The Fire Opal by Regina McBride

Title: The Fire Opal

Author: Regina McBride

Published: May 2010 by Delacorte

Pages: 304

ISBN: 9780385737814

Source: ARC from Around The World Tours

Description: There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in Ard Macha; a time when she played among the Celtic ruins with her older brothers and daydreamed about the legendary Holy Isles, an enchanted land ruled in a past age by a beautiful goddess. But after Maeve's sister, Ishleen, is born, her mother sinks into a deep, impenetrable trance. For years, Maeve tries to help her mother "awaken," and then the unthinkable happens: Ishleen succumbs to the same mysterious ailment as Nuala. Heartbroken to think that her sister and her mother might be lost to her forever, Maeve sets off on an unimaginable quest to a world filled with fantastical creatures, a web of secrets, a handsome, devious villain who will stop at nothing to have her hand in marriage—braving them all to retrieve a powerful glowing stone that will help her recover the souls of her loved ones and bring them home to Ard Macha. 

I Give This ...

  

I haven't read many books set in Ireland.  But, what I have read seems to have it's own mystical quality.  There's something about Ireland that makes it different and I don't think it's just the legends and myths that have been passed down for centuries.  This book is no exception.  I think the place and some of the events that are in the background of the story are real.  But, it never feels real if that makes sense.  It's almost as if the entire story takes place in a fog. It's beautifully written.

While, the story is beautiful, I never connected with any of the characters.  Mauve was just the tool to tell the story.  I understood why she went to such lengths to rescue her mother and her sister.  And her adventure was definitely interesting.  I just had a hard time investing myself in anything she did.  

I think I might have found more interest in the story if I knew more about Irish legends, etc.  The whole story just felt like it was missing something for me.  

 

  There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in ...more