This was a time where I totally based my want to read of this book by the cover. Great decision on my part!
A heart wrenching story told in 2 ways- memory and current. It flows easily and pulls you in. There is sadness and joy, as well as some intrigue.
I would definitely recommend this read. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this in exchange for my own opinion

I was provided a free advanced copy of this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
In modern day Greece one town is forever changed when an intended control burn gets out of control. For Irini, her husband Tasso, and daughter Chara they must deal with both physical and emotional trauma from the incident. While Irini is walking through the burned forest she discovers the body of man who set the fire, and makes a split second decision to flee. Now she is dealing with a police investigation on top of her family's struggles.
This is a tough story at times as we hear about the actual incident and how Irini and Chara survived that day and immediate aftermath. Then we follow them as they continue to search for meaning in the months that follow. Themes of community, meaning of home, and overcoming adversities and depression were all covered well in this story.
While hard at times this was ultimately a story or resilience and finding ones way back after tragedy.
Lefteri has a way of taking difficult topics and helping us see the human story inside the bigger tragedies. This book is set to be published on 2 January, so in the meantime you can check out another of her stories like The Beekeeper of Aleppo (which I also gave four stars)!
#NetGalley #TheBookOfFire

This book was devastating, cathartic, tense, and incredibly beautiful. Lefteri's descriptions of the remnants of a Greek forest after an out-of-control fire were raw and almost painful to read — not unlike the way she describes the emotional state of several characters who lost their homes, loved ones, and way of life in the fire as well. An element of mystery — how did the fire start? who killed the man Irini found in the forest? — threads through the novel as well. Ultimately, the reader is left with one question to answer on their own: Who is ultimately responsible?

Beautifully written, but so hard to read for me. It honestly just strikes too close to home. We live in an area that often has wildfires. Last summer we had a big one and friends lost homes.

I expected to love this book and I enjoyed the writing style. I liked the way the story shifted from before, as she was writing the book, to after the fire that destroyed the town.

I appreciate what the author was trying to do and the way she told a story from the point of view of a family in a small town after such a terrible disaster. Everyone lost something and they were just trying to get by and blame someone for their losses. I appreciated the lens that the author approached the story with and I loved the afterword where she talked about her research.

I think I wanted more of a story about Irini, her husband’s struggle to heal, her daughter’s injuries, and the impact it had on them as a family and as people. It did sort of have some of that, but then there was this issue of Mr. Monk that a large portion of the story was focused on. I understand the blame, but I just wished for more of a connection to the characters and less of this sort of witch hunt that happened, even though I understand why it was part of the story.

Overall, I think a lot of people will like this one, but it was missing something for me to really love it.

Irini Diamandis and her family survive a devastating wildfire in rural Greece that destroys 300,000 acres of forest, plus homes and businesses, and takes many lives, including the paternal grandfather's. It has left both her husband and daughter with painful wounds which will likely heal but can they recover emotionally? 'The fire has burnt our souls, our hearts. It has turned to ashes the people we once were.'

In the aftermath, it is learned that the fire was started by a wealthy man who just wanted to burn five acres of forest on the cliff top where he planned to build a boutique hotel. But the climate has become so dry and the winds so fierce that the fire quickly became an inferno, racing towards the sea in a path of destruction.

Weeks later, while walking her dog in the dead forest, Irini discovers the hated man under an ancient chestnut tree. She quickly realizes he is dying from an attempted hanging. Irini runs for help but makes a quick decision that will alter who she believes she is as a person.

Part of the story is told in the present day as the people of the village try to put their lives back together. But the other half of the book consists of Irini's journal entries as she details exactly what happened in her Book of Fire.

These kind of fires are happening more frequently in the world at large due to climate change but it seems people need someone personal to blame: the man who lit the fire, the police who blocked escape routes, the fire brigades' ineffective attempts to control the conflagration. What good does it do when the lives of lost loved ones cannot be restored? A compelling and evocative novel, told simply, with well-drawn characters.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

The plot is set in Greece and begins with a forest fire enraging a community. The narrator of a journal titled “Book of Fire” tells the story. The journal focuses on the time during the fire and immediately after the fire which made me feel like I was witnessing the horrible event. Very well done. The story alternates between the chapters with the journal and the chapters with a current time setting. Irini’s, the protagonist, husband, Tasso, is an artist whose hands were severely burned. Their daughter’s, Chara, back is also badly burned.

There is a touch of a mystery in the book when Mr. Monk is found dead with a rope around his neck at the chestnut tree, which itself is half dead, half alive. The chestnut tree had been painted by Tasso prior to the fire and is prominent throughout the book. Chara’s scarring on her back even resembles the chestnut tree. Trees are prevalent throughout, but I especially liked the lemon tree which brought “beautiful yellow sunshine lemons.” The kind couple in the eucalyptus forest that helped the family was heartwarming. It brought some joy to the book.

The forest is a symbol throughout the book. The lushness with bright colors before the fire and the burned, desolate, colorlessness after the fire. “It was as if the whole world had died.” The burned forest itself was almost a character itself: “The immense silence of the dead forest. There are no birds singing, no leaves rustling gently, no animals moving around, no running water from the rivers and brooks.”

The husband, an artist, is devastated with the loss of the forest as if it’s a part of him. “Losing the forest is like losing a part of himself…it’s not just the loss and the trauma that makes him suffer…it’s also the guilt.” Music and art are key in the healing of the characters. The story introduces an injured jackal illustrating how animals need help in these situations as well as how animals help us. Assisting the injured jackal helped the daughter mentally heal and brought laughter. The book shows how people in devastating situations must learn to live again and create a new normal.

Much blame for the fire is cast. The man who set the fire, Mr. Monk, the fire brigade, the government, climate change. The reader is left to form their own opinion. With many wildfires appearing more and more in our world, the author has done much research for this book. I found the book very well written, and it held my attention. This is a very interesting book that made me stop and think. What would I do in this situation? I highly recommend this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Thanks to the publisher, Ballantine Books, An imprint of Random House, and the author for the privilege to read this advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I couldn't get over how timely this book is after the Maui fires last summer, it really did help me feel their pain. The Book of Fire revolves around Irini, a wife and mother who survives a tragic fire in Greece. Irini's husband, Tasso, had ben an artist who mostly painted the woods near their home. The woods and their home were destroyed and Tasso's hands were badly burned. Their daughter also had wounds that she will always live with.

It's a story of survival but also vengeance towards the man who started the fire and the redemption of the people in the village. The book is beautifully written and very descriptive and since told from Irini's POV, I feel that I understand her motivations and her confliction when it comes to the man who started the fire. Unfortunately, I didn't feel close to Tasso, in fact although he was understandable devastated by the loss of his land, his livelihood and his father who died during the fire, his total seclusion left me frustrated with him. He did such a 180 in the end, it didn't seem natural to me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my review.

I was not familiar with this title nor the author before netgalley. I had no expectations going in and found that I quite enjoyed this read. It was an interesting story and so well written, with layers in the plot and characters. i loved how the book made you really think about right/wrong and victim/perpetrator. It puts you in the shoes of the characters and really makes you think about what you would do when your family is injured and so much has been taken from you. I loved realizing with the narrator that what you see isn't always so straightforward and easy to seperate as she has to question who really is to blame for the fire. The one who started it, the fire department, those who didn't care for the forest in the first place. It is a touching story of grace, acceptance, and overcoming. i loved to see the kindness intertwined throughout the story and how little acts impacted so much.

From the author of the best selling The Beekeeper of Aleppo, this is an amazing and timely read. Set in Greece in present day, a huge forest fire caused by a land speculator of man’s neglect of the forest, burns uncontrolled and destroys forest and communities. The novel takes up the story in the aftermath of the fire and the trauma for one young family, the story of the actual escape from the fire is told in passage through from the mothers POV. Very well written, great character development (including the animals), and great story. I kept thinking of the large fire in Hawaii with the people trying to outrun the fire, jumping in the sea, and being rescued by any boat that could get to them.

Loved the idea but not the writing style

A village in Greece is reeling after a local real estate developer tries to clear a small patch of land, the fire quickly rages out of control, consuming most of the village, killing, maiming many people, destroying homes and lifetimes of irreplaceable possessions.

Irini discovers the man responsible for the fire, deceased in what is left of the forest. Should she help him? And what happened to him?

The Book of Fire is written in dual timelines told from mother Irini’s perspective.

Although I personally enjoyed many of the themes touched on in the book and found some of the scenes quite touching, this book seemed to really drag.

The paragraphs were too long, and the author got too carried away with the setting, too many descriptions.

Irini also really overexplained things to the point that it felt like YA. Also, why did Tasso spend only 1 day looking for his father? Moreover, the dialogue seemed off. Irini stated that the village had 500 people. I grew up in a village of about 2,500 people, and the first thing that happens when you meet anyone from the village is find out who you know in common.

If you enjoy books about climate change and lots of descriptions about Greece, you might really enjoy this read, but it was just okay for me.

*Thanks, NetGalley, for the free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.

How much I spent:
Electronic copy of text – Free provided by publisher

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. The Book of Fire is about the experience and aftermath one family experiences following a deadly wildfire that ravages their community, their surrounding woodlands, and their home. The author draws us close to make us feel what these characters are going through and in the book’s present day storyline, the situation is further complicated when one of the main characters stumbles upon a dying man, who happens to be the person who started these devastating fires.

This book was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. There were some points where it was difficult to read, due to the subject matter and the devastating nature of the subject matter. However, please don’t let that stop you from considering reading this book— I think the author handled the topic very delicately and really brought us with the characters to the edge of despair and then, slowly back; there were many heartwarming moments still throughout the book and the author did an excellent job at highlighting how the little things in everyday life are sometimes truly the things that matter most. The writing in this book was stunning and helped do this sensitive subject matter justice, from my perspective. I also thought the way she vacillated between recounting the experiencing the wildfire in the moment and present day was very well balanced and not jarring or confusing.

The character development in this book was also great and it was very easy to become invested in their stories. I appreciated how the author showed both the highs and lows of each main character but, still made it very easy to empathize with them and recognize the humanity behind their actions. This book was a win for me and Christy Lefteri is definitely an auto-read for me!

I would recommend this book to literary fiction fans and contemporary fiction fans!

Interesting story about how fire affects the people who live in an area that begins to burn. The story was a bit slow
in the beginning. The fear that makes people run only to find out their way to the life saving water is blocked,was breathtaking.
I received an advanced readers copy from Random House in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the author, Christy Lefteri, and NetGalley for offering this interesting book to readers.

I was really excited to read this based off of the description, but found the execution lacking. The scenes from “The Book of Fire”—the chapters where Irini writes about the fire that destroyed her town and left dozens dead or missing—were fantastic, but the present-day chapters felt very different. Stilted dialogue, disengaging sentences, and a focus on grief and pain that never really stuck the landing just made it hard to stay interested in the story. Plus, the “mystery” of Mr. Monk’s death was… very unsatisfying. Didn’t feel compelling enough to revolve the present-day storyline on it.

This book has some high ratings so it is probably just me. BUTTT damn this book repeated itself over and over. It has a good message but I was beating my self to death trying to finish it.

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

This is a hauntingly intense book. The writing is beautiful and lyrical and keeps you caught up in it's grasp.
We learn about the fire through different sequences and we see how the people are dealing with their grief.
I can't even imagine having to go through something like this and rebuilding.
This novel based on a true story is a book made for anyone who has been through trauma and has worked their way back from the ashes.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

A poignant tale of loss, redemption and new beginnings. Irini Diamandis, a music teacher is living a peaceful life in a Greek village with her artist husband Tasso and her ten-year old daughter Charra. Their lives are turned completely upside down when an accidental forest fire turns into a horrific blaze ravaging the entire community. Written in alternating timelines of before, during and after the tragedy, the book describes in vivid detail the immense grief and struggles not just of Irini and her family but the entire community at large. The writing is beautiful, and you can't but help feel a range of emotions from empathy to a sense of frustration and helplessness. I loved the Book of Fire chapters where Irini also describes her great-grandfather's 100-days journey from Turkey to Greece after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The story is powerful, candid and evocative, and will stay with me for a long long time. Dealing with contemporary issues like unfettered capitalism, incompetent governance and the effects of global warming, this is a timely story for the present. Simply maginificent and definitely a must read!!

Thank you Netgalley, Christy Lefteri and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC.

This is such an interesting book. While it is about Greece and the destruction of a fire, it could be about almost anywhere. The changing climates of the world are becoming more and more of an issue and not much is being or can be done.

I loved the story within the story of this book. I love that Irini is writing the story of the fire while we are learning of what has happened since the terrible fire. I felt the emotions of the characters. Chara lost her innocence, Tasso was lost in his guilt and pain, Irini just wanted to find a way to bring her family back. I felt the loss of the instruments and history that the fire wiped out. My heart breaks for way the fire wasn't fought and how they didn't realize how dry the land truly was.

This book really made me think. I highly recommend it to everyone. I think that it can be quite eye opeing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the ARC of this book. All opinion expressed are my own.

THE BOOK OF FIRE
BY: CHRISTY LEFTERI

I was contacted by the publisher to read and review, "THE BOOK OF FIRE, masterfully written by the wonderful talented Christy Lefteri. I am so thrilled to have discovered such a well written novel that has aspects of reality included in it regarding the harmful effects of global warming. This is truly a masterpiece that has risen to the top of my list of top lifetime reading experiences. This is a novel that deserves to be read by everyone. The prose is impeccable with vivid imagery of the beauty of a forest with every type of ancient trees and wildflowers that existed in a village in Greece before a fire decimated it.

The novel begins with Irini whose point of view we the reader can feel, see, hear and smell as she tries to make sense of the horror in alternating chapters as she records her haunted reflections in her journal she calls, 'The Book of fire.' She is thinking things through as she records in her narration in the first person point of view of her family's history before, during and after the fire that obliterated her home and changed her life and many others.

"Once upon a Harry Lime. This is how my dad started every story, even if the story was as true as the
nose on his face. Once upon a Harry Lime, once upon a time. Because he was Greek and far from
home, he wanted to belong so much he used cockney rhyming slang whenever he could slip it in,
even when it sounded ridiculous.. Once upon a Harry Lime, there was a beautiful village inside an
ancient forest. How I wish I could start the story like this and tell you that it took place a long time
ago. Once upon a time before the fire, there was an ancient forest. Before the fire, there were pines
and firs that reached up to the sky and a thousand-year-old chestnut that my great-grandad sat
beneath at the end of a hundred-day journey. Story goes, he was so exhausted that he stayed beneath
the gigantic tree for days, leaning back on its twisted bark, in the cool shade. So he rested there
among rock lizards and dormice, white-breasted hedgehogs and beech marten, rabbits and deer, red
foxes and jackals. He ate juicy purple figs and black berries. At night, he listened to the howl of
wolves as they roamed the highlands. Once upon a time, my father would say to me-there was a
beautiful village inside an ancient forest on the slope of a mountain that looked down upon the sea.
Inside this village there was a bungalow surrounded by fig trees, olive trees and a wildflower
meadow.'

Irini is recording her lineage and everything that existed before a man the village has named Mr. Monk who started the fire that destroyed nature as her family and the whole village had enjoyed for many generations. Mr. Monk recklessly obliterated life as everybody in her Greek village lost the flora and fauna of their homes as it once was. He was motivated by greed wanting to build a boutique hotel so he started a fire to clear the land and it destroyed an entire village seeking his opportunities. The fire spread and got out of hand creating dangerous conditions. People's homes were destroyed and some died. Irini and her young daughter Chara, which means joy, survived because they fled to the sea. Chara's back was burned and her father Tasso's hands were badly burned.

Irini was a music teacher and her husband Tasso was an artist that painted the forest. His hands are bandaged and he is deeply depressed. Many people of the village that survived but were burned were displaced having their homes destroyed. Irini, her husband Tasso and Chara were lucky to have Tasso's father's home that miraculously didn't get destroyed that they returned to live. There is one fig tree in the garden that Tasso sits in everyday despondent over his father being missing and the loss of his hands to paint.

Irini describes the forest being black charred skeletons of tree stumps. She makes a decision while walking their greyhound named Rosalie in the stark destruction of what used to be such a joy.
Now everything is reduced to ash and bleak with the loss of all of the animals and the magnificent variety of trees that no longer exist which was once a glorious forest. Her decision upon a discovery in which she doesn't act to do the right thing will haunt her and get her entangled in a police investigation.

This author has become a favorite of mine who I've bought her two previous novels after loving this one so much. I really had not initially had expectations of wanting to read this so I put it off. The premise didn't sound like something I would be interested in. I could not have had a more enchanted reading experience. It is a stunning achievement by Christy Lefteri. I had heard of her novel called, "The Beekeeper of Aleppo," but I didn't make the connection of who wrote that highly acclaimed work was the same author that wrote this. I appreciated her Author's Note of the reality of global warming and climate change that inspired her to write this novel.

Christy Lefteri's Author's Note drives home the message of the lessons to be learned by this novel. She enlightens the reasons behind her decisions that she has chosen for her character development.
It highlights her research and how her characters and plot mirror real life in how resistant people are towards global warming. How easy it is to blame a person, the fire brigades response to wildfires, and the government for the wildfires that are becoming increasingly on the rise. She has tackled this issue and crafted a moving, life changing masterpiece in "The Book of Fire." I highly, highly recommend this fantastic literary fiction that was reminiscent of being a child again charmed by reading my favorite fairy tale. This will stay with me forever. One Hundred Stars!

Publication Date: January 2, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Christy Lefteri and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine.BallantineBooks for reaching out to me to read this magnificent ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheBookofFire #ChristyLefteri #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantineBallantineBooks #NetGalley

Set in a village in Greece, The Book of Fire tells how a wildfire destroys the village and the lives of those who survive. I had a hard time staying interested in this book. Some chapters seemed to be repeating a previous chapter. Not a fan of this book. Thanks to author Christy Lefteri, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.