Author: MJ Austin
Published: January 17, 2015
Source: Author in exchange for an honest review
Amazon
Summary from Goodreads: Delfia thought she was a normal girl about to turn sixteen until her adoptive parents are murdered by creatures from the underworld. Her life gets thrown into chaos as she teams up with her best friend, a strange guy, and a prophetess. She soon discovers her biological father, Hades, ordered the attack on her and her family because a prophecy names her as the one to take him down. She must first complete a set of tasks to free Persephone, her mother, from the underworld and defeat Hades. Will she be reunited with her mother or will she get sucked into the underworld?
*Book is geared towards readers that liked Percy Jackson Series, Need Series, etc.*
Interview
Who is your favorite Greek Mythology character and why?
This is a very hard one. I would say right now my favorite greek mythology character is Hephaestus. Strange I know, but I love how he was given hardships and still became someone very important. Monster wise, I would say Gorgons (Medusa) because that's what my family calls me when I wake up. HaHa!
I love Greek Mythology and find the story of Hades and Persephone to be one of the most interesting ones. What made you to choose them as Delfia's parents?
When you are trying to write a novel, your biggest asset is the 'what makes you different' factor. I saw a bunch of books with Zeus and Poseidon as parents and i thought, what about Hades? Plus I love Persephone's story and thought writing around that would be fun, and it is.
Is Delfia's name inspired by the city of Delphi? Where does her last name come from?
Wow I didn't even think of the angle with Delphi, that would have been interesting. I actually really liked the title Bright Fire and decided to look up names that matched it. I wanted to bring something that represented both Persephone and Hades.
Terentia means guardian is Greek, how much research went into including details like that in the story?
This I did research for that purpose. I knew there had to be greek versions of everyday american things. It took hours upon hours, but it is totally worth it. I am still researching all the time. I loved mythology in school and now that I can appreciate it even more, it is so much fun to learn. I remembered the basics, but every time I research, something else in my writing just falls into place. It's amazing.
What is the most interesting thing you learned while researching?
Hmm. I am an education junkie so this is hard for me to answer. The most interesting thing would probably be that Zeus was kind of a floozy. I had no idea just how many offspring the guy had. It makes it hard to correlate people into the story without screwing up facts. I know fiction is subjective, but still.
Lyla seems like a really great best friend, how did you go about writing and developing her character?
I wrote Lyla in the image of my best friend Jen Jen. Every author pulls from their life, after all that's where most of your experience comes from. You can't write it, if you don't know it. We did actually have Binge Nights as kids. And she is one of those perky blondes everyone takes for ditzy until she wows you with a smart comment and they are put in their place.
Review
I love this unique spin on the story of Persephone and Hades. It's clear that the author did a great deal of research prior to writing this story with the way she wove together small details. The story is written from the perspective of the main character Delfia, but the voice does not sound like a 16 year old girl, it sounds more like someone pretending to be a 16 year old. Delfia is not a well developed or likable character. I had two major issues with Delfia: insta-trust and insta-love. It also felt like the author was trying to overcompensate for the insta-love by drawing attention to and having Dell say things like she doesn't want to be the girl who falls for the savior, over and over again. The most consistent character is Lyla, she seems like a great friend. The plot moves at an OK pace, but there were a couple events that didn't really make sense and felt like they were included simply to move the story forward. The climax was resolved quickly and the resolution felt too easy. Overall, the book was OK - it has an awesome concept, but there is room for improvement.
About The Auhor
M.J. Austin is the author of the Bright Fire series and NaNoWriMo 2014 winner. She has always found the world of fantasy preferable to the real world. She channels this love of mystical worlds and creatures into her writing. She is an avid reader and proud bookworm. She has a Master's Degree in Project Management, but her true passion is writing.
When she isn't working or writing she is diving into random projects as often as possible. She lives in Tennessee with three children, husband, and three dogs.
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