Review: True Fire by Gary Meehan

True Fire

Author: Gary Meehan
Series: True Fire #1
Publisher: Quercus
Genre: YA Fantasy
Format: ebook
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Source: egalley received from publisher via Edelweiss
Rating: 3 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Megan is pregnant.

As she prepares to tell her family, the unthinkable happens. Her village is razed by soldiers: her grandfather murdered, her twin sister taken.

On a desperate mission to rescue her beloved Gwyneth, Megan discovers a terrifying truth - that the destruction of her old life is inextricably linked to her unborn child. The feared witch soldiers, vanquished a generation ago, have returned to see the fulfilment of a prophecy: one that will put Megan and her new friends - Eleanor, a fiery ex-aristocrat, and Damon, a wayward charmer - at the heart of the greatest war her world has ever known.

My Review:

True Fire is not your typical YA novel. For one thing, the main character is pregnant at sixteen. I would say that’s pretty rare in YA. For another, there’s not a shred of romance to be seen for the MC. I liked that this book broke away from the YA clichés and brought something completely different to the genre.

Another thing that was really different was Megan’s “sidekick” of sorts. Her name is Eleanor and she’s a 40 year old ex-aristocrat. I thought it was really interesting that her friend was an older woman. It brought a maturity to the book that fit really well. Eleanor was not only a fantastic friend to Megan, but she was also somewhat of a mother figure to her as well, giving advice when needed and being objective and the voice of reason. Although she wasn’t always reasonable. The summary doesn’t call her fiery for no reason. Eleanor is a spitfire. She has a wicked temper and makes some poor choices throughout the novel. But I loved how fierce she was and how she didn’t take shit from anybody.

Megan was an interesting main character. I really liked the fact that right away, everything was stripped away from her. She has a fierce desire to rescue her sister. You all know how much I love sister relationships (having two amazing sisters myself). I loved how protective Megan was of Gwyneth and how determined she was to rescue her. That being said, I don’t think Megan was protective enough of her unborn child. And after some of her escapades, I feel like the baby would definitely have been injured. It almost felt like there were moments where Megan forgot she was pregnant and just rushed headlong into danger, not caring about her child at all.

I really enjoyed the world-building in this one. It was rich and well-developed. The witches were really interesting to me and I wish we could have learned a little more about them. I’m hoping that we get a better picture of who they are and what they stand for in the next book (which I really hope there is one…it’s not listed on Goodreads, but after the ending, I feel like there has to be another one). Although the world-building was great, at times, the execution wasn’t perfect. There were moments it felt like info-dump and there were some more modern details that didn’t really feel like they fit with the old-world feel the book had going on (i.e. language used, diseases mentioned).

The book was somewhat predictable, but for the most part I really enjoyed it. There was no lack of action and the author definitely doesn’t make Megan’s journey easy. She has to work for it time and time again. Every time you think she has maybe caught a break, another obstacle is thrown her way. I like the way it ended as long as there is in fact a sequel and I definitely think I’ll continue on with the series.

Have you read this one yet? What did you think of Megan? The world? Did you find some of the details about the world a bit out of place? Did you love Eleanor as much as I did?