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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
This was very different from Graceling because, for the most part, we are in a different but connected world. Instead, there are monster versions of regular animals and humans. It was good, enjoyable, but not as good as Graceling.
March 6, 2020
3/5 stars
Fire is the second book in the Graceling series. Fire is a prequel/companion novel to Graceling and can be read without reading Graceling first (I personally have only ever read the books in publication order so I'm not sure which order is better). Fire follows a monster girl named Fire who has the power to control beings with her mind and actions. We, along side Fire, get caught up in the political turmoil of her world.
This was a reread for me and it was really surprising. The first time I read Fire it was my favourite in the trilogy so it came as a bit of a shock when I didn't enjoy it nearly as much the second time around. I found Fire to be passive in her actions, and her childhood friend, Archer, annoyed me to no end. I still think Fire and her love interest are a fantastic couple who complement each other immensely and their relationship was my favourite part of the story.
April 8, 2017
4.5/5 stars
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3/5 stars
Fire is the second book in the Graceling series. Fire is a prequel/companion novel to Graceling and can be read without reading Graceling first (I personally have only ever read the books in publication order so I'm not sure which order is better). Fire follows a monster girl named Fire who has the power to control beings with her mind and actions. We, along side Fire, get caught up in the political turmoil of her world.
This was a reread for me and it was really surprising. The first time I read Fire it was my favourite in the trilogy so it came as a bit of a shock when I didn't enjoy it nearly as much the second time around. I found Fire to be passive in her actions, and her childhood friend, Archer, annoyed me to no end. I still think Fire and her love interest are a fantastic couple who complement each other immensely and their relationship was my favourite part of the story.
April 8, 2017
4.5/5 stars
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“She remembered having told Archer once that you could not measure love on a scale of degrees, and now she understood that it was the same with pain. Pain might escalate upward and, just when you thought you’d reached your limit, begin to spread sideways, and spill out, and touch other people, and mix with their pain. And grow larger, but somehow less oppressive.”
“I think,” she said, “that sometimes we don’t feel the things that we are. But others can feel them. I feel your strength.”
Oh how I adored this book! I absolutely fell in love with the characters. They were all a bit infuriating at times but in a way that made you love them more because it was so realistic. I especially loved seeing Fire and Brigan’s relationship develop slowly and carefully. It was definitely not a love at first site situation.
My only gripe is that Cashore seems to be keen on writing extremely abrupt endings to her books. I felt the same way about Graceling. She spends so much time building up an interesting and complex conflict only to have everything work out in about a page.
“I think,” she said, “that sometimes we don’t feel the things that we are. But others can feel them. I feel your strength.”
Oh how I adored this book! I absolutely fell in love with the characters. They were all a bit infuriating at times but in a way that made you love them more because it was so realistic. I especially loved seeing Fire and Brigan’s relationship develop slowly and carefully. It was definitely not a love at first site situation.
My only gripe is that Cashore seems to be keen on writing extremely abrupt endings to her books. I felt the same way about Graceling. She spends so much time building up an interesting and complex conflict only to have everything work out in about a page.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
“Are you determined to leave me in this world to live without my heart?” -Archer
I wasn't planning on finishing these books until I saw the entire set at a library sale for $5. So naturally I bought them and just now started to finish the series. Fire doesn't follow Graceling, rather it's a prequel and the origin story of King Leck and his history with the Dells. It focuses on a character named Fire, who is a monster woman and her journey to stopping war throughout the Dells.
Favorite Character: Archer 😭 I know that Fire's whole thing is that she's a monster who's unnaturally beautiful and everything and everyone wants her and immediately falls in love with her, but I really felt that Archer's love was true. Maybe he was just under the monster spell, but they had been friends since childhood and I loved their dynamic. Yes he was overly protective of her, to the point of controlling, but also literally everything in the Graceling Realm wanted to buy her, assault her, and/or kill her. His character was hilarious and so utterly human in comparison to Fire and her late father Cansrel, I just enjoyed his page time.
The Good: Leck needed an origin story and I loved how it didn't focus solely on Leck but rather the upheaval that was already going on in parts of the realm that led to his monarchy. The Dells is a huge area of land that was looking to usurp the current king, Nash, after the history of his father, Nax, and Fire's father basically taking over the Dells. They were the classic toxic relationship that caused nothing but chaos. Cansrel was a monster who loved to watch things suffer, and as monsters, was able to command minds. He and Nax were destined to fail and no one wanted the family to continue it's lineage. Leck was controlling the other armies throughout the Dells to overthrow Nash, causing war. Pretty straightforward and easy to follow.
The Bad: this is a younger YA book, and that means a lot more telling rather than showing. I was annoyed with the word monster after like three chapters but that wasn't the worst of it. Brigan, Nash's brother, DESPISED Fire and monster creatures. And he falls in love with her? How long is this war? I didn't feel like I saw any chemistry or yearning between them because it was focused on the war and understanding the King's court. Which, was confusing asf. Brocker, Archer's dad, isn't his biological dad. His mother was raped by a convict? For what reason? But Brocker WAS Brigan's dad? And that's why Brocker is in a wheelchair because he had an affair with Nax's wife? Archer fathered two children and was killed off? For what reason other than to establish that Leck is a crazy bastard?
Maybe Bitterblue will have more answers but I doubt it because these are somewhat stand alone stories that occur in the same realm.
I wasn't planning on finishing these books until I saw the entire set at a library sale for $5. So naturally I bought them and just now started to finish the series. Fire doesn't follow Graceling, rather it's a prequel and the origin story of King Leck and his history with the Dells. It focuses on a character named Fire, who is a monster woman and her journey to stopping war throughout the Dells.
Favorite Character: Archer 😭 I know that Fire's whole thing is that she's a monster who's unnaturally beautiful and everything and everyone wants her and immediately falls in love with her, but I really felt that Archer's love was true. Maybe he was just under the monster spell, but they had been friends since childhood and I loved their dynamic. Yes he was overly protective of her, to the point of controlling, but also literally everything in the Graceling Realm wanted to buy her, assault her, and/or kill her. His character was hilarious and so utterly human in comparison to Fire and her late father Cansrel, I just enjoyed his page time.
The Good: Leck needed an origin story and I loved how it didn't focus solely on Leck but rather the upheaval that was already going on in parts of the realm that led to his monarchy. The Dells is a huge area of land that was looking to usurp the current king, Nash, after the history of his father, Nax, and Fire's father basically taking over the Dells. They were the classic toxic relationship that caused nothing but chaos. Cansrel was a monster who loved to watch things suffer, and as monsters, was able to command minds. He and Nax were destined to fail and no one wanted the family to continue it's lineage. Leck was controlling the other armies throughout the Dells to overthrow Nash, causing war. Pretty straightforward and easy to follow.
The Bad: this is a younger YA book, and that means a lot more telling rather than showing. I was annoyed with the word monster after like three chapters but that wasn't the worst of it. Brigan, Nash's brother, DESPISED Fire and monster creatures. And he falls in love with her? How long is this war? I didn't feel like I saw any chemistry or yearning between them because it was focused on the war and understanding the King's court. Which, was confusing asf.
Maybe Bitterblue will have more answers but I doubt it because these are somewhat stand alone stories that occur in the same realm.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
I liked Fire more than I liked Graceling. Which I wasn't sure I would end up doing.
Fire touches on the beauty of tradegy, and the horrors of seeming perfection.
In a fantasy world, the characters have exhibited the same struggles and wrestled with the same contradictions we deal with everyday in reality.
Love and loss, pain and relief, humanity and monsters. This novel examples that nothing is black and white, and the lines are often far too blurred to make sense of.
Fire touches on the beauty of tradegy, and the horrors of seeming perfection.
In a fantasy world, the characters have exhibited the same struggles and wrestled with the same contradictions we deal with everyday in reality.
Love and loss, pain and relief, humanity and monsters. This novel examples that nothing is black and white, and the lines are often far too blurred to make sense of.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No