Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - A Fire Endless

A Fire Endless follows Jack, Adaira, Torin, and Sidra across the Isle of Cadence as they handle the fall out of Adaira going west. It’s a solid sequel, and Rebecca Ross expands the world beautifully. This story was unexpectedly darker and heavier than the A River Enchanted, but it still maintains its atmospheric charm through lush and lyrical prose. A Fire Endless was more plot heavy than A River Enchanted, and I felt this was to its detriment.

This story had almost too
much going on for a final book of a duology. Adaira is learning the culture and politics of the West, Torin is adjusting to his role as laird of the East, Jack, Sidra, and Torin must save the Isle of Cadence from a mysterious plague affecting both the land and people. With this much ground to cover things felt rushed and choppy at times. The character development and main relationships which shone in the first book remain, but to a lesser degree. I felt the relationships were the biggest strength of the first book, and putting them to the side to focus on too many plot elements made this a weaker story. I especially didn’t like

the separation of Torin and Sidra. I expected to see them working on their relationship together, however we instead only got individual character development (mostly Torin) and their relationship was just healed through that at the very end seemingly. I also just didn’t care for the pregnancy plot. It felt unnecessary given everything else going on.

While the main relationships between Jack and Adaira, and Torin and Sidra remain we unfortunately don’t get to continue exploring the familial relationships from A River Enchanted in A Fire Endless. Mirin, Fraeda, and Maisie who played a prominent role in the first book are all but absent here. There was an attempt to explore the fraught relationship between Adaira and her biological parents here, but it ultimately gets lost and falls flat amongst everything else happening. Jack interacts with his paternal relatives 2 or 3 times total in 500 pages despite not having known his father being central to his character. I was disappointed by the lack of connections outside of the two main romantic relationships.

While there seemed to be more magic overall in A Fire Endless, there was less bardic magic. I loved the uniqueness of Jack’s powers as a bard in A River Enchanted and the way it was written. In A Fire Endless the interactions with the spirits are more direct, and initiated by the spirits. This made the magic seem more mundane, and like a plot device that Ross used to get us from one point to another.

Finally, I was disappointed by the ending. It felt rushed to make sure every loose end was tied up neatly, rather than those endings having been earned and making sense. I also didn’t like how

Jack became king of the spirits then gave up his powers entirely. There was very little build up for this ending to make sense with either the world or his character. I don’t think it was necessary to strip him of his bard magic entirely to prove the point that he loves Adaira.

Overall, this was a fine conclusion to the duology despite being a little disappointing.

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mcdonom's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

A Fire Endless is a fitting end to the Elements of Cadence duology and an equally fitting sequel to A River Enchanted.

Rebecca Ross has crafted these twin books with great care, and it shows in the writing. Whilst reading Fire, I could feel her expert hand guiding the plot and characters, rather like (at least as it seemed to me) a chess master moving all their pieces into place to reach - in this case - a winning conclusion.

There were times when it seemed that Ross's writing held me under some magic spell, that to stop reading would be to break it. I realise that may sound odd and faintly ridiculous, but it is a testament to the immersiveness of the world and characters Ross has created that I felt this way.

I don't mean to say that this book was without flaws. Sometimes in between reading sessions I would lose the thread of certain plot elements, and had to accept that they had already been explained so I did not have to go back and reread. And that phrase I referred to earlier, about the chess master? Well, there were times when the chain of events seemed a little too convenient, too planned, too predictable.

But these quibbles didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the novel, and I am greatly looking forward to reading more from the extremely talented Rebecca Ross.

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briochebun's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

4.5 out of 5 ☆’s.

”Even if I lived a thousand years in the fire,” Jack said, “I would not forget you. I would not allow myself to.”

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While there were some moments throughout ”A Fire Endless” that I wasn’t overfond of — I will say that (overall) I believe that this novel offered a great conclusion to the “Elements of Cadence” duology! :)

ੈ✩‧₊˚

I was glad that we got to learn more about the Breccan’s and their history (as well as the landscape of their land) in this novel! It helped flesh out the world a bit more for me — but I do wish that we would have been able to interact with more positive townspeople characters (to gauge their feelings regarding certain happenings).

ੈ✩‧₊˚

I would still die for Sidra + Torin & I feel as though I was robbed of Frae + Jack’s reunion — that’s all. ♡

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martamae77's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

5.0

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theonlybaillie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

While this book had some pacing issues for me in the beginning, the second half of this book truly stunned me. I love these characters so deeply, and this story of redemption and love and justice just makes my heart elated. I don't re-read books often, but I can TOTALLY see myself re-reading this duology.

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brontesauruses's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

The publisher gave me early access in exchange for an honest review.
There is so much genuine love in these books and in these characters. There is blood and death and tragedy, but there is always love too. That might be my favorite thing about them, really

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