After reading Clap Where You Land earlier this year, I knew I needed to finally pick up With the Fire on High off my shelves. The two books are so completely different, and I enjoyed both for different reasons. This one was a lot more romantic, and more of a traditional YA book instead of the verse narrative family-based Clap Where You Land.
Emoni is a 17-year-old single mum living with her grandmother who has a real passion for cooking. She's trying to juggle school work, the pressure of college applications, looking after her young son and hold down a part time job. Things get even more difficult when Emoni's offered a one in a lifetime opportunity to travel to Spain to learn the culinary arts, but only if she can raise the money to do it.
The book is all about family at its heart, and in particular, learning to grow up without the traditional nuclear family: Emoni never really knew her mum, and her dad is almost always absent, and a large part of the book is learning about the traditions and cultures of her two families without having the interaction with her parents she'd really like.
This book had all the classic YA tropes I loved: a romance that was forbidden (or at least tricky), heart-warming family moments and LGBT elements. The language was vivid and I enjoyed the real focus on food and family. I'd recommend this for fans of Sara Barnard's books and Angie Thomas' books.
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