Review: FireWorks

FireWorks by Oliver Smuhar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

DNF @ pg 180 (69%)

It's not terrible, just not really for me I'm afraid.

The plot talks about the impact of the 2019/20 bushfires that ravaged Australia, with particular focus on the Blue Mountains area. Only the story is told for younger ones by the koala, Illuka, who survived 'Alinta' and now passes the story down to the new generation.

The book is aimed at younger readers aged 9-14 so is designed to be educational and includes some fantastic illustrations and authentic photos, accompanied by interesting animal facts and statistics. As an added bonus, the launch of the book coincides with the author's fundraising campaign called the FireWorks' Fund - proceeds of which go towards conservation efforts for Australian flora and fauna, as well as to sustainability and the wellbeing of communities and individuals. The release of this book marks an attempt to make a positive impact on the world we live in, and I support that effort 100%.

You can learn more about the campaign HERE

On that note alone, I encourage you to look into this book and the FWF campaign, and consider contributing.

Now, the story itself.

Things that worked:
- Animals
- Illustrations
- Plot formula bringing the crew together slowly
- The crew itself
- Humour
- Genuine facts
- The reality of the impact

Most of my reason for not wanting to continue with this one is that it was just a little too ambitious for me. As a book aimed at middle grade readers, I expected it to be quite simple and easy to digest, but this packs in details that started to weigh the story down. The flora and fauna are detailed minutely but all at once, so rather than setting the scene it blurs it into a haze of names and descriptions, thus lessening the impact. A lot of animals are named straight away, so it's easy to lose track of which name corresponds to which animal. The illustrations do make this easier, but they're peppered throughout the story so mostly come a little too late. For a children's story, I felt it was drowning in the details. On the other hand, older readers will likely enjoy creating their own mental image with the plants and animals they recognise, so those who enjoy detailed descriptions will find themselves immersed in an authentic Australian bush setting.

The other way ambition strikes is through trying to teach readers how to be a better person in a lot of different ways - kindness, patience, selflessness, compassion, understanding ... they're all great ideas but after a while it does start to feel a little repetitive. I'm glad the story took the time to instil these great qualities in the characters, but when they all turn out that way it does take away some of the more interesting dynamics. They're all so altruistic and selfless that it becomes a bit cheesy. On this particular point, I believe children will receive the story better than adults. Whilst older readers may be a little tired of these do-gooder animals, kids will learn great lessons about treating others with respect and kindness, which is a message that can never be scorned.

Finally, the story itself is quite ambitious - it details Illuka's quest to warn other creatures of the bush of Alinta's impending arrival, so we travel with him as he makes new friends and faces down the danger of the scorching flames. I felt there was a lot of superfluous detail that bogged the story down, and while I loved meeting all the new characters as they came together, I lost sight of them often amongst all the other things that were happening in the story. They were such a fun cast of characters, but the story is so serious and dark that it drags the tone down, so it's hard to enjoy the playfulness of Coda or the sass of Myaree when there's danger all around. I wish there had been more focus on interactions between the five main characters as a reprieve from the danger of Alinta. It just wound up being a bit too 'doom and gloom' for me, and that's a huge part of why I chose not to continue with it.

That being said, I did really love Coda, and I think young ones will love all of the characters. They are a cute sample of Australian fauna, and the illustrations will help kids get to know the local wildlife. I enjoyed the way the characters all came together, and I feel they are the greatest strength of this book.

Overall, I feel there is a lot of merit in this story, though it was a little too dense for my tastes. It's full of realism to convey the genuine impact bushfires have on the environment, but at the same time you've got a whole lot of different species of talking animals congregating together. The contrast was a little jarring. I think it would have worked better if the story had been simplified - the repetitive details could have been edited out, and perhaps the gathering of animals reduced, spread out more, or just detailed in an illustration rather than in the text. The story could have been condensed easily, and more fun with the characters would have created a stronger investment in the story and the real Australian animals they represent. I believe there could have been a way to make this story shorter without lessening its impact - even, perhaps, increasing the impact.

This is an ambitious story brimming with authentic details, brilliant illustrations and characters you can fall in love with. It moves a little slow and can seem a bit complex, but its noble intentions make it a worthy addition to the bookshelf and I encourage adults and children alike to check it out.

Releasing 4th March, 2021. With thanks to the author for a copy to read and review.

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