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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Follow ups of a first book are hard, especially if it is a companion. Fire tells the story of, well, Fire, a young woman in Dells, set in the same world as the Seven Kingdoms, but separate, so Dellian people don't know about the kingdoms and vice versa. She controls minds, but the lack of the term "Graceling", dubs her a monster by everyone. But gorgeous, she is adored by men falling to her feet and scorned and bullied by those afraid of her. The prince Brigan takes her to the capital city to help unearth a plot against the king.
This book fell very flat for me. Not only very boring, with a somewhat hard to relate to a main character (it's where you feel sympathy for her powers, yet hate her for her looks), and a crappy best friend, set in a rather dull court, and you have, Fire. It suffers from the same flaw in Graceling, slow pace, yet, being more political and romancey, with less action than Graceling, and less intrigue, the slow pace bogs the book down. Not only that, but what I always enjoyed about Graceling was its characters, and, the ones in this book weren't very good. You'd think that in 400 something pages, you'd get to know some people, but yet, you don't. A bunch of the men are falling over themselves to marry Fire, she's, sort of, crushing on her best friend, who is a total jerk (I don't understand why Fire accepts her best friend's habit of bedding every woman in the court), and every other character we meet is sort of dull and dry. None of them have the same flare that Katsa and Po did. And the villain is pretty much recycled, for the most part, from the first book. He's there for like five seconds, which I liked, pretty much one of the best parts of the book.
In conclusion, it was a very disappointing read, after the good, but flawed, Graceling, where everything I didn't like about Graceling (pacing) and everything I did like (characters) was scrambled and thrown into this mess of a book.
This book fell very flat for me. Not only very boring, with a somewhat hard to relate to a main character (it's where you feel sympathy for her powers, yet hate her for her looks), and a crappy best friend, set in a rather dull court, and you have, Fire. It suffers from the same flaw in Graceling, slow pace, yet, being more political and romancey, with less action than Graceling, and less intrigue, the slow pace bogs the book down. Not only that, but what I always enjoyed about Graceling was its characters, and, the ones in this book weren't very good. You'd think that in 400 something pages, you'd get to know some people, but yet, you don't. A bunch of the men are falling over themselves to marry Fire, she's, sort of, crushing on her best friend, who is a total jerk (I don't understand why Fire accepts her best friend's habit of bedding every woman in the court), and every other character we meet is sort of dull and dry. None of them have the same flare that Katsa and Po did. And the villain is pretty much recycled, for the most part, from the first book. He's there for like five seconds, which I liked, pretty much one of the best parts of the book.
In conclusion, it was a very disappointing read, after the good, but flawed, Graceling, where everything I didn't like about Graceling (pacing) and everything I did like (characters) was scrambled and thrown into this mess of a book.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Soooo good, had me crying
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
Didn’t realize this was a prequel and don’t feel like it’s necessary. Maybe will do try the sequel instead.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Being a fan of Graceling, I have to admit that I am disappointed with at least the beginning of Fire. The main character, Fire, fails to remain consistently concious for much of the first 100 or so pages. I also found inconsistencies with her character. She bravely risks her life for thing King, Prince, and his army, but when the prince appears at her doorstep she flees like a school girl. Her relationship with Archer does not make sense. I don't know how many 17-year-old girls can be wih her first man and have no emotional attachment whatsoever and not mind that he consistently beds many other women.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No