Blog tour: A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter (VO)

As a part of the tour, I made a review of the first book of the series. To see all the participants for the tour, click here!

Elemental Mysteries, Book 1

Synopsis:

“No secret stays hidden forever.”

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he’d abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

Review: I read a lot of great reviews about this first volume so when I had the opportunity to get into it, I was more than happy! And I can say I’m glad for this discovery because I didn’t really know this author before.
This book presents us the story about Gio and Beatrice, two intriguing characters. Gio appears like a man who comes every day to do some research at the library, about a book, copying each page. We wonder from the start what he really wants or what he exactly is. He is so strange in his own way but always so Italian. On the contrary, Beatrice takes care of the library at night and keeps an eye on everything. She is a young, clever and pretty woman; she tries to understand and to analyze what is going on around her. I think ther character as much as Gio’s were very interesting to follow. They are so different but this same difference will bring them closer than we would have thought.
From the beginning, we don’t know a lot about our two main characters and it’s quite difficult to learn more. But with the chapters, we start to understand and like them. However, we only can have the explanation later, and we have to wait and enjoy the pieces of information we can get little by little.
The writing style is very original, some events from the past are mixed with some of the present, and that allows us to understand a little more about what is going on. But in the same time, we ask ourselves more and more questions, trying to understand the meaning of all of this. Because these moments are inserted like some furtive memories or even like some old pieces of letters.  
The arrival of Lorenzo in the story turns upside down the life of our heroes. We need a big bad guy in each story and this one has all the qualities to create the typical bad guy. We hate him as soon as we read about him but we also try to understand why he became the man he is now or what he really wants. The father of Beatrice is a character I would love to learn more about. We hear about this man all along the story but finally we don’t know a lot about him. I hope we could see him in the second volume because he is very intriguing.
We can predict the development of the story, it’s not a big surprise but it’s not a problem mainly with all these new characters we can meet. I didn’t expect this end at all, but it was a great idea.
To conclude, I can say it was a really great first novel and I’m very curious to learn more about the second one.



15 thoughts on “Blog tour: A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter (VO)

  1. Hmm, I’ve noticed this cover a time or two before, but I never really looked into it. I love that the main characters are Italian and the plot sounds very refreshing after all the YA PNR I’ve been reading lately.
    Such a lovely review, Melliane.

    Maja @ The Nocturnal Library

  2. I love finding out about new authors that you haven’t heard about before — your blog always brings my attention to so many of them! <3 This one sounds really intriguing! I kind of like that you have to find out all the information as bits along the way. It makes it feel sort of mysterious LOL and the unexpected ending is a plus! :)

    Awesome review as always, Mel! I’m glad that you liked this one! 🙂 <3

    • I agree always a good thing! Terrible doesn’t it? Always so many new series to add! It’s so frustrating to know the information like that but in the same time it’s a great idea too. Thank you so much Mimi!

  3. I’ve had this book on my TBR forever! I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet. I think the little by little thing threw me off. I lost patience because I wanted to know NOW. LOL But I plan on returning to it soon.

    Great review, Melliane.

  4. I haven’t heard of this book. “…these moments are inserted like some furtive memories or even like some old pieces of letters.” Oh that sounds so beautiful. I’m fine with predictability, just as long as the story is good. Sounds like this is the case. Oh I’m curious!

    • I enjoyed that, it’s nice to have something different. But we don’t really understand the memories because of course it’s not explain, well, it’s explained near the end of the book. Yes the story was really nice. If you give it a try I hope you’ll like it too.

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