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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Book Review: A House Afire by Emma Kinna

A House Afire by Emma Kinna
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Release Date: Available Now
Publisher: PublishAmerica
Pages: 504
Received From: Author (Thanks Emma!)

Summary: Phyllis Sorin has seen all sorts of people. With two kind Aunts who rent out the rooms of their house to anyone in need, the people she calls family are a little different from most. There’s Bill, who takes on the personalities of movie characters. There’s Quincy, whose best friend is a drag queen. There’s Anna, an opera singer and kung-fu master. And Phyllis, well, she’s not exactly normal herself. But even as she begins to navigate high school’s social jungle, Phyllis finds comfort and humor in her odd home. When Dominick Siddons moves in, however, all of Phyllis's priorities become inferior to finding out his secret. A young lawyer with a vicious wit and ferocious temper, Sid may understand Phyllis in a way no one else can. And through truth and fiction, through the inevitable chaos of the house, Phyllis finds much more than she bargained for.

My Review: A House Afire was unique, fun loving and creative. Emma's writing is detailed and conversational. However, at times it would get quite wordy which dragged the plot. The characters introduced were very well developed with eccentric personalities. They definitely did not fit the stereotype of normalcy. Phyllis, the main character, has an extraordinary gift that I've never seen before, hence the book cover ;) Don't worry I didn't spoil anything, it explains her ability with fire in the first few pages. Now, the whole idea of renting rooms to strangers was a bit weird yet interesting. Each individual brought something different to the table. Their personalities were quickly learned but overwhelming. There were so many it was hard to keep up. I must say, the relationship between Phyllis and Dominique was a bit disturbing because of their age difference. However, I did enjoy reading about Dominique and getting to know his mysterious demeanor. Overall, besides the book dragging at times, I liked the premise and the whole concept of this novel. It was refreshing and definitely out there, in a good way.

My Rating:
Author's Info:
Emma Kinna was born and raised in Upstate New York, where she currently attends college, does yoga, and works on promoting her YA novel, "A House Afire." She plans on becoming a Foreign Service Officer, Librarian, Museum Curator, Beach-resider, World-Traveler, Magazine Editor, and Super Spy in the very near future.

6 comments:

Yan said...

Hey Eleni you won an award from me :D

Emma (the Expat) said...

Thank you so much Eleni!

Sueann said...

Good review....thanks hon!
Hugs
SueAnn

Kelsey said...

Nice review! I might have to check this out!

YA Book Queen said...

Awesome review! This book sounds pretty intriguing, :)

Bere said...

The book sounds interesting. Awesome
review Eleni. Thanks so much =)

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