Hip Hip Hooray!!! I am soooooooooooooo glad I picked this book to read out of the thousands I have on my TBR list….I’m not at all sure that I could have found any other book like it….what a delightful change!

I don’t even know where to begin….I mean, I’m very sure that many people would find a book that starts with a 10-year-old girl, born and raised in a whorehouse fighting her way into a boxing ring, against both men and women, completely horrible….I admit to finding myself cringe at bits of this tale! Especially once the reader finds out that the boxing is some of the more pleasant bits of the story!

No, the novel isn’t all about boxing. Yes, it’s a huge part….HOWEVER, the actually boxing takes up only a small portion of the novel…..

Not only do you have the one young girl who grows up right before your eyes, you have several other key characters…and Freeman ties them all together with ambition, lies, deceit, obsession, love, and hate. You have key players that would do anything for one another….and those that are nothing short of unfeeling opportunists..you see what lengths some will go to for loyalty and how others feel not an ounce of it and look out only for themselves….

Finally we find out that the old adage is true….beauty comes from within and has nothing really to do with how a person looks….

What I especially loved about this book is that we see the flaws in the characters we love…and at times, as much as it pains me to say, for the characters we absolutely hate, Freeman made us feel pity for them…

I should also point out that for a very long time now, I start out all excited about a book but my enthusiasm often wains after a short while….I can still enjoy the novel and the story and the characters, but I lose my feelings of excitement over the whole experience…..with this novel….I have to say…..it only built and built….that hardly EVER happens…..sometimes my enthusiasm doesn’t leave me….but I can’t ever recall a book that had me liking it from the very start and my love growing with each new chapter….near the end of the book I had to walk away for a bit because I was NOT willing to say goodbye to some of the characters that I was so enjoying….I was also fearful that it would not have a happy ending….I’m not a reader that has to have a happy ending for a book…but I really wanted it for some of these people….

I know this book isn’t for everyone….however, I don’t really care….I absolutely loved it and I encourage everyone to step outside their comfort zone and give it a try….I won’t hesitate to recommend this to any and everyone…and that isn’t something you’ll see me doing often…

Until next time….

Urania xx

Buy it now The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman