An incredibly fast paced story especially since it falls into the romance genre. I typically don't read this type of book but since I live in the Bay area and the author resides in the same county I thought I'd give it a shot. I enjoyed much of the story and its paced nearly like a spy or thriller resulting in a very fast read. The characters are believable and the dialog as well, though due to my lack of interest in love stories, it didn't have the meat I like in unusual, unpredictable books. She's a good writer and am sure will continue her success. ( )

High Ratings NOT an exaggeration!

The many reviewers that have rated this book 4- and 5-stars are not exaggerating their ratings. I am skeptical when a book or audio book receives an incredibly disproportionate number of high ratings, but this book earned them! I volunteered to listen to this audio book for review through Audiobook Jukebox with the agreement of providing a honest review. I will keep this review spoiler-free. If you are interested in a book summary, please refer to the book blurb or the reviews of other readers that are not spoiler-free.

This love story is a bit dark. Fire & Water took me by surprise, because even though I had read the book blurb, I hadn't read other reviews of this book, so, I went in knowing little about the story. I was unprepared for the harsh moments of love to a manic depressive. Ms. Fasbinder has a wonderful way with words, poetic in description, tender in close moments, harsh in darker moments. When the title includes "art, love passion and madness", how can your interest not be touched?

While I would consider this novel a woman's novel, I wouldn't call it chick-lit because when I think of chick-lit, I think of a light-hearted story, typically with a HEA and easily resolved conflicts. This is not that. This is a well-written easy-to-read character novel that will bring you to heights of love and unanticipated depths of love as well. It will bring you from the euphoria a new love to the heart-breaking reality of how a broken person affects all of those who love him, sinking loved one by blind sided heart ache. This is not an ordinary, easily forgotten novel. This is not a quick lunch at the nearby fast-food joint, but a multi-course epicurean gourmet for the senses at a fine five-star restaurant. The nuances of each layer of flavor will catch you by pleasant surprise.

Monica McKey narrated the audio book, about 12 and a half hours in length for the slightly more than 400-page book. She did a superb job giving distinctive voices and relevant accents to each character and adding the emotion called for by the scene to her voice. Her reading pace was good. Unfortunately, the recording had a empty-room hollowness about it. Also, there were many and long portions of the story in which the reader had heavy breathing in her reading, which was uncalled-for by the scenes, or her mid-sentence pauses were unusually long (chapter-change long, not comma-pause long), or the reader had dry-mouth, audible mouth noises. While I have high regard for both narrators and audio book production teams that make you forget you are listening to a production, in this case, one is often pulled out of the story because of these distractions.

I would recommend this book, but know that Ms Fasbinder will play with your emotions, tugging, pushing, pulling, leaving you unexpectedly moved.


( )

~~~~~~~4.5 Stars~~~~~

This book was a rough one! It wasn't tough to read through but tough to get through emotionally intact. The writing was beautiful and haunting and lasting. It is an amazing account of Love, mental illness and how these characters navigated the waters in between. I loved each and every person in the book even though (and because) they were all flawed in the most beautifully human ways. I cried like a weepy old fart for nearly the entire book and even though it was gut wrenching to live it alongside them, I loved every minute of it. ( )

This book was a rough one! It wasn't tough to read through but tough to get through emotionally intact. The writing was beautiful and haunting and lasting. It is an amazing account of Love, mental illness and how these characters navigated the waters in between. I loved each and every person in the book even though (and because) they were all flawed in the most beautifully human ways. I cried like a weepy old fart for nearly the entire book and even though it was gut wrenching to live it alongside them, I loved every minute of it. ( )

This book was a rough one! It wasn't tough to read through but tough to get through emotionally intact. The writing was beautiful and haunting and lasting. It is an amazing account of Love, mental illness and how these characters navigated the waters in between. I loved each and every person in the book even though (and because) they were all flawed in the most beautifully human ways. I cried like a weepy old fart for nearly the entire book and even though it was gut wrenching to live it alongside them, I loved every minute of it. ( )