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adularia25's review
5.0
I have to admit, I collect all versions of Beauty and the Beast. This version is unique in the fact that Rosalind has no living family - so there is no one that will miss her when she goes off to the beast's lair. I love Rosalind's spunk and her sparring with Jason often makes the book. The ending is also a unique take on the tale.
I see this book as a prelude to Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" series. Fire Rose has the same system of magic that is used in the "Elemental Masters" books. And, like the other books in the series, it is a retelling of a fairy tale. The main difference seems to be that Fire Rose is set in America, not England.
I see this book as a prelude to Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" series. Fire Rose has the same system of magic that is used in the "Elemental Masters" books. And, like the other books in the series, it is a retelling of a fairy tale. The main difference seems to be that Fire Rose is set in America, not England.
tifflesy's review against another edition
3.0
Overall a good read but was disappointed by the hastily thrown together ending.
tawallah's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This should have been a hit for me with historical setting in California and a Beauty and Beast retelling. The setting and concept were well written. The plot was engaging even if predictable. But the characters felt too flat and I wasn’t a fan of the elemental magic.
Disappointing that my first novel by Merceds Lackey was so lackluster.
Disappointing that my first novel by Merceds Lackey was so lackluster.
ecorinnes's review
3.0
Welcome to Mercedes Lackey’s first book in the elemental masters series!
We have a drinking game for you!
Do a shot every time Rose thinks of “white slavers” and all you’ll win is alcohol poisoning.
We have a drinking game for you!
Do a shot every time Rose thinks of “white slavers” and all you’ll win is alcohol poisoning.
elenajohansen's review against another edition
1.0
So, so very bad. Even though I know this book is over twenty years old, and the fantasy and fantasy-romance genres have matured since the mid-1990's, this is still really, really bad.
Despite the overly stuffy and "proper" narrative voice, I found the prose oddly compelling and readable--I think I finished almost 100 page in my first sitting--but some of that interest was coming from a "what stupid thing will happen next," rubber-necking sort of curiosity. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling reframed through the mastery of elemental magic. But this Beast did it to himself directly, rather than his affliction coming from an external source. Okay, I suppose we can work with that, but the redemption of Jason Cameron's less-than-stellar qualities never happens. He's a pretty terrible person, even setting aside the innate racism and sexism endemic to the setting and thus, his character. I mean, he knows his personal secretary is out there abusing women for fun, and has the power to do something about it, and doesn't. Not a good look for a romantic hero.
Rosalind is less of a terrible person morally, but still a pretty boring character. Her spitfire attitude is nothing we haven't seen from a million other "but women were oppressed at the time" stories where the One Special Woman rebels against society somehow. Rosalind does it by being smart and studious and working for her living, albeit under odd circumstances, but she spends so much time reveling in the luxuries Jason surrounds her with that her uprightness folds under a few pretty dresses and sumptuous baths. I could even get behind the "if this is what I'm offered, by golly, I'm going to enjoy it" justification, if only the author didn't spend so. much. time. describing these luxuries; the clothes, the baths, the rooms, the food. It's excessive detail that slows down an already thin plot.
Then the real kicker--it's a romance, except I never once felt like either Jason or Rosalind was falling in love. They spar with each other convincingly at first, but the tension between them is more intellectual than romantic or sexual. After the revelation of Jason's condition, he admits to himself he feels sexual attraction, but, you know, given his situation, wouldn't he be attracted to just about any woman who could stand to be in the same room as him? Beggars can't be choosers, and all. As for Rosalind, there's just nothing convincing going on there. For all that she makes "uncensored Ovid" and Caligula jokes, she never managed to show me she was a sexual character, and of course, the romance ends with a marriage but no physical contact, not even a kiss? Bestiality is apparently not a line we're going to explicitly cross, yet by not having Jason regain his human form, that's the only road open to this romance. So it's weird and unsatisfying and not credible.
And the villains are barely one step up from mustache-twirling idiots, they're so ludicrously thin and dull. Didn't want to not-mention that failing, but don't have much more to say about it, because there's barely anything there to criticize. They exist because Jason needs antagonists, but they're not interesting.
Despite the overly stuffy and "proper" narrative voice, I found the prose oddly compelling and readable--I think I finished almost 100 page in my first sitting--but some of that interest was coming from a "what stupid thing will happen next," rubber-necking sort of curiosity. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling reframed through the mastery of elemental magic. But this Beast did it to himself directly, rather than his affliction coming from an external source. Okay, I suppose we can work with that, but the redemption of Jason Cameron's less-than-stellar qualities never happens. He's a pretty terrible person, even setting aside the innate racism and sexism endemic to the setting and thus, his character. I mean, he knows his personal secretary is out there abusing women for fun, and has the power to do something about it, and doesn't. Not a good look for a romantic hero.
Rosalind is less of a terrible person morally, but still a pretty boring character. Her spitfire attitude is nothing we haven't seen from a million other "but women were oppressed at the time" stories where the One Special Woman rebels against society somehow. Rosalind does it by being smart and studious and working for her living, albeit under odd circumstances, but she spends so much time reveling in the luxuries Jason surrounds her with that her uprightness folds under a few pretty dresses and sumptuous baths. I could even get behind the "if this is what I'm offered, by golly, I'm going to enjoy it" justification, if only the author didn't spend so. much. time. describing these luxuries; the clothes, the baths, the rooms, the food. It's excessive detail that slows down an already thin plot.
Then the real kicker--it's a romance, except I never once felt like either Jason or Rosalind was falling in love. They spar with each other convincingly at first, but the tension between them is more intellectual than romantic or sexual. After the revelation of Jason's condition, he admits to himself he feels sexual attraction, but, you know, given his situation, wouldn't he be attracted to just about any woman who could stand to be in the same room as him? Beggars can't be choosers, and all. As for Rosalind, there's just nothing convincing going on there. For all that she makes "uncensored Ovid" and Caligula jokes, she never managed to show me she was a sexual character, and of course, the romance ends with a marriage but no physical contact, not even a kiss? Bestiality is apparently not a line we're going to explicitly cross, yet by not having Jason regain his human form, that's the only road open to this romance. So it's weird and unsatisfying and not credible.
And the villains are barely one step up from mustache-twirling idiots, they're so ludicrously thin and dull. Didn't want to not-mention that failing, but don't have much more to say about it, because there's barely anything there to criticize. They exist because Jason needs antagonists, but they're not interesting.
ladimcbeth's review
3.0
A retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco just before the big 1906 quake, the first in series of fairy tales retold with elemental (earth, air, fire, water) magic mixed in. I've become a fan of the series, they're good escapist reading and it's fun to find the parallels to the traditional stories hidden throughout the plot.
raemelle's review
3.0
This book was so much better than her more recent foray into the Beauty and the Beast story, 'Beauty and the Werewolf.' This story, written almost two decades before the 500 Kingdoms version, had more depth and originality. Sure, it's cheesy as heck, and somewhat predicable. But this one was at least entertaining. I'm not sure what happened to Lackey's story-telling abilities, but it appears she's running out of ideas, and is now recycling her own stories (as evidenced by Beauty and the Werewolf - with the same exact characters who have the same personalities as in Fire Rose).
vcolleenv's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0