Reviews

Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce

garnetofeden's review

4.0

In another fire-themed tale for our smith-mage, Cold Fire is Daja’s chance to shine in The Circle Opens series. That said, it is the weakest and my least favorite volume in the series, but Tamora Pierce has enough skill to prevent even one of her weak books from mediocrity. The book did have some great new characters in the twins Jory and Nia, and I particularly enjoyed the different meditation style introduced. However, Ben's friendship with Daja ends up feeling unreal and forced, and the book as a whole suffers for it.

Rating reviewed 1/20/2023.

juliannegern's review

5.0

This is my favorite book of this quartet. I love the setting—a snowy city spread across multiple islands with brightly colored wooden houses and canals where the residents ice skate to get get around. I also think the plot is interesting and compelling and different from the others in the series. This was another great trip down memory lane.

tellingetienne's review

4.0

This was hard to read, in a rather good way. The villain was just so close to things, and that made the story seem rather intense. I still loved it, though.

tstreet's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. I like how Daja was receiving training on how to ice skate. I thought that is was funny how she would go crashing into the snowbank, and then melt all the snow with her body heat. I like how she realized that Jory and Nia had magic as well. I like how she was able to help the little village with their fire problems. I am glad that in the end they discovered who was setting the fires and that Daja was able to save them. I would rate this book 5 stars.

eluhmenohpea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

jameyanne's review

4.0

I enjoyed rediscovering this book, having only read it once before when I had the flu. I do have to admit that while there are differences between Cold Fire and the first two books in the Circle Opens series, it felt very familiar and formulaic by this point. And while I really enjoyed Daja's arc and terrible discovery, I wish I hadn't known who the bad guy was and his plans, because it made Daja seem foolish and the whole thing seem predictable. Finally, as with Magic Steps, I felt like Daja teaching was extraneous to the real plot. Honestly this book was more like a 3.5 for me, but I rounded up because I generally like Tamora Pierce's work and I did enjoy this book. It just let me with a feeling of exhaustion and concern about how similar Shatterglass will be to the rest of this series.

magaramach's review

3.0

3.5 stars, not a true 3.
Daja stay away from him!!!

lizlbarrett's review

3.0

This one was not as good as the last one, the teaching plot line felt underdeveloped and I didn’t really get Daja as a character here other than ‘large and stoic.’ The main plot was kind of impressively dark for a preteen book, but I wished there was more tie in to the other plots and more payoff at the end

moondom's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

4.25

jothaniel's review

5.0

Mrs. Pierce just keeps putting out hit after hit. I wish there was a little more mystery to this one is my only complaint. I think it would have served the novel a little better if the reveal or the arsonist came a little later. But it still does a beautiful job as is. Daja you are my queen!