Fire’s Caress
Lani Wendt Young
OneTree House
Pub. 2020

July 20, 2021

Fire’s Caress by Lani Wendt Young is an action-packed story that kept me engaged and interested.

This is a story about Teuila, an artist who has spent most of her life in a refugee centre. It’s about her journey to protect her home from a new evil.

I think that the author intended to show that greed can never lead to happiness and will always end with someone getting hurt.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters throughout the book. I loved learning about some of the reasons behind their decisions and the small things they do to show how they feel.

Teuila is a strong woman who knows what she wants and will do what she can to achieve it. Although she has become very successful in her career, she never forgets the centre that raised her and hosts events to raise money so the centre can save hundreds of others like her.

Bree is Teuila’s best friend and agent. She does lots of work booking Teuila gigs and organising her schedule. She does a great job of making sure Teuila is comfortable during events and is always there to make a joke to lighten the mood.

Keahi is one of Teuila’s childhood friends. The pair met in the centre and became one of each other’s only friends. Keahi wants to protect Teuila and sometimes in his efforts, he ends up caging her, forgetting that she is perfectly capable of doing things herself. Teuila expresses this when she says: “I don’t need a guardian. Protection can become a prison Keahi…”

I really liked how the villain in the story believes he is in the right. He convinces himself that it is the right thing to do, no matter what the others tell him.  He slowly begins to forget about his original plan for a safe environment and begins to harm others who stand in the way of his idea. I enjoy these kinds of villains and how they eventually become so focused on what they want they no longer care about who gets harmed in the process.

At the beginning of the story, I was a little confused about a few things, but as I kept reading, I started to understand more and began to really enjoy this story.

Overall this was one of the best books I have read this year and would definitely recommend it to anyone who asked.

• Rebecca Low is 13 and lives in Hamilton.