Fearless by Rowan Hagen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a beautifully written book. It speaks of hankering after the past and of moving forward into the future. It points to the connection between love and service, and it examines the conflict that so often exists between between what we feel and how we act.

The worldbuilding (it's set on the central coast of eastern Australia) is wonderfully executed. Hagen has a way with words that often borders on the poetic, bringing to life both the boredom and the comfort to be found in a country town.

Told in the first person by Joss, Fearless is really two narratives in one. In her search for an old friend, Karmi, Joss reminisces to her new friend, Fletch, about her earlier life. This is cleverly done. The flashbacks are so neatly worked in that they add to the narrative flow rather than interrupting it. I did find that I knew the ending long before I got to it, but I never once wanted to stop reading. It was a case of the journey being more fascinating than the arrival! And that journey introduces us to some wonderfully well-drawn characters who play out events both terrible and sublime.

Fearless is a keeper. I shall no doubt read it again.



View all my Goodreads reviews