Hi there! I’m here to talk about a sophomore novel being released by an author I’ve read and loved from before. **And every day we are reminded that discrimination against marginalized communities is still a serious problem, so click here to find a compilation of resources where you can donate your time, money, or whatever you can to support these communities. I still encourage you to research these causes on your own to educate yourself and find the best way to lend your support.**
I was first introduced to Rosiee Thor’s work in November 2020, when I read their debut YA sci-fi novel Tarnished are the Stars – you can read my review in my “favorite book of the month” post here. I found the plot and politics intriguing, the characters realistic and relatable, and the themes of familial abandonment, betrayal, loyalty, and identity heartfelt. While I acknowledged its flaws, I still loved it all the same. So when I heard their sophomore novel, Fire Becomes Her, was releasing in February, I knew I had to find a way to read it early. It wasn’t available on NetGalley, but after filling out Thor’s review interest form, I was able to obtain an early copy using the review site Edelweiss. It’s a fantasy tale with commentary of class, a tense political climate surrounding an important election, and a Jazz-age flare (quite literally). I’ve already preordered a copy coming in February’s RainbowCrate (which is a monthly subscription box supporting books with LGBTQ+ representation, which is incredible) and I hope I can sway you to pick yourself up a copy if you’re still on the fence.
Flare is power – in this world, flare has the ability to light the night sky with fireworks or burn a building down with just one drop. And seventeen-year-old Ingrid Ellis won’t stop until she’s earned her fair share. Her plan is to rise to the top on the arm of Linden Holt, heir to the largest fortune of flare known to date. But his father refuses to acknowledge Ingrid as anything more than the daughter of a thief. When Senator Holt announces his run for presidency, Ingrid agrees to spy on an opponent’s campaign to gain his trust. But the information that she uncovers starts to be more than she bargained for, and Ingrid begins to doubt where her true allegiances lie, and who she can trust.
I’ll be honest, it did take a while for me to truly become invested in the story, and I will credit some of that to the formatting of my e-arc copy – sometimes the line structure threw me out of the story and I had to really concentrate. But once Ingrid joined Gwendolyn Meyers and her campaign, and events started to unfold, I was able to to push the formatting aside and let myself get sucked into the story. I really enjoyed seeing Ingrid progress as a character – she is the daughter of a thief who was sent to an orphanage after her father was arrested and sent to prison for stealing (which he did in order to provide for the two of them). Ever since, people see her as less-than, and she works hard to put her past aside so others will forget that side of her. She’s top of her class and dating, if not secretly, the most influential boy in her class, Linden Holt, hoping for a spot on Senator’s Holt’s presidential campaign to show the world she is serious. She even avoids the town where she grew up, as it’s seen as a poorer area and does not want to associate herself with it, even though that time of her life will always be a part of her. She blames her father for abandoning her, but learns to be just as angry at the system that forced his hand to thievery to provide for his family, and then punished him for it. I also found a lot of commentary in the voting system for this presidential election – flare, which provides its drinker with a temporary high of power and is used for show just as much as heating homes, is collected from each county’s residential population (they vote for their preferred candidate with as much flare as they are expecting in return) and the one with the highest reserve wins that area [I’m sure I’m not explaining this right, but you get the gist]. This highlights the disparity of resources among counties, as those with less access to flare either won’t vote, because they want to preserve what little flare they have, or those with the most in that area will sway the vote to a particular candidate who may not represent the ideals most wanted by the county. I was impressed by how well this political climate mirrored the current one in the United States, and how much discussion Thor presented as to the issues we face as a nation. We should all be doing our best to ensure the officials we elect have our best interests at heart.
I also wanted to talk about the representation of relationships and their complexities presented in the novel, because my goodness was there a lot to love and unpack. First, familial relationships – Ingrid and Linden both express wanting to distance themselves from their fathers’ reputation. Ingrid feels like her father has disgraced their family name, and Linden finds himself imbedded in his father’s political schemes even though he isn’t sure he wants to follow in the Senator’s footsteps. By the end, both have to accept that their past can define their futures, to an extent, but only the parts that they allow themselves to embrace. Next, friendships – Ingrid and her roommate, Charlotte, present one of the prominent friendships in the novel. Charlotte is read as aroace (aromantic and asexual), and for her platonic relationships are some of the most important bonds she forms. I also identify in this way, and seeing Charlotte protect her friends, worry about them in times of distress, and still put their feelings first after she’s been hurt by them was refreshing to see, because friendships do not have to be read or treated as “less-then” simply because they are not romantic. Next, romantic relationships – while Ingrid and Linden enter the novel in a romantic relationship, Ingrid struggles throughout the book to decide how she really feels about Linden. She loves him – has, and probably forever will – but what kind of love does she feel? Is it romantic? After an intense scene in the book, Ingrid sits down and talks to Alex, a fellow member of the Meyers campaign, and discusses love and identity, and that scene nearly had me in tears. He said “you don’t have to fall in love in order to love. You don’t have to fall in love to be loved… You haven’t missed your shot at love, because love isn’t just one thing.” He couldn’t be more right.
In conclusion, Rosiee Thor hits my heartstrings yet again with complex character relationships, political intrigue, and magic that just might set the world (as we know it) ablaze. It has its flaws but I have a feeling so many readers are going to love it all the same. Fire Becomes Her is set to release on February 1st, 2022, which is the day this post goes live, so please join me in wishing it a happy book birthday by picking up a copy and experiencing the story’s wonders for yourself. *Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher, Scholastic Press, for the early copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Where to find Fire Becomes Her:
Bookshop
Amazon
Goodreads
Storygraph
Scholastic
Rosiee Thor’s site
Thoughts About Things 