Tell the WInd and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan - OPTIONAL

Brennan, Sarah Rees Tell the Wind and Fire, 355 pgs.  Clarion Books, 2016.  $17.99  Content: Language: PG (2 swears); Mature Content: PG-13 (drug use); Violence: PG-13 (torturous deaths).  

Lucie is from a dark city mother and a light city father.  When her boyfriend Ethan is accosted on a train ride and about to be executed on site when he is accused of treason, Lucie tries to stop the government officials from the light city.  Although they won’t listen to her, they do listen when Ethan’s doppelganger shows up because now they don’t know which one committed the treason.  Although Ethan is from the light city, and doppelgangers are a dark city abomination, Ethan has a powerful family that can hide this secret.  Lucie wants to protect both sides of the city, but she needs help and doesn’t always know who to trust.   

Although this book grabbed me at the beginning, the main character became harder and harder to like.  There is not enough character depth, so when she makes a mistake it was hard to understand her.  Parts of it were predictable and the ending was frustrating because it felt like there needed to be more to the story and it was not well explained.  This book felt like reading an outline of a plot, without all the good parts that make a real book.  

HS – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.