{Review in a GIFfy} Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

So, I've seen a few others doing early reviews for books pre-release by doing a less formal review and sorta just fangirling over the title prior to publication, which may be months away, depending on when they read the book. Jamie from The Perpetual Page-turner has a Save the Date feature, and Heather over at The Flyleaf Review showcases her pre-release thoughts in a Mark Your Calendars post. I have the same problem. I want to tell the world about some of the awesome books I read pre-publication, but I can't wait until just a few weeks before the release date to shout it from the rooftops.

My dilemma led me to an awesome -- if I do say so myself -- idea: Reviews in a GIFfy. I already sometimes post my reactions to a book via GIFs on Goodreads. (The one I did for World After was very well received.) But I wanted to make it a thing for those titles that I just can't wait until they appear on the ole reading schedule, and I wanted to share my reactions via GIF with all of you. Essentially, these are going to be GIF-only reviews to tide you -- and me! -- over until I can expand on my thoughts in a legitimate review closer to the book's release date.

The first book to get this treatment is Sarah Fine's Of Metal and Wishes, which is a Phantom of the Opera retelling of the highest caliber. I absolutely love Sarah's Guards of the Shadowlands series, and I was very excited to read Of Metal and Wishes, even when I knew little more about the book than that it featured a ghost and a slaughterhouse. But the book is soooo much more than that:


Title: Of Metal and Wishes
Author: Sarah Fine
Series: n/a at this time
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: August 5, 2014
Source: received from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.

Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her … for a very long time.

As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her … and she might go down with it.

I wasn't expecting to get the approval for Of Metal and Wishes, so when I received a copy for review from Simon & Schuster, there was a little flailing involved:

In the first five percent of the book, when I realized Wen was going to be feisty:

The writing was, well, it was like this:

And I wanted it to keep coming.

When Wen first lands eyes on the boy with the rust-colored hair and jade-colored eyes:

The closer Wen and Melik got:

Every time Melik uttered, "Wen always has medicine."

As I realized just how strained and tenuous the relationship between Wen and her father was and why:

Upon discovering the Ghost and his lair and stumbling upon things like this:

I kind of did this:

And though the Ghost seemed mostly harmless:

And the more Underboss Mugo intervenes in Wen's affairs, the more I felt like this:

On behalf of Wen:

As the social injustices and cultural differences became so much clearer and much more divisive:

The more I read of this beautiful story, the more I became entranced:

I simply couldn't stop reading, and when it was over:

This couldn't possibly be it. I needed more. More of these characters, more of this world, more beautiful words from the unbelievably talented Sarah Fine.

And then I got an email from the author.

In other words, stay tuned for a big announcement!!!

About the author:

I’m the author of the Guards of the Shadowlands urban fantasy series (Skyscape/Amazon Children’s Publishing), including Sanctum (October 2012) and Fractured (October 2013). My gothic young adult novel Of Metal and Wishes will be published by McElderry/Simon & Schuster in August 2014. In May 2014, Putnam/Penguin will publish Scan, the first of two thrillers I co-authored with Walter Jury under the name S. E. Fine. When I’m not writing, I’m psychologizing. Sometimes I do both at the same time. The results are unpredictable.

Find Sarah:

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Labels: all the swoons, favorites, ghosts, gothic horror, must-read, of metal and wishes, retellings, review in a giffy, sarah fine, simon schuster