Reviews

The Fires by Rene Steinke

mistrum_crowe's review against another edition

2.0

There's the basis of what could have been a really good novel in the mess that is The Fires, but it's just put together all wrong. The main character Ella is more an amalgamation of dysfunctions that probably aimed at making someone intriguing and tortured, but only leaves a confused impression of a person where her sole good quality is that she isn't a racist. The plot has a lot of revelations about Ella's family that are good on paper, but presented in the wrong order so that the tension leeches out almost immediately after the first big plot twist at the plot's mid-point. I wanted to care, but couldn't in the end.

avafritsch's review against another edition

3.0

Good writing, the words flowed and chopped. I thoroughly enjoyed the actual writing. However, the story left much to be desired. It built and built and built then never quite sparked.