Tell the Wind and Fire By Sarah Rees Brennan [ARC Review]

 RELEASE DATE:  April 05, 2016
AUTHOR: Sarah Rees Brennan
GENRE:Young-Adult,Fantasy, Retelling, Romance.
PUBLISHER: Clarion Books
SUMMARY: In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets.
Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised. Lucie alone knows the young men s deadly connection, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth.
Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy or herself?

* E-arc received from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review *

 This was my first book from Sarah Rees Brennan So I’m not familiar with her works but I’ve heard great things about her series Lynburn Legacy. When I first read the synopsis and the reviews of this book I knew I had to check this out because I haven’t read a book that has a doppelganger in it. Tell The Wind And Fire is actually a fantasy retelling of  A Tale of Two cities by Charles Dickens which I haven’t read but still I want to go blindly. Honestly, I liked it but it wasn’t up to my expectations and I had some issues with the book especially the world building and the romance. Nonetheless, it wasn’t a total disappointment because even with the decent plot, the story has left me sad and heart broken.

The story takes place in New york city which is divided into two halves according to the wielders of light and dark magic. Lucie Manette was born in a dark city but lives in light city with all the glory, fame and a wonderful boyfriend. She is a girl who belongs to both cities. When Lucy’s boyfriend Ethan comes across a trouble, she discovers a dark secret of him in the form of a doppelganger named Carwyn who looks exactly like Ethan. The doppelganger are created by dark magic which is absolutely forbidden. People loathes and avoids the doppelgangers because they are born from death and doesn’t posses a soul. Lucy owes Carywn for saving Ethan’s life and she gets pretty angry after seeing how rude they’ve been towards him. Lucy trusts Carywn but she isn’t aware of his intentions and with a sudden rise of rebellion from Dark city, she thinks Carywn is somewhat related to it but who can she tell when she has her own secrets to hide. With the two cities burning, who she’s finally going to save at the end.

I don’t know why but I can’t connect with any of the characters. Lucy is likable character who is very caring and pretty much loyal to her family and friends. she wasn’t strong as I expected and I don’t know if it’s stupid or not but she trusts people way too easily. The golden boy Ethan is very sweet and honest character but he didn’t impressed me much. Carwyn, the doppelganger is my favorite character in the plot who is sarcastic, funny and cocky. He may look like Ethan but he is complete opposite of him. I knew there’s going to be triangle in this but sadly, it didn’t worked out for me. Lucie loves Ethan but I couldn’t find the spark in their relationship and the romance seemed too dull to me. Even though Lucie loves Ethan, she couldn’t help caring about Carwyn who is a carbon copy of Ethan. At the beginning, the unknown relationship between Lucie and Carwyn seemed weird because it looks like she was more concerned for him rather than her boyfriend who she loves so much. I felt a bit sad for Carwyn, he develops an unrequited love for Lucie after spending some time with her and seeing how she isn’t like everyone else who abhor him. I wish there are more parts of Carwyn in the plot because I really like to know more about him.

The plot was somewhat ok but I think it could’ve been much better. The first half of the book wasn’t exciting and I found it a bit boring with all the info dumping at once and also the awkward triangle. Thankfully, the second half brought some suspense to the story which prevented me from giving it up. The world building and magical system in the book seemed interesting and It would’ve been great if the author had gone deeply in describing it but due to the fast pacing of the book, it was less detailed. I loved the Writing! It was really great and definitely captivating. The story was written in Lucie’s POV[first person] and I would’ve loved it more if it was written in alternate POV because It could’ve brought more clarity to the story and also the characters.

Overall, I liked it but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The ending of the story has left me sad and I wished there was an alternate ending to it but it is a retelling so I have no complaints on it.  Finally, I think it’s a book that you either love it or hate it and despite that, I’d recommend it to everyone.

MY RATING:  [3/5 Stars]

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