Take a photo of a barcode or cover
acozyreaderlife 's review for:
When We Caught Fire
by Anna Godbersen
Let me begin this review by stating that I previously LOVED Godbersen’s LUXE series. She spun a fantastic web of plot, had great character development and compelling novels that teenaged me couldn’t put down. ‘When We Caught Fire’ was the complete opposite of that. The book centers around a love triangle among childhood friends, Anders, Fiona, and Emmeline. The plot runs along with the old Chicago fire. Growing up, Fiona was in love with Anders, but he was in love with Emmeline. They grew up, vying for his attention. But Emmeline is engaged with the very rich, Frederick. I couldn’t stand Emmeline, she sucked all the attention from everything in this book. Emmeline was the most ridiculous character I have seen in a while. But despite being ‘in love’ with Frederick, she still pinned for wannabe bad boy Anders.
Anders is a character that seems deep but really isn’t. He starts in boxing when he finds out that Emmeline is engaged. Fiona is Emmeline’s best friend but also her maid, they confide in each other, and she is loyal to Emmeline no matter what. This book was the most boring love triangle that I have ever read. These characters have no redeemable qualities they are all horrible people. I couldn’t get over how stupid all of them were. It was funny reading this and telling my mom about it when I mentioned the fire, she said: “It was caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.” So, for the rest of the novel, I was waiting for a scene of this cow starting a fire. But no, this book does not represent that as the cause of the fire. This book is set up as if it were a YA historical fiction which seemed cool, but it veers off into its own thing.
The plot of this is thrown out the window since the get-go. I couldn’t stand ANY of the characters, they were all terrible people. I’m so shocked that this book was published, the writing was so bad, and it really could have used another round of editing. As I stated at the beginning, I was a fan of her LUXE series, I was expecting a rich historical YA novel, but this read like a first draft, and I’m honestly shocked that this was written by the same author.
Anders is a character that seems deep but really isn’t. He starts in boxing when he finds out that Emmeline is engaged. Fiona is Emmeline’s best friend but also her maid, they confide in each other, and she is loyal to Emmeline no matter what. This book was the most boring love triangle that I have ever read. These characters have no redeemable qualities they are all horrible people. I couldn’t get over how stupid all of them were. It was funny reading this and telling my mom about it when I mentioned the fire, she said: “It was caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.” So, for the rest of the novel, I was waiting for a scene of this cow starting a fire. But no, this book does not represent that as the cause of the fire. This book is set up as if it were a YA historical fiction which seemed cool, but it veers off into its own thing.
The plot of this is thrown out the window since the get-go. I couldn’t stand ANY of the characters, they were all terrible people. I’m so shocked that this book was published, the writing was so bad, and it really could have used another round of editing. As I stated at the beginning, I was a fan of her LUXE series, I was expecting a rich historical YA novel, but this read like a first draft, and I’m honestly shocked that this was written by the same author.