Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Fire

my favourite favourite book of all time ♥️

every time I read this book I am just reminded of Cashore’s insane ability to remove my heart from my chest, expose it to all the beauty and sadness in the world, and gently put it back wrapped in love and light and hope.

I just love this book so much and if you want to dissect it or discuss its problems I do not want to hear a bit of it; all I’ve got is love.

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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traceyanderson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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pinkupengu's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I didn't add stars because I felt conflicted about how to feel about this book, even now I'm trying to decide if it was okay leaning towards liking it or if it was okay leaning more towards dislike. I looked at the other reviews and I can't seem to find anyone who agrees with my opinions so I thought I would express them just so maybe I can have others tell me their thoughts.
First I should warn that I didn't read The Graceling (I know what a sin I have committed) so I came into this world bright eyed and bushy tailed, unaware of what Cashore had to offer.
Secondly, I am not big on fantasy novels. Especially of the YA variety, not because there is anything wrong with them I just never could immerse myself in their world enough.
That being said, let's give some overall opinions that aren't really spoiler-y
-I liked Fire as a character, even when I couldn't relate to her I was able to sympathize and root for her
-also found the take on having a YA female protagnist not be a mousy,awkward,insecure,prudish kind of girl
-I didn't expect the twists that occurred, even the small ones that Fire learns. So it wasn't predictable
-I thought the world Cashore created was lovely and believable if not a little lacking in detail
-I thought some parts were a bit difficult to read about

rape,incest,cheating,murder,ect

but I found were necessary due to the kind of world
-Did not mind the casual sex unlike the other reviewers, in fact found it refreshing.
-didn't take the mentions of periods as a big deal
-Since the premise/description made the book seem more romantic-geared was somewhat disappointed with how they tied everything up for all romantic parties
-I really like the animals...like even the raptors
-The ending wasn't satisfying
OKAY NOW FOR THE SPOILER SECTION:

I very much liked almost every character even the ones that were less than likable like Lecker. A lot of things felt like they were just kind of messily put together like Brigian and Fire reuniting (I'm sorry I'm a sucker for the *drumroll* big kiss scene!) Although the hinting of Lecker's plan was well thought out, I though that Cashore seemed lazy with how it was placed during the ball and everything didn't seem tied up. That being said, the realism of how war works and how long it took and how war strategies can be used was comforting in a fictional world. ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE FLAWED AND I LOVED THAT. I felt very cheated that Nash didn't die, not that I wanted him to but I thought it was unfair that Cashore seemed to want to kill off one of the love interest (Archer) but not the other. I really enjoyed how Fire's abilities work, I thought they were descriptive enough that I could sense how it works without making it sound too magical where it sounds like a stretch. Also I enjoyed how they the entire book kept in suspense but I was waiting for a big twist and it never occurred, instead we were given tiny little twists; Archer's real father being her killer, Archer being killed, how Fire killed her father, the pregnancies and even the truth behind Brigian's birth. I just felt kinda lukewarm, I may need to re-read and decide.

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jselliot's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book ... has some redeeming qualities, I grant. But mostly, compared to Graceling and Bitterblue, it reads as a self-insert fanfiction. Everything from style to the choice of tropes, right down to "Men can't help themselves and all women hate me." (I also couldn't help but notice there were no lesbian or bisexual women, despite the use of that trope.)

In short, I'd describe this particular book of YA fantasy as a hot mess express. Some people apparently love this more than any of the others, but it is just not for me.

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uniimitedskies's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bemaline's review against another edition

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3.5

I like the strong female characters, and the modern views on love and sex, but there is something that rubs me the wrong way about a "monster" woman who weak men cannot control themselves around...

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

FIRE is about tangled pasts, hidden things, and a girl trying to be her own person when all she sees in the mirror is her father's face.

It’s emotionally complicated in a way I wasn’t expecting, a story about how love and people are multifaceted, and that complexity means they can be kind and cruel. Fire’s memories of her father are given the space to slowly unwind, making his brutality and manipulation clear. It would be so easy to have written it like his care for her was a redeeming quality, but it’s not treated that way. In her present-day relationships, Fire is figuring out how to exist without feeling like her every action is a replica of her father’s monstrosity. The emotional journey of coming to terms with having been loved by a cruel person is a fraught one that is handled well here. It’s especially refreshing to have this topic handled in a way that has nothing to do with forgiveness or reconciliation, since her father is long dead before the story begins.

FIRE is full of secrets, dripping with them. Almost every named character (and definitely all the noble ones) either grow and change themselves, or Fire learns something about them that complicates her understanding of them. Sometimes they're new events, but more often it's something that's been true for a long time, with knock-on effects seeping into her life even when she didn't know. It works especially well in a story about a protagonist growing up and taking on both more adult responsibilities, and a more nuanced understanding of the world as her childhood understanding of things slowly cracks and shifts to incorporate more of what people are and what they can be.

This is book two in the series but chronologically takes place before the events of GRACELING. It’s well-placed here, since an explanation of some key events in FIRE would spoil a mystery central to GRACELING, but it does make my usual sequel check a bit tricky. It doesn’t wrap up anything from the first book but it does supply some backstory for an important character. The entire plot starts here and wasn’t part of GRACELING, and many things are both introduced and resolved in FIRE. It doesn’t specifically leave anything open to be addressed later, but it’s my guess that some of these characters will appear later in the series. The narrator is different from GRACELING, and she feels like a very different person than the previous narrator. This would mostly make sense if read without having read the first book, but both books would suffer in the telling if FIRE is originally read without a central bit of knowledge and then GRACELING is later read for the first time with that information.

This is a great book and a worthy sequel, continuing GRACELING's themes of secrets and damage in a whole new kingdom and (almost) entirely new cast.

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