After being wounded in battle, Otto Hundebiss takes refuge in a great forest where he meets a half beast half man who treats his wounds and gives him dice that will help him to find a way out of the forest. While Otto trudges through this dark and strange place, where he least expects it, he meets the love of his life, a fiery haired Saphire. But she is being hunted and soon she disappears as mysteriously as she came in Otto's life. He is determined to find her and this sets him on a adventurous journey.

Tinder is a hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking story of war, love and loss. In this retelling of Tinderbox by Hans Christian Andersen, Sally Gardner tells a dark and atmospheric story filled with werewolves and magic. It has that fairy tale feeling like the old fairy tales had, not happy and cheery like we are used to seeing in Disney movies, but a truly gruesome and violent. This book wouldn't be complete without fantastic illustrations by David Roberts. They accompany the story perfectly and add to the ominous atmosphere.

Don't be fooled, this is NOT a children's book despite the illustrations. It deals with difficult topics, like atrocities of war, rape and violence. At moments, it's difficult to read and hearing about all of the tragedies that happened to these characters, but at the same time you are glued to this book and want to just keep reading.

I don't think this book gets enough recognition as it deserves, at least I got that impression. If it sounds like anything you are interested in, please give it a chance, it's a brilliant dark story with well written characters and an ending you won't see coming.