Now, I'll be honest, books that involve mythical creatures and tend to fall in the fantasy genre usually fail to keep my interest, unless it's Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. I'm not entirely sure why, magic and what not just doesn't seem to captivate me. I never did like The Faraway Tree or Artemis Fowl as a child.
So, when I saw a section of the internet going crazy over Gary Meehan's book, I was curious. This was before I knew what it was actually about. So when I saw it was 'book of the month' in my local supermarket, I finally realised what this book entails. Witches. Oh. This put me off reading the book, it wasn't exactly my 'cup of tea'. But, joined together with the fact that people seemed to love this book and that the protagonist and I shared the same name - I bought it, and read it anyway. Hoping that these individuals I was trusting from the internet were correct and this book was 'different' from all these other 'witch' books. They were correct.
I'll admit, the first 100 pages were slow, and I was beginning to think that books that involved mythical story lines were just never going to be my thing. I couldn't find any interest in Megan, Eleanor, or Damon and their quest to find Megan's twin, Gwyneth. I couldn't find reason for caring about why the witches took Megan's sibling and I even found Megan's determination to find her sister a little bit unbelievable and often found myself cringing at her actions. Maybe because I'm an only child and I've never had any siblings to worry about.
Then - as I'm contemplating giving up entirely - Megan, Eleanor, and Damon arrive in Eastport and it's like I finally left the slow broken down car, that should not have been on the road, and jumped into a Grand Prix racing car because it got good.
Really Good. Instead of taking a week to read the next 100 pages, I read them in a day. I was finally captivated, and actually interested in the priests, the witches, and the quest to find Gwyneth. I suppose there is always light at the end of a very slow beginning.
Even though the novel had gotten considerably more interesting and fascinating, I still found myself questioning why these three strangers were trusting each other in a world where no one is who they say they are. Even the priests, who seem initially good, begin to appear corrupted. The witches, a group of tattooed men, I personally imagined biker-like individuals minus the motor bike, who go by the name The True, initially seem to be evil and cold, might actually be the good guys within the story. I'll be honest, I've finished the book and I still don't know who to trust. Maybe it's a case of which evil is less evil at this point. Which means I'll definitely be sticking around for book number two, True Dark. Oh yes, this is a trilogy.
My favourite character, by far, is Damon. The first meeting had be believe that he was just a head on the beach. Without a body. Thankfully he wasn't. He has a body. Good job because I was beginning to question what sort of messed up world this book was set in because a body-less head talking to you on the beach is just creepy. Not the most intelligent character in the novel, and appears to be more focused on getting drunk and making money from gambling, he adds the necessary sarcasm and humour that is needed in a world so dark and full of secrets. He also seems to generally want to be good and do the right thing. Which is always a positive when you have no idea who trust.
With so many twists and turns, it's easy to get caught up in this tale. This book not only managed to keep me interested when I loosing faith, but has also got me waiting anxiously for the next installment.
Interesting, captivating and dramatic True Fire can be bought
here
Until next time, goodbye.
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