From Dust, a Flame

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By Rebecca Podos

Publisher Description

Rebecca Podos, Lambda Award-winning author of Like Water, returns with a contemporary Jewish fantasy of enduring love, unfathomable loss, and the power of stories to hold us together when it seems that nothing else can.

Hannah’s whole life has been spent in motion. Her mother has kept her and her brother, Gabe, on the road for as long as she can remember, leaving a trail of rental homes and faded relationships behind them. No roots, no family but one another, and no explanations.

All that changes on Hannah’s seventeenth birthday when she wakes up transformed, a pair of golden eyes with knife-slit pupils blinking back at her from the mirror—the first of many such impossible mutations. Promising that she knows someone who can help, her mother leaves Hannah and Gabe behind to find a cure. But as the days turn to weeks and their mother doesn’t return, they realize it’s up to them to find the truth.

What they discover is a family they never knew and a history more tragic and fantastical than Hannah could have dreamed—one that stretches back to her grandmother’s childhood in Prague under the Nazi occupation, and beyond, into the realm of Jewish mysticism and legend. As the past comes crashing into the present, Hannah must hurry to unearth their family’s secrets in order to break the curse and save the people she loves most, as well as herself.

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57 Reviews

3.5

Cori

Created about 2 months ago

“Beautiful book about Jewish mythology and generational trauma”

Racism Change and grow Likeable Addictive Magical Coming of age Romantic Easy to read Funny Original

Books by Becci

Created 2 months ago

“It's great to see a book saying it's Jewish inspired and really leaning into it. I felt like I learnt a lot about the Jewish faith and it's beliefs/traditions /stories. However at times it felt more like a contemporary fiction about siblings meeting their Jewish family than a fantasy novel. I feel like the author had too many ideas in that sense and could have winnowed it down a bit. Same with her mums relationship with her own mother. It was interesting and you could see the trauma which caused it but felt too focused on that and less on the fantasy elements at times For example fairly early on the MC gets wings/teeth/eye flashes /other body transformations and then that feels a bit in the back ground once they meet their Jewish family. . I found I enjoyed the information I learnt more than the actual storyline ...which seemed thin at time. The representation is great with probably more than half the main and main side characters being LGBTQ. But, would have been nice for some of these characters to have a bit more going on than just the fact theyre LGBTQ.i didn't feel connected to any character unfortunately. Additionally we had some very minor side characters with no purpose (the mum had multiple sisters when one would have suffised etc) also it felt like some 'woke' elements were put in to make a point and didn't feel particularly organic but forced (a conversation between Hannah mad her mum about how she adopts a baby boy to avoid the *spoiler* but hang on what if he'd identified as she etc ... A valid point if the *spoiler* was as woke as the author was but felt nit picky and odd. I liked the flashbacks we had . It was a good way of revealing why the mum fled /what was happening to Hannah.”

Jess Riley

Created 6 months ago

cerulean

Created 6 months ago

“...the people we love don’t belong to us. All we own is our love for them, and that’s ours to keep forever. ya jewish queer urban fantasy about curses, golems, family, and faith. i also liked the kafka-esque beginning with hannah's daily mutations. slower first half, but more gripping in the second. i loved hannah and gabe's relationship, and ari was fun and spunky. i wasn't quite sure what the tone would going to be the first third of the book or so, but as more family past was uncovered it became more sure of itself. the theme of family complications and love was very touching and emotional at times. I’ll wake in the middle of the night, and remember where I’ve been and what I’ve lost. And then I wish that I were bloodless. I wish I were clay. I believe the past can drive you mad as anything. the interweaving of jitka, malka, and their family's past history and jewish mythology was well done and intriguing. i really enjoyed seeing jewish mythology done this way in a fantasy book and would love to see more books like it, esp once the demon is more properly introduced. A love that does not pretend away pain, but grows to encompass it, like a scar around a healing wound. A love that exposes and embraces the best and worst of us. A love that stays.”

Wendy Jacobse

Created 7 months ago

“Why didn’t I read this book sooner? A YA sapphic fantasy filled with Jewish stories and mythology with themes of family, self-discovery and cultural and familial roots. It’s a book about stories and stories within stories. A tale that travels through generations. The way this book wove three generations and their stories together was so wonderfully done. This book pulled me in right from the beginning. The character development was very neatly done. The representation of Jewish culture warmed my heart. The way it discusses faith, belief and Jewish myths is so beautifully intertwined. The queer representation and the subtle way it discussed sexuality was very well done as well. The relationship between Gabe and Hannah was fantastic. I love Gabe and he was such a wonderful brother to Hannah. I absolutely enjoyed going through both of the time frames and the information we got from both past and present. Everything blended together perfectly and I didn’t found myself confused once. This was such a comforting story, like a warm hug on a cold winter day. From Dust, a Flame is a book I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

About Rebecca Podos

Rebecca Podos is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of YA novels, including The Mystery of Hollow Places, Like Water, and The Wise and the Wicked, and co-editor of the YA anthology Fools in Love. Find her online at www.rebeccapodos.com.