Arson by Estevan Vega

Arson Gable is not a normal guy. There’s something inside of him that sets him apart from everyone else. It isolates him and sometimes makes him hate himself because Arson can create fire from his very body. Because of this, he mostly keeps to himself, haunted by the guilt of what he did years ago. Then a family moves into the abandoned house next to Arson’s home, and everything changes. The daughter, Emery, is not a normal girl. She feels more comfortable behind a mask than in her own skin. These two outcasts form a fragile bond, but it threatens to shatter with each and every mistake they make. They both want peace, but that may be the one thing out of their reach.

I was drawn to this story because of how unique this story sounded. It’s not every day that you read about a reluctant arsonist who can produce fire at will. However, this story turned out to be very different than what I expected, and I was not pleased with the results. Though most of the story focuses on Arson and his problems with everyone from his crazy grandmother, moody Emery, and his lazy coworkers, there are too many tangents. The reader is flooded with all these little subplots about Emery’s parents’ problems, Emery’s mother’s infidelity, and Kay’s insanity, not to mention other strange sections that are never fully explained by the end of the novel, that never fully relate to the main story. I found it extremely difficult to relate to any of the characters, not because of their unusual characteristics and situations but because of their personalities, which were strange and often inconsistent. And lastly, Vega’s writing bothered me. It continually felt like he was trying too hard to insert metaphors here and there that the rest of the writing was neglected and dull. The one thing that Arson has going for it is the unusual bond between Arson and Emery, but this as well is not developed to its full extent.

Though I was very disappointed in Arson, it may still appeal to fans of Wake by Lisa McMann and Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus.

Rating: 2.75

Review copy from author Estevan Vega