The Fire Child ~ S.K. Tremayne (earc) review [@GrandCentral @HarperCollinsUK]

The Fire Child
Grand Central Publishing
March 28, 2017
400 pages
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THE PERFECT HUSBAND. THE PERFECT STEPSON. THE PERFECT LIE?

When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie's behavior changes, and Rachel's perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the specter of his late mother - David's previous wife. Is this Jamie's way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie's outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife's untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie's words:

"You will be dead by Christmas."((I changed the font color, but you can still highlight it and read it!)

I loved that The Fire Child starts at '178 Days Before Christmas' and each chapter tells readers how many days before Christmas it is. (That last bit of the book description doesn't actually show up in the book until more than one hundred and thirty pages in and I had forgotten it by the time I began reading, That's also why I semi-hid it above.) It builds the tension really well without actually telling you, right away, why or what. You know something is approaching at Christmas, but not what.

Contrasting that countdown with Rachel's joy over her new marriage, her arrival at Carnhallow, and trying to fit in with her husband, her stepson and her mother-in-law keeps you on edge, just a bit. You want to revel in the happy times, in her new life and how much of an improvement it seems to be for her . . . but you know something's coming. (And not only because I read The Ice Twins and know this isn't going to be a fairy tale.)

The way things unfolded, with both what took place and what we learned of the characters' pasts really kept me guessing at not only who they really were and what had really happened, but completely unsure how I felt about them. None of the characters in this book (not even eight-year-old Jamie) feel like someone you can trust or rely on. I wanted them to find their happily-ever-after, yet I also wanted them far, far away from each other. Sometimes at the same time. It was confusing, unsettling, tense and incredibly readable.

I have read a lot of books that mention being reminiscent of or having the same feel as Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca but this title, that has no mention of it, is the one that most brought the feeling of the classic to mind. The young woman marrying the rich, older man after a whirlwind courtship, then being taken to his grand but isolated home where his first wife died, of course sounds similar but it was more Rachel's feelings, how Nina seemed to be always there, but never a full truth of the whole story and that feeling of something that should - or could - be paradise but was somehow tainted.

I am still not quite sure we got all of the answers or that everything was explained quite as much as I hoped but the ending was very satisfying. It was both what I had hoped for earlier in the book, but vastly different in how it was achieved and why it worked. The characters were full of surprises, the story was tension filled and had so many twists and turns and conflicting emotions; it made for a great read. I loved The Ice Twins (review) and now The Fire Child, too.









digital review copy received from publisher, via NetGalley

The Ice Twins ~ S.K. Tremayne (earc) review [@HarperCollinsUK]

The Ice Twins

Harper Collins
January 29, 2015
384 pages
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(US publication May 19, 2015 by Grand Central Publishing - add to Goodreads/pre-order from TBD/or Amazon)

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcraft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity – that she, in fact, is Lydia – their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past – what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died?

"I [,,,] gaze around our big bright Camden kitchen . . . all of it screaming: this is the kitchen of a well-to-do middle-class couple!
And all of it is a lie." -pg 26

From the beginning of S.K. Tremayne's The Ice Twins it is clear that appearances can be deceiving. It's been just over a year since one of their identical twin daughters died and the interim has not been kind to their family. With both financial troubles and marital difficulties weighing on them, moving to the tiny, remote Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother seems the perfect solution.

But their lives - and their plan for a new beginning - hit a snag when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, says she's not Kirstie, after all but Lydia, the girl they believed died. A horrible, horrible mistake has been made.


The Ice Twins features narration from both parents, Angus and Sarah. The changes in narrator seem to happen at he perfect time. It's clear from the start that Angus and Sarah's lives are not all they had hoped for - and not just because of their daughter's death. We hear of the perfect, envied life that they had. A life that can easily be contrasted with their current life and relationships.

The dual narration also allows readers to know - or at least know of - some of the myriad of lies and secrets the couple are keeping from each other. Even, or perhaps especially, as some of it is only hinted at, you get a good idea of their relationship and how they view each other.

As the story progresses, with the move to the island, the attempts at starting life anew, we see just how dark and twisted their life may be. From the secrets to the lies, the omissions, the difficulties in their new life, the pain and betrayals of the past, everyone's motives and perceptions are suspect.

It isn't clear who the good or bad guys in this tale. Or if they're it's all been so muddied that there really is no 'good' or 'bad.'

Sarah and Angus drink too much, they keep things from each other, they suspect each other, they get angry . . . and as each of them tells the story, often casting aspersion on the other's actions or beliefs, it's hard to know which, if either, of them to believe.

I loved not knowing which character could be relied on, who might be exaggerating or misinterpreting or remembering incorrectly. Not knowing if the characters were all, really, sane. Not knowing if Kirstie was Lydia or Kirstie or what. Not even knowing for sure what genre the book was falling into, so not knowing what could be believed.

The Moorcroft's are a deeply flawed family. Some of it a result of the tragedy they experienced a year ago, some of it preceding that and part of who the characters are, their pasts. The death of one daughter nearly unravel's them but when it comes out they may have gotten her identity wrong, all of their secrets, their lies threaten to come out.




received for review from publisher, via NetGalley