We Played With Fire follows the story of the Fox sisters, after an accident the family moves away from home leaving the sisters bored and one day they decide to play tricks on their parents, which eventually leads them on a new path.

The plot of the book follows the story of the Fox sisters, from them playing their initial tricks in order to get a reaction from their father to them making a living out of it in New York, it was an interesting story to read. The book was kind of hard to get into and a bit confusing at first however things quickly pick up and I ended up really enjoying the writing style of the book, especially the way the main character was written. Maggie was an interesting narrator because she has the incident from the past still on her mind while she deals with everything new that is happening around her, she wants to prove to everyone that she is telling the truth and I liked the way her emotions were showed in the book especially as she tried to deal with her own thoughts on what she was doing.

The book is a short and quick read, but it is slow paced, I did like how the story built up to the ending and how we saw the sisters as they grew more popular and the effects it had on them and the people around them, I really liked the tone and atmosphere of the book especially towards the ending. There were times towards the middle of the book where it did drag on a bit and feel very descriptive but towards the ending it does pick up a lot.

3/5

This is a YA historical fiction that I want sure about when I first started but ended up really enjoying. It follows and takes inspiration from the Fox sisters who I didn’t really know much about. The writing was easy to read and flowed really well. It is set in 1800s America which was interesting and I liked that the author included real life aspects such as the abolitionist movement in the fictional setting.

The main character is Maggie who is the second youngest sibling. Maggie was a really good character, she seemed real as she had strengths and flaws. The book does follow her POV which was good and I enjoyed how it showed her relationship with her sisters. She may be a little unreliable as a narrator as we only see her POV.

I really liked the haunting atmosphere in the book. It would be such a great read for October. The haunting aspects have been added in to suggest that maybe the Fox sisters did experience things they couldn’t explain which was interesting.

Overall this was a book I liked more than I expected and I would recommend it to people wanting a haunting read.

We Played With Fire tells the very real, or perhaps unreal story of the Fox Sisters.
The story is narrated by Maggie Fox, the middle sister of the famous trio of mediums who famously were able to communicate with spirits. This story gives us an idea of what the Fox sisters themselves were thinking about what they were doing, why and perhaps the most important question; was it all real?

The book was incredibly atmospheric and definitely brings a spooky element in, however these sections are the parts that aren’t based on real events so take them with a pinch of salt! As with most stories based on real events, there have been parts added in for dramatic effect, but I feel like these sections weren’t overly dramatised and they felt real with the rest of the story. The author also includes an Afterword at the end of the book, detailing what exactly is based on factual evidence, which I loved!

Since Maggie Fox is our narrator, the story does follow more of her journey and her inner thoughts. She is a slightly unreliable narrator at times, so it keeps you guessing as to whether what your reading is real or if it’s in Maggie’s imagination! There is a little bit of back and forth regarding timelines and this could get a little confusing, so be aware of that so as not to get lost in the story.

The book also has sub-plot lines regarding racial injustices that were happening at the time, such as the antislavery and Underground Railroad. Also, the Women’s Rights movement. This is definitely a underlying theme throughout the whole book and it shows in the attitudes of all the characters. It is a harsh look of society at the time, where being a women meant that stepping out of line was a form of criminality.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think it was a really fair representation of the life of the Fox Sisters and how their story created a movement that lived on, even after they became spirits themselves.

*Received as an ARC on NetGalley*

A really fascinating historical fiction book with a unique ghost story. The main character is developed well and she is easy to connect with. It is interesting to explore Maggie’s inner thoughts, worries and doubts and I think it adds an extra depth to the book. The author added many hints to contextual factors surrounding the time period in which the book is set which was extremely effective with bringing the setting to life. Furthermore, the eerie atmosphere that was created throughout the book was written perfectly and I often found my self jumping at sounds around me.
Overall an enjoyable read and a unique take on the life of the Fox sisters.

Such a fantastic YA historical novel with some supernatural twists!

I will definitely be recommending We Played With Fire upon its release. I feel like it will suit a wide range of readers.
Set in 1800s America, a relatively poor family is haunted not only by strange noises and bones in their basement but also their youngest daughters. Despite them still being alive.

We follow Maggie's POV, the second youngest daughter. Who is one half of the medium duo.
I think the writer creates such a bond between Maggie and the reader. You see so many of her thoughts and struggles going on within her own head. Especially the struggles and frustration when people don't believe her. It's a very trapped feeling.
I loved that Maggie wasn't a flawless character, she had flaws, she lied. She wasn't the warmest person, but all of this and more fleshed her out to be a more rounded character.

Even though we don't get a 1st person for any of Maggie's sisters, I do think we got a good look at their characteristics through the eyes of Maggie. Especially Leah, the eldest sister. Her greed and almost, desperation to escape the judgements of her past are so tangible. She thinks money and notoriety will erase the shame of being a single mother after her husband ran off. Showcasing this taboo of the time also added something to the worldbuilding to make you feel that you are definitely reading about a different kind of society. Even though there are still some echoes of this judgement in today's world.

The author also included a lot of scenes talking about the abolitionist movement happening at the time. The girls would definitely have heard about this growing up and added yet more authenticity.
I'm so glad that this was included, as even though a lot of facts have been exchanged for fiction, actual names and times surrounding this movement were the same in reality. I just felt it was so important to mention this monumental societal shift to bring awareness to new readers who may not have learned or been exposed to this history.

Speaking of taking some factual aspects and inserting them into this book, I was so excited when I read the synopsis, as I had already known some information about the Fox Sisters and their toe tricks. I'd never seen any other fictional story that incorporated anything of their life before.

Despite this being a historical novel, which can sometimes be more dense and slower to read, I found this reading experience smooth and engaging. I was never once bored or thought the writing stuffy. Possibly because this was written with the YA market in mind, but regardless, it just made for a very pleasant reading experience. Even if it gave me some goose bumps along the way.

It's not easy to write something scary, but I definitely felt that Catherine Barter hit the nail on the head. There were no cheesy jump scares in my opinion, rather a slow creeping atmosphere that got under your skin and made you question and doubt yourself.

In general, the atmosphere was very fleshed out throughout the entire book, set both in Hydesville and New York.

My favourite aspect of this book however, is connected with something within the author's note. Where Barter explained how she wanted to explore the thought that even though the Fox sisters dealt in trickery and deceit, did they lie about everything? This was so fascinating to me, seeing the different mechanisms the sisters concocted and the power they felt when they were able to make people believe. But then Maggie experienced more things that she couldn't explain. That were certainly not possible by just tying a string to a toe or making the table rattle with a foot. The spectres Maggie saw that constantly plagued her thoughts were just chilling.
There's a reason why horror that involves children as protagonists is so popular, because it's creepy and it works. To hear such dark prophecies from the lips of an innocent child who should have no knowledge of macabre things is such a juxtaposition that throws many of us off balance.

I think I'll certainly be giving this a re-read when Halloween and spooky season comes around again.
I would recommend this to fans of Riley Sager's supernatural thrillers, even though she is an adult author. Some of the horror scenes really made me think of scenes of Home Before Dark. Also I'd recommend for fans of Irish author Deirdre Sullivan, who is a master of creepy atmosphere.