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A review by readthesparrow
Wild Fires by Sophie Jai
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wild Fires is about grief, loss, and generational trauma. It's beautifully written and just so incredibly well-crafted--there were some very hard-hitting lines that made me put the book down and just sit in it for a moment.
I normally struggle with keeping characters straight in my mind (when I saw the family tree at the beginning I was like, "oh no, I am going to have to flip back to this constantly because no way will I remember"). However, the characterization, pacing, and structure of Wild Fires is so well-done I really didn't have all that difficulty. I even remember all the character's names (a big win for me) because all of the family members were so well-realized. This genuinely reads like a non-fiction biography because the characters feel like people. I just. Ugh. It's so good.
And the prose? My brain is fried right now because end of term is coming up so I can't quite summarize the words to say how fucking good it is. Just. *chefs kiss*
It is a very sad, sometimes difficult book to get through. Because it does tackle grief and loss--not just when it comes to death, but when it comes to losing family members in other ways, along with losing family history and the damage trauma can cause to relationships.
The only criticism I would say is that there are two plot threads I was interested in that I wish we'd seen more of (Onion's character and the relationship between the main character and her roommate). Those two things not being there isn't a huge issue, just some aspects of the story that were interesting I would have liked to see developed/added in more.
I normally struggle with keeping characters straight in my mind (when I saw the family tree at the beginning I was like, "oh no, I am going to have to flip back to this constantly because no way will I remember"). However, the characterization, pacing, and structure of Wild Fires is so well-done I really didn't have all that difficulty. I even remember all the character's names (a big win for me) because all of the family members were so well-realized. This genuinely reads like a non-fiction biography because the characters feel like people. I just. Ugh. It's so good.
And the prose? My brain is fried right now because end of term is coming up so I can't quite summarize the words to say how fucking good it is. Just. *chefs kiss*
It is a very sad, sometimes difficult book to get through. Because it does tackle grief and loss--not just when it comes to death, but when it comes to losing family members in other ways, along with losing family history and the damage trauma can cause to relationships.
The only criticism I would say is that there are two plot threads I was interested in that I wish we'd seen more of (Onion's character and the relationship between the main character and her roommate). Those two things not being there isn't a huge issue, just some aspects of the story that were interesting I would have liked to see developed/added in more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Child death
The child death is discussed but never described in graphic detail; it is moreso about the effects of grief and the echos of loss.