Book Review: The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman

The Fire Horse Girl

Author: Kay Honeyman

Published: January 1st 2013

Publisher: Scholatic

Source: eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

 

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Book Description:

This book is set in 1923 and tells the story of Jade Moon, a 17-year-old Chinese girl. Jade is stubborn and bold. She can't fill her family's expectations - they want to marry her off, but nobody wants to marry a girl like her. She is sick of the unfair treatment she gets only because of her being a woman.

When Sterling Promise, a young man, comes to their village to offer her father to immigrate with him to America, Jade Moon knows that this is the opportunity of her life. She has heard a lot about America - a country of freedom, of new beginnings. But getting into America is not easy. She has to sacrifice her identity and to pretend to be a man. Can she do that? Will she find real freedom?

My Thoughts:

This book wasn't a typical historical fiction book at all. I always picture those books as long and heavy, filled with details and historical facts. I usually don't read this genre, so this book was a little bit out of my comfort zone. I am so glad I have decided to read it. I loved almost everything about it!

I'll start with Jade Moon, the main character. Jade Moon was a lot like Katniss from the Hunger Games. They both have the same personality - they both are stubborn, bold and impulsive. They can't stand receiving unfair treatment. I liked these traits of Jade Moon! I loved how she could stand for herself and how she was ready to take risks. She was also very creative and smart.

This book has a strong feministic massege. In China of these days, women didn't have many rights. Their job in life was to be good, obedient wives and to raise children. They are never being listened to and they don't have a say in any subject. Jade Moon can't fit into this life. Her temper and desires are different. She wants freedom and she wants people to respect and listen to her. She was ready to do anything to prove to the world and to herself that women can be just as good as men.
I really appreciate feminist books. I loved to read about how Jade Moon has managed to achieve her goals, which were considered for men only.

I also loved the romantic part of the book. The romance wasn't the main part of the book, but it existed, and the love story was beautiful. The Chinese believe that you mustn't marry out of love. Love is considered dangerous. But, despite that, Jade Moon is determined to understand what love is all about. She wants to experience love, and at the end she does. I am not going to tell you who she is falling in love with, even though it was quite clear to me from the beginning...

The only thing that annoyed my a little about this book was the plot. The first part of the book was mind blowing. But, from the middle of the book on, the incidents become more and more unrealistic. Some parts didn't make sense at all. (SPOILER ALERT - I mean, how didn't they find out that she is a girl? How could they use a physically small girl as a "hachette"?!)

This book is a combination of The Hunger Games and Graceling. Overall, I loved the idea, the characters and the positive messages of the book. I highly recommend it, especially to teen girls!

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