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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
If Graceling was a survival/adventure story in disguise as a dark fairy tale-esque fantasy, I would say Fire is a romance in disguise as a survival adventure story. Personally, I prefer the former to the latter, but whether readers will be pleased or annoyed by this turn of events really depends on the individual tastes of the person. Since I fell in the "annoyed" camp here, to me this middle book of the Graceling trio felt as if there was a major sacrifice made in terms of plot and flow in order for it to serve as the pillar supporting the trilogy and tying things together. While Graceling could stand on its own, solidly, Fire felt as if it had a split purpose and at times too pulled in opposite directions.
In part, it's an identity story. Fire is the daughter of possibly the most notorious monster her kingdom has ever seen, and the last of her kind. She's a human/monster hybrid with stunning, mesmerizing beauty and the ability to take a walk in peoples' minds. Potential prey for both full monsters (who are drawn to her like magnets) and people (who either want to kill her or maul her, or sometimes both) she lives like an embattled nomad, accompanied by her childhood friend/lover Archer, and her old mentor and teacher, for support and protection. With war and uncertainty in the kingdom reaching a tipping point, Fire has to find an allegiance, take a side--decide for herself what her fate will be after all these years of being under control and protection, and find a way to confront the years of havoc which remain her father's legacy.
Sounds pretty good, right? But too often the story gets mired in romantic complications and loses the thread-partly because of Fire's powers, partly because of the constant presence of Archer, who is a ladies man generally, partly because of the incredibly predictable other love interest that evolves. Unlike Katsa from Graceling, though Fire is fierce in her own way, she does not fully become a woman of action and confidence until fairly far along in the book, too hampered by the ghosts of her father's past and her precarious situation as the most outside of outsiders. Big chunks of the book feel like they're spent entrenched in a camp (or palace, or what have you) waiting things out, strategizing, while the real battles happen off stage, led by the usual crew of action hero male warriors. There's something very old-school Harlequin about the whole thing, with Fire feeling very much like the beautiful and exotic heroine on the sidelines who tries to remain aloof but just can't help herself, and it's a shame coming off such an empowering and unexpected reversal of roles in Graceling. On top of that, the attempts to weave in connections to Graceling interrupt the flow. Disturbing as they are, they're almost the most interesting parts of the plot, but this plotline never feels really integrated, and if anything, just serves as a distraction that makes the other political doings that much harder to follow or get invested in.
It's enough to really make me wonder what we have in store with Bitterblue, but I have hopes that the brave, scrappy, fighter of a princess that we met in the first book will prevail over the can't-fight-this-feeling angst of the second.
In part, it's an identity story. Fire is the daughter of possibly the most notorious monster her kingdom has ever seen, and the last of her kind. She's a human/monster hybrid with stunning, mesmerizing beauty and the ability to take a walk in peoples' minds. Potential prey for both full monsters (who are drawn to her like magnets) and people (who either want to kill her or maul her, or sometimes both) she lives like an embattled nomad, accompanied by her childhood friend/lover Archer, and her old mentor and teacher, for support and protection. With war and uncertainty in the kingdom reaching a tipping point, Fire has to find an allegiance, take a side--decide for herself what her fate will be after all these years of being under control and protection, and find a way to confront the years of havoc which remain her father's legacy.
Sounds pretty good, right? But too often the story gets mired in romantic complications and loses the thread-partly because of Fire's powers, partly because of the constant presence of Archer, who is a ladies man generally, partly because of the incredibly predictable other love interest that evolves. Unlike Katsa from Graceling, though Fire is fierce in her own way, she does not fully become a woman of action and confidence until fairly far along in the book, too hampered by the ghosts of her father's past and her precarious situation as the most outside of outsiders. Big chunks of the book feel like they're spent entrenched in a camp (or palace, or what have you) waiting things out, strategizing, while the real battles happen off stage, led by the usual crew of action hero male warriors. There's something very old-school Harlequin about the whole thing, with Fire feeling very much like the beautiful and exotic heroine on the sidelines who tries to remain aloof but just can't help herself, and it's a shame coming off such an empowering and unexpected reversal of roles in Graceling. On top of that, the attempts to weave in connections to Graceling interrupt the flow. Disturbing as they are, they're almost the most interesting parts of the plot, but this plotline never feels really integrated, and if anything, just serves as a distraction that makes the other political doings that much harder to follow or get invested in.
It's enough to really make me wonder what we have in store with Bitterblue, but I have hopes that the brave, scrappy, fighter of a princess that we met in the first book will prevail over the can't-fight-this-feeling angst of the second.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sooooooo there is like one graceling for about 20 pages of the book. It's like a twilight book without vampires. The story is a little slow paced focus a lot more in political movement than anything else. There's a lot of military dialogue that I wish I skipped over. I don't even think the main character knew much about war. Completely different in every single way from the first book. This is sort of a prequel in away or 20 pages of it is. Everything else is a new story that has nothing to do with graces or gracelings. And the The Who war build up was very anti climatic at the end.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
Upon rereading, I'm changing my rating to 4.5 stars (which rounds up to 5 because I have recommended both Graceling and Fire to countless people). While the Leck parts of the narrative still feel largely unnecessary, and the ending is perhaps a bit too happy all things considered, in the end I find that the plot almost doesn't matter. The beauty of this book is in the depth of each and every character. As in life, but rarely in literature, nothing is straightforward; even the worst kind of monster can be kind, sometimes, and even the best of us can be monsters in the right circumstances. It's a story about identity and forgiveness and understanding and empathy and fixation and mental strength, and it's brilliant. I just wish Leck hadn't been invited to the party.
--
Original review from December 2014:
Three and a half stars rounding up to four because I enjoyed reading this a lot, although it was less original and less well-constructed than Graceling.
Indeed, I think the narrative would have been slightly more successful if Cashore had stripped it of its connection to the first book (which was pretty much one big red herring). I suspect she tied them together so that the proper sequel to Graceling (this was more a companion piece) will have a reason to be involved with the Dells, a new kingdom that we learn in this book exists apart from the Seven Kingdoms of Gracelings.
The book follows Fire, a "monster woman" (which is to say an incredibly and potentially dangerously charismatic half-human girl who is terrified of people and of her own powers) whose sociopath father drove the last king to the brink of total war and ruin, as she is summoned to the royal city by his sons--who, understandably, do not love monsters--to make use of her talents and try to pull it back together. There is also a brawling princess, an idiot archer, some monster-smugglers, and of course the looming threat of civil war. The story unfolds smoothly, and where it does snag is usually in the pieces that tie the book to Graceling (if you read even three pages into the prologue, you'll know what I mean).
Fire made a compelling lead, with the skillset of an empath and a foot in two worlds. She was an interesting choice after Katsa. I have a feeling Cashore was feeling a little frustrated with having an invulnerable and fearless protagonist; if there's one thing I think I can say with certainty after reading two of her books, it's that she takes a more realistic approach to what happens when people fight and otherwise risk life and limb fairly regularly. At any rate, I enjoyed Fire, but I also missed Katsa's constant spoiling for a fight.
If you liked Graceling, you'll still like this book (indeed, some of you may even like it more). I for one am really excited to see what Bitterblue does in the final book, and how the whole thing finally comes together.
--
Original review from December 2014:
Three and a half stars rounding up to four because I enjoyed reading this a lot, although it was less original and less well-constructed than Graceling.
Indeed, I think the narrative would have been slightly more successful if Cashore had stripped it of its connection to the first book (which was pretty much one big red herring). I suspect she tied them together so that the proper sequel to Graceling (this was more a companion piece) will have a reason to be involved with the Dells, a new kingdom that we learn in this book exists apart from the Seven Kingdoms of Gracelings.
The book follows Fire, a "monster woman" (which is to say an incredibly and potentially dangerously charismatic half-human girl who is terrified of people and of her own powers) whose sociopath father drove the last king to the brink of total war and ruin, as she is summoned to the royal city by his sons--who, understandably, do not love monsters--to make use of her talents and try to pull it back together. There is also a brawling princess, an idiot archer, some monster-smugglers, and of course the looming threat of civil war. The story unfolds smoothly, and where it does snag is usually in the pieces that tie the book to Graceling (if you read even three pages into the prologue, you'll know what I mean).
Fire made a compelling lead, with the skillset of an empath and a foot in two worlds. She was an interesting choice after Katsa. I have a feeling Cashore was feeling a little frustrated with having an invulnerable and fearless protagonist; if there's one thing I think I can say with certainty after reading two of her books, it's that she takes a more realistic approach to what happens when people fight and otherwise risk life and limb fairly regularly. At any rate, I enjoyed Fire, but I also missed Katsa's constant spoiling for a fight.
If you liked Graceling, you'll still like this book (indeed, some of you may even like it more). I for one am really excited to see what Bitterblue does in the final book, and how the whole thing finally comes together.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
nakakabitin ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
i luv it smmm
i wish that there was more moments between Brigin and Fire huhu BUT OTHER THAN THAT I LOVE
i luv it smmm
i wish that there was more moments between Brigin and Fire huhu BUT OTHER THAN THAT I LOVE
This book was so completely unexpected. Please do not consider it a sequel to Graceling... in the hallowed vein of Lois Lowry's The Giver, The Messenger, and Gathering Blue, Fire is a companion novel to Graceling. And what a companion it is! Set in a parallel world, at a time that (we think) is very shortly before Graceling, Fire follows the story of another young female protagonist, also with very special gifts that isolate her from the world at large and from those she loves.
Please don't take my comparison to Lois Lowry to mean that is was perfect. In fact, there were some parts that were so similar to the Graceling plot (yes, we know you love the troubled young man who seemingly can't stand to look at you) that I was a trifle bored. But Cashore can create a world that entraps you in its beauty and ecccentricities, and this alone makes Fire a worthwhile read.
Overall - 4 stars.
Please don't take my comparison to Lois Lowry to mean that is was perfect. In fact, there were some parts that were so similar to the Graceling plot (yes, we know you love the troubled young man who seemingly can't stand to look at you) that I was a trifle bored. But Cashore can create a world that entraps you in its beauty and ecccentricities, and this alone makes Fire a worthwhile read.
Overall - 4 stars.