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gay's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, and Child abuse
bookswithscrump's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ericarobyn's review
5.0
Girl on Fire by Gemma Amor is a fiery tale about a girl that just wants to get away and start her life on a fresh chapter. But as she navigates the very beginning of this next chapter, she crosses paths with more toxic people that are just as bad as the one she had been running from.
Will she be able to rise above, or will she let herself become a monster?
When this story begins, we meet a teenaged girl named Ruby who has finally broken free of a toxic family life. But just as she’s feeling that she is finally able to celebrate, her car hits a pothole, veers off the road, flips over, and ends up bursting into flame.
But Ruby isn’t at the end of the line here… Her fresh start is about to truly begin as she rises from the ashes.
From there, we’re off and running on a path following Ruby, who is no longer allowing anyone to treat her poorly. If they do, they will find themselves in the hot seat.
I absolutely loved Ruby. My heart went out to her learning some of her backstory and then seeing how much she struggled with the line between finally being herself and giving in to the evil thoughts. This poor girl didn’t stand a chance with her upbringing and the messages that were drilled into her.
The author certainly played with the pull between being good and being evil here. I really enjoyed seeing this teenager struggle with both that and the new feeling of finally having some power for the very first time. She was clearly in a negative headspace, and some of the people she ran into during her journey certainly didn’t help that as it just made her more and more angry. But when some of the characters she came across showed her kindness, I had hope that they were getting through to her.
While the story centered around Ruby, I loved that we got chapters from the perspectives of others that played a part here. I especially loved Cat and how strong-willed she was. One of my favorite scenes, even though I was cringing the whole time, was seeing how Cat gave it right back to the people that were interrogating her.
My Favorite Passages
Hate, I realise, can be a useful survival mechanism.
I could weep, but I will not, because I have shit to do, and crying is a waste of my time.
Maybe I want to see if I really am evil, all the way through, or maybe I’m wondering if my evil comes in spots, like rotten patches on a dropped apple. You can cut the bad bits away, and still have a half-way decent apple left behind.
We can’t expect life to make sense. We just make our own truths, and there is something liberating in that.
“… You’re entitled to your anger. You’re not entitled to take it out on the world at large. Do that, and you’re just… I dunno, a fucking patron saint for everything toxic and bad. Tyler Durden. Thanos. The fucking Joker. With tits.”
Guilt is a slow-growing flower.
My Final Thoughts
This was such an intense read. Ruby certainly makes a great villain, but I absolutely cannot wait to see if she returns and takes another path.
I highly recommend checking this one out asap!
Will she be able to rise above, or will she let herself become a monster?
When this story begins, we meet a teenaged girl named Ruby who has finally broken free of a toxic family life. But just as she’s feeling that she is finally able to celebrate, her car hits a pothole, veers off the road, flips over, and ends up bursting into flame.
But Ruby isn’t at the end of the line here… Her fresh start is about to truly begin as she rises from the ashes.
From there, we’re off and running on a path following Ruby, who is no longer allowing anyone to treat her poorly. If they do, they will find themselves in the hot seat.
I absolutely loved Ruby. My heart went out to her learning some of her backstory and then seeing how much she struggled with the line between finally being herself and giving in to the evil thoughts. This poor girl didn’t stand a chance with her upbringing and the messages that were drilled into her.
The author certainly played with the pull between being good and being evil here. I really enjoyed seeing this teenager struggle with both that and the new feeling of finally having some power for the very first time. She was clearly in a negative headspace, and some of the people she ran into during her journey certainly didn’t help that as it just made her more and more angry. But when some of the characters she came across showed her kindness, I had hope that they were getting through to her.
While the story centered around Ruby, I loved that we got chapters from the perspectives of others that played a part here. I especially loved Cat and how strong-willed she was. One of my favorite scenes, even though I was cringing the whole time, was seeing how Cat gave it right back to the people that were interrogating her.
My Favorite Passages
Hate, I realise, can be a useful survival mechanism.
I could weep, but I will not, because I have shit to do, and crying is a waste of my time.
Maybe I want to see if I really am evil, all the way through, or maybe I’m wondering if my evil comes in spots, like rotten patches on a dropped apple. You can cut the bad bits away, and still have a half-way decent apple left behind.
We can’t expect life to make sense. We just make our own truths, and there is something liberating in that.
“… You’re entitled to your anger. You’re not entitled to take it out on the world at large. Do that, and you’re just… I dunno, a fucking patron saint for everything toxic and bad. Tyler Durden. Thanos. The fucking Joker. With tits.”
Guilt is a slow-growing flower.
My Final Thoughts
This was such an intense read. Ruby certainly makes a great villain, but I absolutely cannot wait to see if she returns and takes another path.
I highly recommend checking this one out asap!
errantdreams's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Gemma Amor’s "Girl on Fire" is a wonderful, wild ride of a book. Ruby Miller crashes her car and is inside of it when it goes up in flames. Yet somehow she survives unscathed. Shortly thereafter, men try to prey on her–and she discovers she can produce fire from nothing. She no longer needs food or sleep, but she always feels thirsty no matter how much she drinks. Everybody wants to find Ruby once she starts burning things down. Some want to stop her; others want to study her; still others want to use her as a weapon. And throughout all of it, she burns with rage stored up from the abuse she received at home.
Any empathy Ruby may have had has been burned clean out of her. And when people try to start trouble, her solutions tend to be massive overkill. She may well be the apocalypse made human.
The book moves from perspective to perspective as various people get involved in Ruby’s story. Some sections employ a perspective that’s done surprisingly well here: we hear only one half of a conversation, entirely one person’s voice as they speak to or with their audience. It sounds strange, but it’s very effective. I love the fact that point-of-view switches are clearly labeled at the start of each section, so you always know who’s talking. This is kind of a patchwork story, focusing on specific incidents in Ruby’s life, but there’s enough arc to make it coherent.
This is really a story about empathy (or the lack thereof) between both strangers and acquaintances. It’s also about rebirth. It asks the reader what, if anything, does abuse justify? It also asks us to consider that the apocalypse could genuinely be started by one person’s pain. All in all it’s both beautiful and in some places, rather scary. Ruby is both protagonist and antagonist, and Amor makes that work!
Content note for child abuse and molestation, as well as attempted rape.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
brennanlafaro's review
5.0
Ruby Miller is free at last. This is what I’m talking about - Gemma Amor writing a book that teeters on the line of long novella/short novel. From page one, Ruby Miller is a spiritual sister to the about-to-be released anthology We Are Wolves, co-edited by and contributed to by Amor. This book, and it’s titular character are brimming with fire. Literal fire, yes, but emotional fire too. The story begins following Ruby, who has been wronged, to put it lightly. Ruby perishes in a car accident, but is reborn from the ashes, like a phoenix.
From there, Ruby becomes something of a vigilante. Not the traditional Punisher-esque type, out looking for vengeance and trouble. For the most part, Ruby just wants to be. She wants to be allowed to exist and be who she is. When she is inevitably confronted, it never goes well for the confronters and bystanders.
Amor does an incredible job of building empathy for Ruby. The reader begins in her point of view, an opportunity to climb inside her head and understand what leads to her newfound ability, and why she’s not simply turning into a monster. What Amor also does a fabulous job with in this story, and much of it is accomplished by shifting points of view throughout, employing different styles of narration when the character changes, is stirring questions of morals in the heads of the reader. We begin with an understanding of why Ruby responds to things the way she does, but as the story progresses, we are left with questions like how much of Ruby’s humanity is left? Can we lay the end result of everything that happens at the feet of the people who drove her to this point?
It is certainly possible to read this book as a wham-bam-thank you ma’am tale of action, but reader, don’t deprive yourself. There’s so much more here. Gemma has the ability to pack a story into 150 pages or less that most authors can’t do in twice the length.
A couple other things I enjoyed - the surprise that this will be the first in a series. The mysterious organization out to capture Ruby, their motivations never made quite clear, are all but sure to return. The characterization of Cat, certainly aided by the first person narration section. Finally, the references to some of Gemma’s other stories including White Pines and a story from These Wounds We Make. Fun easter eggs for regular readers that don’t detract from the story if this is your first Amor experience.
This book doesn’t sing, it screams. Ignore whatever the “dates read” portion says. This was a two-day read. It’s captivating and full of white-hot fury. Enjoy.
From there, Ruby becomes something of a vigilante. Not the traditional Punisher-esque type, out looking for vengeance and trouble. For the most part, Ruby just wants to be. She wants to be allowed to exist and be who she is. When she is inevitably confronted, it never goes well for the confronters and bystanders.
Amor does an incredible job of building empathy for Ruby. The reader begins in her point of view, an opportunity to climb inside her head and understand what leads to her newfound ability, and why she’s not simply turning into a monster. What Amor also does a fabulous job with in this story, and much of it is accomplished by shifting points of view throughout, employing different styles of narration when the character changes, is stirring questions of morals in the heads of the reader. We begin with an understanding of why Ruby responds to things the way she does, but as the story progresses, we are left with questions like how much of Ruby’s humanity is left? Can we lay the end result of everything that happens at the feet of the people who drove her to this point?
It is certainly possible to read this book as a wham-bam-thank you ma’am tale of action, but reader, don’t deprive yourself. There’s so much more here. Gemma has the ability to pack a story into 150 pages or less that most authors can’t do in twice the length.
A couple other things I enjoyed - the surprise that this will be the first in a series. The mysterious organization out to capture Ruby, their motivations never made quite clear, are all but sure to return. The characterization of Cat, certainly aided by the first person narration section. Finally, the references to some of Gemma’s other stories including White Pines and a story from These Wounds We Make. Fun easter eggs for regular readers that don’t detract from the story if this is your first Amor experience.
This book doesn’t sing, it screams. Ignore whatever the “dates read” portion says. This was a two-day read. It’s captivating and full of white-hot fury. Enjoy.
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