‘Book of Fire is dystopian with a difference…This was such an exciting read…’ – Katharine Corr, co-author of The Witch’s Kiss Trilogy Life outside the domes is not possible. At least that’s what Insiders are told. Twins Eli and Talia shouldn’t exist. They’re Outsiders. Their home is a secret. Their lives are a secret. Arafel is a secret. An unexpected forest raid forces Talia into a desperate … unexpected forest raid forces Talia into a desperate mission to rescue her family while protecting the sacred Book of Arafel from those who would use it as a weapon. As Talia and her life long friend Max enter the dome, she makes some unexpected discoveries, and allies, in the form of rugged Insider August, that will change the course of her life forever.
She’ll stop at nothing to save her family but will she sacrifice her heart in the process?
The Fire Sermon meets Gladiator in this brilliant YA debut.
Praise for Book of Fire
‘The world building was done with great detail, I was able to picture what I was reading and that made the experience that much greater.’ Esha Packer
‘I was blown away by the intricate details throughout this book of the 2 different worlds, the characters, the mythical beasts, the character development and their relationships with one another.’ Zoe Mann
‘Michelle has woven elements into the story beautifully, she has brought history and the future together in one book.’ Gemma McGee
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3.5 stars
I know we should never judge a book by its cover, but the cover of Book of Fire was the first thing that attracted me to this story. It’s stunning and made me want to dive right into the story! I have read quite a few dystopian stories, but nothing like this one. This author created such an unique and intersting world.
Talia, our main character, lives with her family in Arafel. This place shouldn’t exsist after the world as they knew it was destroyed. A life dome was created and according to the government, nothing can survive outside of it. Except they do!
Some unexpected events, force Talia to make some extreme decisions to help save her family. I loved how actionpacked this story was. I never knew what was going to happen next. Talia is so strong and I loved how determined she was! For being far away from home and by herself, she did well.
There is some typical YA romance in this book, but I loved that we weren’t really ever sure who to trust! Normally it’s rather predictable, but this author left me with many questions and I really wasn’t sure if she should be with Max or August. I would’ve liked to have seen more of Arafel and maybe even get to know the characters a bit better before they were off to the dome. Her brother sounded really interesting as well as her family.
The life dome was so creative. I loved all the layers and details. And all the creatures and “monsters” she encounters while there. I don’t think I’ve seen most of them in other books. This dome was so interesting and I really hope it’s explored even more in the next story. This aspect was really amazing.
Near the ending things went a bit fast and maybe a bit too easy. It’s hard to say what should’ve been done differently, because the book ends really open and nothing is really settled. I’m excited to dive in the second story and learn more about the theory this book is base on. Hopefully we see more of Arafel as well.
Michelle Kenney created a world that is so unique and diverse that really makes you want to read more. I can’t wait to see what happens to these characters next. Taking aspects of things that could actually happen to our world and giving them a twist was definitely not something I was expecting!
Something about the Book of Fire just doesn’t work for me. Talia is too good, this feral cat from the jungle trying to rescue everyone, with her best friend and the high-ranking general both in love with her. She’s too saintly except for what happens between her and Augustus’s sister, and the way they fought it seemed kinda childish. She was far far far too quick to trust everyone with the code.
Some of the language was also really off, and I feel like someone should have really gone over this in detail to clean it up, for example:
‘It left a gutsy, raw wound in its place and the type of pain that created energy and purpose.”
To give credit to the author though, the idea behind this was actually really good. The world she’s built up inside the city; a dictator trying desperately to recreate an ancient civilization and all the mythological creatures, and hierarchies it came with was really well done!