This is an incredible debut novel. Yamaye is a young black woman who is immersed in the Dub music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. She spends her free time clubbing at The Crypt (it really is a crypt) where Dub music is the music that young black people all want to listen and dance to. Yamaye works so that she can go clubbing and buy the clothes that she wants to wear there (which all sound very cool, by the way).

But there’s a cloud that hangs over Yamaye’s life. Her mother left when she was young, and she has been raised by a father who seems thoroughly heartbroken by his wife’s departure. There’s also the spectre of racism and police brutality looming over her. Yamaye becomes involved in police brutality protests, and then becomes embroiled in a gang in Bristol, leaving London and her troubles there behind. Or so it seems, because it looked to me like she was just swapping one set of problems for another.

I loved this book, and I wish that it had come with a playlist on Spotify (the actual book may well have a playlist, but I read the NetGalley download) - but never fear! I went looking myself, and was ably assisted by my 16 year old drumming mad son. Now he LOVED the music, and regularly drums along to these new bands and songs that he has discovered for himself.

This is an engaging, exciting story with a vibrancy through its descriptions of inner London as much as those of rural Jamaica. The Jamaican patois was for me the icing on the cake. It made such a distinctive voice (quite literally!), and I soon fell into it’s rhythms.

It’s a book that reminded me of how I felt about music as a young woman (ok, it was different music, but still!) and how it crept into everything in my life.

Themes include: race, misogyny, police violence, oppression of people of colour, gangs, the legacy of slavery, music and belonging. At least these are the themes that I could pick out!

It’s an amazing book - just read it!

I was sent an advance proof copy of Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks to read and review by NetGalley. When I first started reading this novel I wasn’t sure I was going to get on with it very well. It starts intensely using patois and descriptions of Dub Reggae dancing, which I have to admit is quite alien to me and unlike the clubs that I have known. I was also a bit fazed by the fact that the patois didn’t run through all the prose, as with the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, with the majority actually being written in ‘traditional’ English! To begin with this seemed quite strange, however, the further I got into the story the more engrossed I got and I have to say that I became totally mesmerised. This is a real rollercoaster of a story and you get a real feel for time, place, and emotion. I am not at all surprized that this novel has been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 and in my opinion would be a very worthy winner.

Despite being billed as a 'story of love, loss, and self-discovery that vibrates with the liberating power of music', Fire Rush feels hamstrung by its desire to be lyrical rather than liberated.

Another book of two halves, where I spent the 2nd half longing for the a return to the 1st. Yamaye was an interesting character and I was fully bought into her journey up until the point that she leaves London. From then on her spirit gets (deliberately) watered down to the point where she has lost her hold on me by the time of her inevitable rebirth.

The writing was style a little off putting too. Not the dialect (that many other reviewers struggled with), but the overly descriptive prose that force feeds musical metaphors by the ladle and doesn't leave enough room for your own minds eye.

certainly atmospheric and engaging. i did find the key relationship somewhat lacklustre, or maybe i just wish it could have been portrayed differently.

This novel is an intereresting connection of personal and social history, centred around a young woman and her struggles. The story begins with the central character and her two best friends finding excitement and meaning in the underground music scene of their locality. This scene is the setting for frienship, romantic love, and then loss, betrayal and envy. The book works best connecting personal troubles and systems of oppression in England in the late 1970s, but veers towards sentimentalism in the search for roots in Jamaica. The plot twists also become somewhat implausible, and the characters less multi-dimensional than the initial tight friendship group involving the three young women. Nevertheless, it remains an interesting story of seeking meaning and purpose, and the theme of music and expression just about holds it together.

Thanks to Vintage and Netgalley for a copy of this book.

I really wanted to love this book, I loved the beginning and the end but got lost somewhere in the middle, its a me problem rather than the author

I liked this but felt it was ploddy and a bit generic. Sorry I liked this but felt it was ploddy and a bit generic. SorryI liked this but felt it was ploddy and a bit generic. Sorry I liked this but felt it was ploddy and a bit generic. Sorry

Sixteen years of writing journey and the result is this book. Sometimes it was not easy to read it but it was worth to finish the story. The second part was much better and contained some invisible layers of hidden energy. The transformation of Yamaya went together with changing writing style, adding different colours to the aura of the book.

Such a distinctive narrative style takes this book about freedom, discovery of self and finding your roots to another level. I loved the rhythm to this book and the extended metaphors describing Jamaica and its people's heart, enslavement and assimilation. A beautiful debut with a striking protagonist. One of the best Women's Prize long list reads for me.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Read this because it made the women’s prize longlist and I can see why. A deep dive into reggae music, institutionalised racism and gang life. Heartbreaking at times, with real loss and desperation throughout. An insightful novel like nothing else I have read.

The description of the book sounded really interesting, but in the end the book didn't have that impact that I expected to have, even though it was interesting to read about Yamaye and her journey from London to Jamaica. Maybe this book will suit more other people and they will enjoy it more than me.

A wonderful, lyrical description of the lives of black British people, but especially the women at the end of the 1970s and start of the 1980s. Set around London and with an almost audible soundtrack, it is a hard read at times. But the relationships, friendships and difficulties make this a very human story. A good read.

I think it was definitely the striking cover that first drew me to this book. When I realised that music and a very specific ‘scene’ were also central to the story, I got even more excited because I knew I’d be in for a vivid, all-encompassing experience.

Raised by her father since her mother’s disappearance, Yamaye spends her weekends in the reggae clubs of South London with her girlfriends. It’s there that she meets Moose, a fellow member of the Jamaican diaspora, and she realises that hope and happiness could lie in her future. But violence and corruption is just around the corner. Suddenly, Yamaye is on a journey of self-discovery that takes her first to Bristol and then Jamaica, where she finally realises some deep truths about her past and present.

Yamaye talks about how the history lessons she received at school were heavily skewed towards cultures that were not her own and therefore, she had to search for the history of her own people. Although this book is set in late 1970s-early 1980s, I know that this is still an issue for school children today. We’re still not teaching diverse perspectives on historical events and rarely dip into the history of non-Western cultures. It’s a cry for change that needs to be heard.

The early chapters of this book are set in Norwood, South London and Crooks does an amazing job of placing her readers right in the midst of everything. I was literally in The Crypt with Yamaye and her friends, seeing, hearing, smelling everything that they were. Something that struck me about the descriptions of everything was just how miserable and drab everything seemed. The Crypt is full of raw human life and passion but the streets surrounding it reek of death and poverty. It’s actually a very honest, true depiction of so much of what London is now and it seems that it has always been that way.

Yamaye and Moose’s relationship was so beautiful and I saw their love as the brightest light of a story that had the heavy weight of tragedy hanging over it from the very start. I really felt that their love prevailed throughout the narrative and indeed, Moose never left Yamaye -he was constantly there, pushing her in the right direction.

Music is integral to the lives of pretty much every character in this book. It’s what keeps them hopeful, empowered and happy throughout some horrific events in their lives. The idea of music as a weapon is something that I think is quite a common notion within genres that originate in Black culture such as reggae and hip hop. The freedom of expression that music allows is invaluable to people who have no voice and that really shines through the whole book.

Yamaye never knew her mother but she has always felt her presence and perhaps her guidance. I definitely saw Yamaye’s mother as the ‘fire rush’ that the title refers to. She’s a vibrant, ethereal spirit that swims through the narrative and provides a driving force for Yamaye to follow her own path and discover herself.

Both Yamaye and her mother fled men that were supposed to take care of them and I got the feeling that a generational curse that has plagued the women of this family has been broken. Yamaye feels strong enough, despite her intense fears about the situation she has found herself in, to travel by herself and start her life over. Her mother did the same and I have no doubt that the women that come after Yamaye will do the same if they need to.

Fire Rush is a brilliantly crafted, immersive story of music, grief, racism, violence, love and freedom. Yamaye’s experiences will no doubt resonate with so many Black women, who will rejoice and cry with her.

I didn‘t expect to like this #womensprize longlisted book, it being about raving and dub reggae; really not my ‘scene‘.

Yes, I had to look up some patois words but, it really drew me in with its universal themes of love and loss, and I loved the MC, Yamaye.

I actually read it as part of my mission to read the full Women's Prize for fiction long list, which I've now completed. Fire Rush is vying for the last spot on my own shortlist, alongside Trespasses by Louise Kennedy, so it certainly stands up against some stellar competition.

This book honestly blew me away - I went into it having heard a lot of buzz surrounding it, and seeing that it was longlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction I can tell you the accolade is very well deserved. I instantly became immersed in the story of Yamaye and her friends, and the setting of the outskirts of London in the late 1970s, where these young black people really had to fight for survive. Unfortunately, some didn't, and my heart broke for Yamaye at the loss of Moose and the way that her life completely changed in the blink of an eye - the portrayal of her constantly feeling on edge, with the police surveilling her and the ridiculous laws that were in place that threatened people's way of life was so powerfully displayed in Fire Rush. Yamaye's strength throughout was admirable, and witnessing her finally achieve some semblance of freedom felt very cathartic, and especially how it linked to the title of the novel - something I always enjoy seeing the link to.

Fire Rush is an exploration of life on the margins of society seen through the life of Yamaye, a young and poor West Indian woman in 1970s-1980s Britain. The novel moves from the (literally) underground music scene on London, through to criminal gangs in Bristol, and finally to Yamaha's roots in Jamaica as she seeks out the family of her lost lover Moose.

The novel is technically well written in a convincing patois, and I am sure the historical detail is accurate even though to this (white) reader who lived through those times, it feels sometimes unfamiliar. The nightclubbing, the raves and the riots were described with a real sense of atmosphere, but it never quite captured my interest. So much so that the pivotal moment when Yamaye meets the man who will take her to Bristol, it felt like an incidental moment.

The Bristolian scenes, though, was where the novel lost me. I didn't really get why Yamaye went to Bristol with someone she barely knew; I did not believe the crew in Bristol could really be so unredeemingly evil; and I didn't get why Yamaye could not walk away. Maybe it was just because I was not familiar with the culture and its values, but the net result was that I could not believe in the characters. It was lifeless.

The Jamaican section felt like the novel was getting back on track, bringing moments of genuine discovery and real tension. It felt like there was some payoff for having persisted with the novel for so far.

Overall, Fire Rush was a slow read that I didn't particualrly care for. I suspect, though, that it would repay a second read.

The Crypt nightclub, West-London, 1978. The playground of Yamaye, Rumer and Asase, a safe haven where they can lose themselves in the thumping rhythm of dubstep and briefly escape from the reality of an outside world that’s dangerous if your skin is black.

Yamaye is a second-generation Caribbean immigrant who grew up in a small industrial town on London's western outskirts. Norwood appears to be stuck in the past with little promise of a future. A tower block called Tombstone estate was Yamaye’s home. Here she grew up listening to ska, then rocksteady and eventually reggae.

Full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/30/fire-rush-jacqueline-crooks/

Whilst I found this title difficult to begin with because I was unfamiliar with some of the words I did enjoy it. I have not read many books written from a West Indian perspective so much of the book was new to me. It strikes me that the West Indian slant of the book is not as easy to source as some Nigerian books and others from Africa. Thank you for this opportunity to read something that was so different to my usual fare.

A very well written debut, it took me a couple of chapters to get used to the language and writing style but once I did I became fully immersed in the story.

Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
This debut novel focuses on the lives of three black women in London during the turbulent late 1970’s and early 1980’s. It includes terrible racism and brutality at the hands of the police and also the far right. The dance scene is at the core of the novel and it is all about finding a sense of identity.
The scene was not anything that I was familiar with and it took me a while to get used to the language and it took me a while to adjust to the Jamaican patois. It is an interesting novel and one which tells an important story. It gave me some insight in what it would have been like to be a black woman during this period.