I did.. Don't let it keep you up all night.
Enjoy, I did.. Don't let it keep you up all night.
tanninsandtales's review against another edition
3.0
I really didn't like "The Ice Twins". So, when I read the blurb of S.K. Tremayne's second novel I thought to myself: "Hm. Scottish island was replaced by Cornwall. Newlyweds instead of a couple trying to rebuild their marriage. Creepy little boy, this time. Not a girl. No dead twin, but a dead mother/wife. Looks like it's the same story. But as it's being written for the second time it's bound to be better."
I was right. This was a much more enjoyable read.
Also, this probably is a good Christmas gift.
I was right. This was a much more enjoyable read.
Also, this probably is a good Christmas gift.
adru's review against another edition
Vist juba kolmas või neljas põnevik, mida ma sel aastal juhuslikult loen ning mille tagajärjel hakkan huviga märkama, et põnevikke on erinevaid ja mõned lausa ongi põnevad või mis veel parem, isegi huvitavad. Nt see. Tegusad daamid on alati tervitatavad.