Child of Fear & Fire

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I’ve been wanting to read this book for some time. No idea why I put it off but I regret not reading it sooner!

We follow a young girl Eliza who is a servant girl at Norlane Hall. She is grossly mistreated and abused by the family. Eliza constantly lives in fear, though there is a darkness following her. The voices in her head feed off her dark thoughts and there’s a certain warmth to them. She doesn’t quite know if the voices are her own or something else. At the skirts of Norlane Hall lies a mysterious forest which remains untouched, until the young daughters of the house decide they want to explore it and manipulating Eliza to go. Little do they know, it’s about to change everything.

This is an atmospheric, dark and spooky read. Although it’s short in length, there is so much detail in the story telling. It’s definitely full of intrigue and anticipation. I was wondering if Eliza did have a mental illness, if there was a dark presence that wanted to interact with her or if it was a combination of both. This story definitely has impact because now I’m wondering if it’d be better to listen to the audiobook as it may take the story to another level.

I definitely want to check out more of this authors work.

Bunny

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really don’t know what I just read! It’s really WTF the whole way through!

This book was weird, dark, funny, sad, thrilling and nonsensical all at once. I really enjoyed the writing style, it was quick paced and when people describe it as a mix between the heathers, the craft, mean girls and Frankenstein, I have to agree. Imagine someone was high and during their trip, they decided to write a book. This is what I imagine that would be.

Samantha attends Warren University, where a clique of girls, who only refer to themselves as “Bunny”, invite Samantha to their Smut Salon one evening. It’s a night of sharing literature or stories of your deepest desires with no judgement. These girls get Samantha drunk, tell her to go capture a rabbit outside and she winds up home with a nasty hangover. She starts disconnecting from her best friend Ava, the clique let Samantha in on their rituals and she becomes a zombie to their cult-like structure. Meanwhile, there are so many internal conversations Samantha is having with her dead mum, Ava, herself… which just adds to the mystery of her mind and what is truth. When Ava tells Samantha she’s thinking about leaving town and disappears, it sends Samantha spiralling as it’s uncovered that things aren’t what they seem to be.

Honestly, I tried so hard to cover what the story entails above, and although it sounds very straightforward, it really isn’t! You are left wondering what this read was all about. It’s very different to most reads you’ll have. You may even think it doesn’t make sense. You’ll wonder why you read it. You’ll have even more questions. It’s also a book that sticks out in your mind because you can’t truly explain what went on. And this is why I think it’s so unique because you either love it or hate it!

“Art is in the eye of the beholder and everyone will have their own interpretation” - E.A Bucchianeri