Fire Girl: A Tale of Witches and Wolves by Andy MulberryMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's not often any more that a new YA paranormal comes along and really catches my attention. The market is so flooded, it's a hard task to find something that really suits me as a reader. I've definitely become pickier over the years. But Fire Girl had me from the moment I saw that gorgeous cover and read the intriguing blurb. I loved the magic and the mystery, the characters and the dialogue - for me this was a fully immersive experience.
Samantha is a wonderful character to have in a YA paranormal - she's a scientist with absolutely no belief in magic. The fact that her sister reads tarot cards and has an interest in the occult just reinforces this, when we see how Sam reacts to it. She has possibly the best reaction I've ever read to being told she is a witch.
Then there's Daniel, wolf boy. The magic that forces Daniel and Sam together is a very clever hook. You're never quite sure how it's going to turn out (although you have an inkling, because it would have to be a hell of a twist if not), because Daniel is so adamant in his hatred of the way these feelings are being forced on him. Sam, in turn, can't trust him to feel anything real, so the push and pull between the two makes for very interesting reading.
The hidden paranormal society, the politics and business that goes on in the background of the story is what makes it a solid book. There's more to it than meets the eye, and the minimal world-building actually works in its favour I think. There's not much page time devoted to describing how magic works in this world, but I didn't have a problem with that - we were thrown into it pretty quickly, and there was no need for pages of explanations. You could say that Mulberry works on a need to know basis, and it's surprisingly effective.
Witches, wolves, romance and much, much more wait in the pages of Fire Girl. I urge any YA paranormal fan to give it a go.
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