I never had a chance to review this before it expired. I'm sorry! I do own the book and got Kit a book fair contract with the BN I work at because she's a local author. And I've BEGUN reading it. But I put it down at the time and haven't gone back!

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THE FLAME IN THE MIST?
The Flame In The Mist by Kit Grindstaff initially appealed to me because I was on a middle grade fantasy kick. Let’s be real, there are some really excellently written middle grade fantasy books out there. Plus, two key elements of the story are the main character’s pet rats and so, I was hoping for a kind of Redwall vibe. I decided to listen to this one because it has been on my Netgalley queue for an obnoxiously long time, and luckily the library had the audiobook of The Flame In The Mist.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
The Flame In The Mist is about this girl named Jemma Agromond. Jemma has bright red hair and lives in this castle, sort of, with these other people, whom she presumes is her family. She lives with her mother, father, and siblings. One day, Jemma finds out some secrets about her life and realizes everything she thought she knew was wrong. So, she leaves the castle and has help along the way from a friend named Digby and rats named Noodle and Pie. There’s other people who also help her out along the way. It’s up to Jemma to reverse this mist that covers the land of Anglavia and fulfill her destiny.

HOW DID I LIKE IT?
I feel sort of nonchalant and ambivalent about The Flame In The Mist by Kit Grindstaff. It doesn’t inspire fierce devotion or excitement in me that other middle grade fantasy has. I guess I sort of thought that Jemma was boring. I liked the role of her telepathic rats, though. Overall, I was just kind of bored and felt as though this has all been done before.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook is narrated by Rosalyn Landor. She does an okay job. I mean, the audiobook feels a bit long. However, this is because I had to listen to the CDs and couldn’t speed them up like I do books on Hoopla and Overdrive. I think your mileage is going to vary with The Flame In The Mist. Either you’ll find it to be incredibly interesting or a bit dull.

The Flame in the Mist was a surprising and twisty read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I enjoyed the creepy factors found in this novel. I always love when authors don't shy away from the "dark" topics just because they have a younger targeted audience. Overall this was a unique, exciting and fun debut that I would definitely recommend.