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    The Flame in the Mist
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    The Flame in the Mist
    Unavailable
    The Flame in the Mist
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Flame in the Mist

    Written by Kit Grindstaff

    Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Set in an imagined past, this dark fantasy-adventure is for fans of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass. Features Jemma, a fiery-headed heroine held captive in Agromond Castle, yet destined to save mist-shrouded Anglavia.

    Fiery-headed Jemma Agromond is not who she thinks she is, and when the secrets and lies behind her life at mist-shrouded Agromond Castle begin to unravel, she finds herself in a chilling race for her life. Ghosts and misfits, a stone and crystals, a mysterious book, an ancient prophecy-all these reveal the truth about Jemma's past and a destiny far greater and more dangerous than she could have imagined in her wildest fantasies. With her telepathic golden rats, Noodle and Pie, and her trusted friend, Digby, Jemma navigates increasingly dark forces, as helpers both seen and unseen, gather. But in the end, it is her own powers that she must bring to light, for only she has the key to defeating the evil ones and fulfilling the prophecy that will bring back the sun and restore peace in Anglavia.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 9, 2013
    ISBN9780385361576
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Flame in the Mist

    3/5

    19 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      I have no idea what reader this is meant for. It has strange goth themes of death and decay that I would not peg as for younger middle-grade readers and is fairly long and complex, but the writing is very simplistic and of the tell-not-show style that usually appeals to those younger kids.I also couldn't figure out the main character - she's kind of dumb and very much "not like the other girls" (or, well, somehow despite growing up for 12 years with a gruesome take on the Addams Family and knowing nothing else, she is the bright ray of sunshine that doesn't fit in), but doesn't seem to be someone that younger kids could look up to either.The plot doesn't make any sense in the first few chapters and so I gave up at the end of Part 1. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to go further, so I took the big blank "Part 2 Agromond Forest" on page 89 as my cue to leave. The book is about 450 pages long, and it seems to me the only way to fill that out is for more plot obstacles and lack of thinking from the main character.Honestly, I only picked up the book in the first place because it has a similar title to another book I was searching for in the library database, and i decided that was as good a reason as any to borrow them both. Unfortunately, both books are terrible.
    • 3/5
      Jemma grew up as part of the Agromond family, but just hours before her thirteenth birthday, she discovers that she was raised by them for a dark and deadly purpose. Jemma has magical powers, more than she ever realized, and the Agromonds intend to steal them in order to help bolster their own strength, which they use to cloak the land in mist and exert their influence over all of the land's inhabitants. Unless Jemma wants to be part of their dark sorcery, she must flee the castle and seek out her true family. Of course, the Agromonds will not let her go so easily. Can Jemma escape the castle, find her family, and awaken her powers in time to save the kingdom?I wanted this to be a better story than it was. The cover is eye-catching and the premise is sound, but the writing and characterization don't live up to the book's potential. Jemma makes her way through the story mostly by chance, overhearing key conversations and being rescued multiple times by the few people and creatures in the land who oppose the Agromonds' rule. And she has a magical book that will give her any information she might need, though she is oddly hesitant to use it. The author also over-used anagrams as a puzzle element, in my opinion. Jemma's adventures are unrelentingly dark and gristly; I was exhausted (and often repulsed) just reading about them, but despite the constant adventure and danger, the book dragged along for me. There are probably readers out there who will enjoy this mixture of fantasy and horror, but I don't particularly recommend it unless you are willing to overlook the mediocre writing.
    • 3/5
      I had mixed feelings about this book. Was it a page turner? Yes. Was it INCREDIBLY dark? Absolutely. I was cringing at times. Did I also think the thirteen year old narrator was incredibly stupid at times? Oh yeah. I'm not interested in giving away spoilers at this time, but there were quite a few times I was appalled at how little thought went into some of Jemma's actions (although, come to think of it, maybe that is typical thirteen year old behavior.) I'm not sure it's really a good choice for the MSBA list, because of its darkness. i think it has a limited audience.
    • 1/5
      Middle grade novels are such a delight for me and such a nice break from YA, with an increased focus on family and a lack of romance. In general, I've been so very lucky picking middle grade books, so I guess it was inevitable that I would finally pick out a clunker. Friends, I do not say this often, but almost nothing in this book worked for me, sad though I am to have to say it. The Flame in the Mist was an over-lengthy, boring disappointment. Also, be warned that this review will contain SPOILERS.The cover, which I do like, does largely accurately represent the contents of the book, only it wasn't ever exciting, for reasons I'll explain later. The concept had a lot of promise - a ginger raised by an evil family who discovers they're not her real parents and she must defeat them to save the kingdom from the enveloping mists. Totally legit premise. And yet. The only aspect that I liked were the two golden rats, shown on the cover. Noodle and Pie are great animal companions, so thank goodness for that small mercy. Also, I know most people hate rats, but one of my friends had some in college and they were really nice.The main reason that The Flame in the Mist flopped is that Jemma utterly lacks agency. Our so-called fiery heroine almost never makes any decisions for herself and is, essentially, lead through the entirety of the prophecy. Calling Jemma the heroine or the savior of this piece is like giving the blindfolded person all the credit for completing a complex maze, when it was all due to the directions given them by their partners. Sure, she muddled through at their bidding, but, other than the fact that she is speshul and has the needed magic, anyone could have done this better than Jemma.At the opening of the novel, Jemma turns thirteen years old, which sets wheels in motion. She must either join the family who raised her on the dark side or search for the light and her birth parents. Shockingly, she chooses to escape to the light, conveniently overhearing several infodumps as she snoops around the castle. She also just happens to take not only her stone, which gives her power, but some crystals from her mother's room, which will be totally important to the plot. She's handed a magic book and cloak by her supporters in the castle and sent on her way.Though thirteen, Jemma seemed more like eight years old to me. Her reasoning skills are limited solely to anagrams, which I'll admit she's rather good at. She has to be told everything multiple times in order to perform an action. Once outside the castle, she walks in circles without realizing. She never would have escaped without being saved by a continuous stream of creatures: Noodle and Pie many times over, bats, spiders, a guy who might have developmental issues but conveniently knows medicine, a little boy with a crazy mom, Digby (a boy whose dad makes deliveries to the castle who she's crushing on), a street urchin in a town, and on and on. Despite this constant aid, Jemma continually makes obviously wrong decisions (falling for blatant traps) and fails to show initiative (she carries that damn magic book for a week and never reads it, and, surprise!, it's full of a ton of helpful information. Unsurprisingly, she has to be TOLD to read the book. By the novel's conclusion, she starts showing some glimmers of thought, and, for a moment, I thought she'd actually had a plan all on her own and a good one too. Then, right after this, the truth came out: "The chaos couldn't have worked better if Jemma had planned it." Now I do realize this is a common phrase, but Jemma should have planned it. She had intentionally made note of disagreement in the ranks of her enemies, as though thinking she could make use of that, but then does so accidentally. Light forbid Jemma ever act like she has braincells.Even in the freaking final showdown, Jemma collapses like five times. Her rats have to help prod her into continuing. The old drudge who makes Gollum sound like Henry Higgins reveals that he's her ancestor who has been waiting hundreds of years for this moment, so that he can help her fulfill the prophecy. Because for some reason he can't do it, even though he basically does, considering that he has to tell her multiple times to say every single line of a song that will banish the evil demon thing. I wish I were kidding. There you have the plot.The writing does not please me either. For one thing, I find it overly simplistic. The childishness of the dialog especially adds to the feeling that Jemma and Digby are under ten. Grindstaff also takes too much relish in the use of ellipses and emdashes. Turn to a page, any page, and odds are that you will find at least one ellipsis, probably more. I just played this game and found 9 ellipses and 5 emdashes on one and 1/5 pages (since it just happened to be the end of the chapter). Every page isn't quite that bad, but it is a serious problem nonetheless. Furthermore, Grindstaff's characters use a hodgepodge of accents, all conveyed through the use of dialect, that I found frustrating. There are simply too many different accents. It seems as though each character had their own. Jemma uses standard language. Digby has one dialect, Marsh another, Drudge another, etc.Finally, there's the romance aspect. While romance doesn't take up much time in The Flame in the Mist, you are definitely meant to be shipping Jemma with Digby. This I do not do, because 1) they lack any real personality and 2) they act like they're 8, until they kiss at the end of the book. Still, this is mostly tolerable. What I drew the line at was when Feo (who has been raised as Jemma's brother, mind) reveals that he has feelings for her and wants her to stay with him forever. It was creepy and a bit rapey, especially since he commented on her dress that had been torn by his sister, Shade, earlier. Also, while they're not related by blood, I find the incestuous vibe highly unsettling in a middle grade novel. Perhaps more worrisome, I think the encounter is meant to endear Feo's character, as he also reveals that he does not like being evil, as he tries to get Jemma to love him. However, he may always have known they weren't related, but she just found out a WEEK AGO. It's creepy. It is creepy and not okay, and I will not like him, especially since he immediately got jealous about Digby and left her to be sacrificed. So just no to that whole unnecessary, shudder-inducing plot point.Rarely does this happen, but I really cannot in good conscience recommend The Flame in the Mist. The plotting, characters and writing all fell short, and the weird incestuous element was the final nail in the coffin. Based on reviews, this book does work for some, but it didn't work for me to the degree that I cannot fathom why. If the book interests you, do feel free, as ever, to seek other opinions, as this is merely my own.
    • 5/5
      Background: Jemma has lived at the castle as long as she can remember, but recently she has learned that she is not part of the family that lives there. She was kidnapped as a child and stolen to take her magic at her coming of age. She must leave the castle to find her real parents and protect herself, while also trying to fulfill a prophecy.Review: I loved this book. It took me a while to get through it, not for lack of plot but because I was listening to the audiobook in my car and just wasn’t spending enough time in the car :/ My favorite thing about this book was Jemma’s pets, she has 2 albino rats that she adores and that help her through rough patches on her journey. They are cute and not your normal pets and I loved it!Jemma is a thirteen year old who is super strong, so much so that when you are listening, you forget how young she really is. I really liked that, she wasn’t super whiney and I could relate to her at points. The book is geared toward a Middle Grade audience but I think adult and YA fans would really enjoy it.This is definitely a tale of good versus evil and the characters are amazing. The Agromonds are the evil family that has taken Jemma and they are super evil down to their cores. Then there are Jemma’s real parents who are genuine and nice and all things good. There are also many other characters that step in throughout to help or hinder Jemma and her progress… so you may find a few characters you enjoy.Overall, a spectacular book.