Reviews

Firefly written by Phillipa Dowding is an emotional story about a girl who doesn’t have a place to call home. The story follows the main character, Firefly, through her perspective of her life after moving to a new home. Following the events of her mother being sent to a mental institution, Firefly is put into her aunt Gayle’s care, who owns a costume shop. Firefly has a very complicated past and relationship with her mother, with memories being revealed as the story progresses. The story kicks off with Firefly’s adjustment to regular life, as prior to her mother being sent away, Firefly’s life was in shambles. As Firefly adjusts, she meets people whom she gains new perspectives from, and eventually she chooses to tackle her biggest issues head on. I feel the story did an amazing job with Firefly’s backstory and development, making her actions fit her character and allowing more connections between the reader and Firefly to form. These developments build up and the reader sees how the interactions with the characters influence Firefly’s thoughts. While the impacts on Firefly's perspective can be clearly observed, the interactions themselves aren’t particularly interesting. Firefly herself doesn’t do much to get involved in them, instead mostly just observing the things that happen around her. This makes the story feel uneventful and kind of a chore to read until the climax. The ending of this story is satisfactory, but it feels a little too unfinished. I would’ve liked something like an epilogue that gives an idea of what unfolds afterwards, but unfortunately this is not the case. After reading, I give this story a ? because the characters were amazing, but the rising action and resolution are uneventful and feel unfinished. I would recommend this book to someone who doesn’t mind a slow paced but deep story, but not to anyone looking for a lot of action.