Review: Amazing
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 30, 2013
"Firebird: Adventure One" by Julia Gousseva is a wonderful short modern fairy tale story about two children of Russian heritage who find a portal to a magic world in their aunt's house.Encouraged by the aunt they step through the portal to the magic land of the firebird, whose feathers have healing properties, but only if gifted.The great twist to this fairy tale is that the characters interact in their actions with a book about a firebird which they were just reading before spotting the portal. They now have the opportunity to determine the outcome of the book. This is not a Narnia tale by any means but has its roots in a folk tale and I found a moral message written between the lines: Gifts trumps any gain obtained by force.The interaction of the children with the book opens the idea of taking part in the story, which encourages us to get involved and make the connection to our own life and choices; but it may also spurn on the talented reader to think about writing stories themselves.A sweet little tale, not too scary but with some suspense to keep the interest. Immaculately written and well paced this was almost too short. Adventure Two however is already written.Great fun.