Reviews

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones

luchacabra's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

I love rereading this book - I always pick up on details I never noticed before. 

This does have a relationship with an age gap, but I'm reminded on each re-read that we don't quite see how young Tom is when he first meets Polly, since she describes him as being older. As far as I know, this is the retelling of the Tam Lin fairytale and I think it's adapted to our modern world well. 

melanie42's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

antimony's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i have absolutely no clue how to rate this book. this isn't an "it was ok" 3 stars this is a "i am so deeply conflicted" 3 stars. i couldn't put it down all evening but i was yelling at the characters the whole time. near the end i had to constantly flip back to the first chapter to figure out how things were connecting. i had to google an explanation of the ending when i finished it but it's clear that it is so intricate as well....

things i liked:
- there is so much in this book. i know there are a thousand layers i did not pick up on and it was intricately crafted together and i really respect that about it
- the writing was very good as well. it was really unputdownable especially the last couple parts. i was so very locked in
- the characters were well-crafted which sounds like such a snobby compliment but bc i didn't really love them i don't know how else to put it...

things i didn't like:
-HELLO WHYY IN THE WORLD DID THEY DECIDE THEY SHOULD TRY TO START A RELATIONSHIP AT THE END. like i can forgive a lot of the stuff at the beginning bc polly is an infatuated kid and some kids just do that and tom clearly is not interested. but after she saves him and they've come to the realization that not only was there the power dynamic of them meeting when she was 10 and he was 20-25

he also has accidentally magically molded her into something that kind of belongs to him because of lorelei's gift about the things he imagines coming true????

i don't like that. i don't think they needed to try and start again. i think they could be great friends and i don't think there's anything wrong with intergenerational friendships. or perhaps if they left it and came back to it when she was like 25 or 30 then i don't care but like actually howw in the world did he watch her grow up and he was almost like a parental figure (i know he was too sporadic in her life to truly be one but like maybe like that relative you only see twice a year?) but ohhh now she's 19 ohhh we can try to have a relationship...ughhh i don't want to be the sort of person who says adults and kids can't be friends or that every age gap is inherently problematic and weird but i think in this case it is. and i get that tam lin is an inherently romantic story to retell and so the tam lin character has to be a certain age so he can romantically belong to the fairy queen at the beginning and dwj wanted the mc to be a kid but like perhaps maybe you just retell a different story....didn't help that until page like 300 when i was looking at goodreads reviews that said he was in his 20s i'd been imagining tom to be in his 30s...

that being said i totally understand why people love this book and i wish i could love it more because i truly did at some points...but i think perhaps if the ending had just gone a little teeny bit differently (polly saves tom and they can stay friends idc but they DON'T decide to start their relationship from a blank romantic slate) i would have enjoyed a lot more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

joannathemad's review

mysterious medium-paced

4.0

rosatulipan's review against another edition

?

rubyhosh's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

d_night's review against another edition

1.0

I rated this a 1 star for several reasons. First, the flashbacks necessary to keep the understanding that we were reflecting on the past and not in the present was lacking a bit. This muddied things a bit and made some of the book hard to follow. Secondly, the ending was half done. It was too existential to understand and though that may have been what she was going for another book or a better leave off would have made this easier (though I know that both those options are impossible now). Third and most importantly (this being why I took off 4 off the 5 stars and even would have given this a 0 if I could have) was that this book can promote a pedophilic like relationship. Polly was only 12 when 17-year-old Seb started a very physical relationship with her. Additionally, Mr. Lynn who had to be in his twenties at least when he met Polly (who was only 10 at the time) rather passionately tried to kiss her when she was 15. Though to be honest I always got an odd feeling from the way Diana Wynne Jones presented the two characters' interactions in the beginning. I just cannot promote a book that would positively shed light on a minor with an adult.

arendaes's review

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

tch0's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

xeyra1's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the writing on this - as expected from DWJ - and I really liked the characters (hated some too!) and the fantastic elements, but may have been a little weird-ed out by the slightly romantic goggle of the later part, considering the age difference. Full review to come, when I get around to writing one. My reviewing as been as sluggish as my reading, lately.