After I started reading the novel, I accidentally went on the news and well, the book started to sound as something that may happen. Anyway, it is happening after the catastrophe that devastated the world and divided it into Insiders and Outsiders. While the Insiders live more or less in harmony with nature, the Insiders are toying with genetic modification.

The protagonist is a lively teenager, Talia who is given the most important book of her people, the book that contains many secrets if they ever manage to decipher it. When a raid happens, and her people are threatened (together with her grandfather, brother, and best friend), she decides to save them. That, however, means getting into the Domes where the Rome-imitating Insiders live. It is a world unknown to her and she needs a lot of help to navigate it. The help manifests in Insider Augustus, whose loyalties are never certain. With his help and some other people (and a Cyclops), she manages to uproot what was normal in the domes.

It is a compelling story, with some romantic subplot (but not too much), and a lot of interesting events and twists. I found the end a bit anti-climactic, but the epilogue was nice. I hope there will be a continuation of the story, as it seems to have a lot of potential.

'The book of fire' by Michelle Kenney is the most exciting and imaginative fantasy novel I have read in years.

It is a story of survival, strength and loyalty as well as cruelty, deception and evil.

Talia is the heroine Fantasy has been waiting for, she is flawed, undeterred and sometimes a little feral. Her family have spent their lives in the forest of Arafel, watching the life of plants, animals and nature begin to return after the Great War, but, no one knows of their existence. The rest of the human race is locked inside a Dome being made to abide by a military way of life. The leader of the inside is spreading propaganda to diminish any belief their is any hope of a future of the outside.

When Arafel is invaded and members of Talia's family are captured that's when it truly comes to light what inhumane, horrific acts and experiments are taking place on the inside and how Arafel holds the key to saving all of humanity.

I was blown away by the intricate details throughout this book of the 2 different worlds, the characters, the mythical beasts, the character development and their relationships with one another. I have not enjoyed reading a fantasy book this much since 'The hunger games' and I devoured every single page.

I recommend 'The book of fire' to anyone who wants to escape the real world and have a brand new one materialise right in front of them. A big, fat 5 stars from me! Cannot wait for the second instalment.

Thank you to netgalley for a free ARC in return for an honest review.

Book of Fire is  Michelle Kennedy debut young adult novel.

The book is set in a world after a nuclear war, where two groups of people live, the insiders and the outsiders. The insiders believe that no one can survive outside their dome, that what they have been told. But Talia and her twin brother Eli provide that incorrect, they are outsiders living in a hidden village called Arafel they live in secret as if caught by an insider they disappear. An unexpected raid forces Talia and her best friend Max to break into the dome and rescue her family, while keeping the book of Arafel safe as it in pages lies the code for an unimaginable weapon. While in the dome she finds an unexpected ally in August a Knight of the dome, now Talia has to decide does she just focus on saving her family or help save the people Dome from its dictatorship.

It took me a little to get into the story but after the raid I was sucked in. I finished the book that night as I needed to know what happened next. As the story continues the more fast pasted it becomes the stakes become higher, you just hold you breath and go along with the ride.

I really enjoyed Talia as a character she is intelligent firecracker of a character, a lot smarter than the insiders give her credit for. She is trying to save her family but she is having to deal with confusing feeling towards Max and August, this makes her more realistic as emotions make us human.

I am a big fan of history and mythology and Michelle has woven elements into the story beautifully, she has brought history and the future together in one book.

I hope that this isn't a one-off story.

I give this book 3.9 out of 5

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ digital for a chance to read and review.

Thank you for the free ARC.
A different kind of dystopia. There was a virus that wiped out most of humanity and they were some saved by a biodome, but that was many generations ago. Some of the survivors claimed the outside world again, where nature had overtaken all that remained of human settlements. Talia is an outsider that gets caught by a sweeper and learns what the dome is really about..