Number of Pages: 341

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

The Fire Within follows David after he moves in with Elizabeth Pennykettle and her daughter Lucy. Right away, David can tell that his new landlord is not the average potter. Her clay dragon creations are a little too life-like for David to consider them to be the average house decoration. As he tries to figure out his new home's secrets, he finds himself on an adventure with Lucy involving rowdy squirrels and a grumpy neighbor. David may have gotten more than he bargained for when taking a room with the Pennykettles or he may have gotten life long friends with creatures he could have never expected.

The Good

While this is a fantasy book, it did a really good job at mixing in our reality with the fantasy elements. I personally would love to see this combination more in overall media as I think it’s a super interesting concept. Also the artist in me loves the fact that they used pottery as a medium for magic. Overall, this book had a very cozy feel to it that was very pleasant. All of the characters were very thought out and acted in a way that felt authentic to their personalities.

The Bad

As much as I liked the concept of the book, the actual plot of it took forever. It was very obvious that this is part of a series and not meant to be a stand alone book. As much as I love continuous stories, I feel like they were only successful if each book could be picked out and read on its own. (For example, The Hunger Games stories were great individually as well as a series as a whole.) We got bits and pieces of foreshadowing that came to fruition right at the end of the book with nothing to really hold us over until then. I thought that the squirrel adventures were adorable but it had really nothing to do with the dragon main plot. I picked this book after a recommendation from my spouse because I love dragons and magic. There were some of that in this book but there wasn’t enough. I feel as though this book was just back story that you don’t really need for the rest of the series unless squirrels come back in a big way which I highly doubt. Unfortunately, this book did not hook me enough for me to want to read the rest of the series.

The Favorite (Quotes)

“You say that now. I guarantee by the end of the week you’ll be wishing Noah had never let them on the ark.” (Such a great of saying that an animal will be the bain of your existence soon.)

“Why can’t I talk to her?”
“Because you’re not a handsome young man.”
“Well neither is he!” (Burn)