Review: Tell The Wind and Stars by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title:  Tell The Wind And Fire

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Clarion Books 

Publishing Date: April 5th 2016

Pages: 360
Genre: Classic Retelling/urban fantasy

Series:  Stand alone
Source: Audio

 

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 of the deadly connection the young men share, 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?

Celebrated author Sarah Rees Brennan tells a magical tale of romance and revolution, love and loss.

This will be a difficult book to review because of my feelings right at this moment but I wanted to write the review right away… because of my feelings. Great book to review to get me back into reviewing.. not so much on reading.. because I am not sure I can go on after this book.

I want to start by saying this book has been on my TBR for a very long time. I was scared to get to it beacuase of the reviews. I thought well I guess I can understand the mixed reviews but really I can’t. I really wished I had not waited so long to read this book and really can’t believe its over.

This book was amazing for me. It did start off a little slow but not so slow I wasn't interested. It was a book of deep thinking and feeling and I wasn't quite prepared for that but I am so glad I dove into this book. 

This is a retelling of Tale of Two cities. About a two cities... one full of good magic and lives weatlhy but has lots of rules and ettiquite to live by. The other city is dangerous and dark and full of dark magic. They are forgotten, used, and starving. This is the story about a girl and 2 boys that find themselves in a real mess. A mess that involves death, and a doppleganger, and secrets. They have to work together to stay alive. 

I have never read tale of two cities. I am not much of a classic reader. Which I know I need to correct and I am working on it and this one will for sure be added to my list.. but for now I have not read it and had no idea what I was getting into. I think most of the mixed reviews may be from if you read the original or not. I think It may be hard to appreciate if you havn’t or if you don’t read between the lines. There is a lot to be said about this book.

This book can be slow. That was the hardest part I had with the story. But there was so much in that slowness that set the mood and the story soley for the ending. The characters are a bit one dimensional at the beginning … again setting the stage for what is to come. If I was to rate this book on most of the first half it would have been much lower. I still would have enjoyed it but not loved and adored it. The ending and what comes out of the ending is totally what made me fall for this book. It brought everything into light and now I just don’t’ know what to do with myself.

This book is a lot. There is so much that rests in the growth of the characters, the setting, the tone. It’s a book about revenge and about good and evil and about what is actually right in the end. The choices you make mark your way along the path. The only choices you feel you have may not be good ones but you have to make the best of it and deal with the road it leads you down. Its about sacrifice and true human worth and what soul is. Its about the greater good and if it really is the greater good or self righteousness. It’s a book of soul searching and deep thinking.

The story was good and was filled with deeper meaning but it was also written so beautifully. A very lyrical and poetic telling and the visionaries drawn with words was so fantastic. I was immersed into this world. Which the world building was so well done. There is never an explanation of where the magic came from but really it didn’t matter for the story. The story wasn’t about the magic. That was just thrown in to make it more beuaitful and exciting. It was not however the center of the story. The center of the story was mankind. So I found myself never needing and explanation of where the magic came from or how it all started. Usually this is a big deal for me but not needed for this story to shine.

So I do see the mixed reviews. It may not be the book for everyone but it was for me and if you like heartbreaking stories and deeper meanings in every action, give this a shot. You just may fall in love with it too.

At first it was a four heart for me.; but the longer I sat here not wanting to pick up my next read I was so anxiously awaiting and needing to review this gem right away. I knew it was nothing but a 5 hearts for me.

Sarah Rees Brennan is Irish and currently lives in Dublin. For a short stint, she lived in New York and became involved with a wide circle of writers who encouraged and supported her, including Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. She has developed a wide audience through her popular blog, mistful.livejournal.com, where she writes movie parodies, book reviews and some stories.