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A review by jesterclown
How to Set a Fire and Why by Jesse Ball
4.0
Great! I fell hook, line and sinker for this. If I’d read it as a teen, it would have become my entire personality.
It’s not perfect, though:
1) I didn’t feel compelled to read it which meant it took me longer than it should have
2) Whilst the concept is incredibly original (diary of a teen girl arsonist), the actual contours of the plot feel a bit familiar and derivative. Lucia’s arc is redolent of Enid Coleslaw’s in the Ghost World film adaptation.
Of course, I can’t complain too much as “what if Enid Coleslaw was an anarchist and arsonist” is a fantastic conceit for a book, in both theory and execution.
It’s not perfect, though:
1) I didn’t feel compelled to read it which meant it took me longer than it should have
2) Whilst the concept is incredibly original (diary of a teen girl arsonist), the actual contours of the plot feel a bit familiar and derivative. Lucia’s arc is redolent of Enid Coleslaw’s in the Ghost World film adaptation.
Of course, I can’t complain too much as “what if Enid Coleslaw was an anarchist and arsonist” is a fantastic conceit for a book, in both theory and execution.