Reviews with content warning for Vomit - A Fire Endless

Spice Rating: 🌶️ / 5

Rebecca Ross writes a gorgeous finale to the Elements of Cadence duology in A Fire Endless.

We pick up a couple of weeks where we left off at the end of A River Enchanted. Adaira is struggling to find her place in the West with her birth parents, wondering if she would ever fit in. Jack, Torin, and Sidra are left to pick up the pieces in the East and try to lead the clan in Adaira's absence. One day, Torin discovers a blight in an orchard in the East that has somehow spread to the people, and he and Sidra work together to find a cure for their clan. Jack feels lost without Adaira until he finds purpose in a mission from a fire spirit named Ash. Adaira, Jack, Sidra, and Torin are all pushed to their limits as they come together with the spirits to try and finally stop the northern wind spirit, Bane, who is tyrannically ruling over the spirits. Unknown history will be discovered, and sacrifices will need to be made by everyone in order to stop Bane and unite the isle of Cadence once again.

Rebecca Ross has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her writing style captures lyrical prose, atmospheric settings, and multi-dimensional characters. One thing I love about her female characters is that they don't fall into the typical popular "strong FMC" umbrella; they are, instead, quietly strong and sacrifice and fight in their own unconventional ways. This novel especially captures the resilience of women as well as the importance of connection to the Earth, understanding amongst each other, and constantly learning from history to avoid making the same mistakes. Ross paints a beautiful picture of what life can look like when we work together, forgive, and simply communicate with one another.

Readers who love Ross' Letters of Enchantment duology or anything by Stephanie Garber would be remiss to ignore this series.

I was so concerned that this was going to end with Jack remaining in the spirit realm and was so pleasantly surprised when he was able to return as a mortal. I would've been okay with the bittersweet ending, but after all he and Adaira had gone through, I was really happy to see their happy ending.

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kbowles24's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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jessiereads98's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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 against another edition

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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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krisalexcole's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.25

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

I was excited to see the sequel to A River Enchanted was listed as an add-on for the December Book of the Month picks!

Blurb:

In this conclusion to the Elements of Cadence duology, a blight is infecting the East and West of the isle of Cadence, and the spirits are restless under the despotic rule of Bane, King of the Northern Wind. Jack remains in the East while his wife, Adaira, lives with her parents from the enemy Breccan Clan. Tensions and stress run high as the Tamerlaine and Breccan Clans struggle to trust one another amidst a war in the spirit realm.

Review:

Rebecca Ross’s writing has a magic of its own. Every time I opened A Fire Endless, I forgot that I was reading and became completely immersed in the world and story she created. Her writing allowed me to grasp the storyline, feel the emotions the characters were feeling, and understand the world’s magic with little to no effort, which is not an easy feat in the fantasy genre. I also appreciate her ability to build stakes without making her story too dark.

As I read, there were very few moments that pulled me out of the story. One thing that struck me was how Rebecca Ross eschews cheap plot devices or lazy story conventions to further the story. The main characters, although not perfect, act intelligently and respond appropriately to their situations. Ross lets her story unfold naturally and at its own pace. The result is a magnificent story that is enjoyable to read and provides a satisfying conclusion to the duology.

The only thing that is keeping me from rating A Fire Endless as a 4.75 or 5 is that Ross did not take any risks with the ending of the story. That does not mean that the ending is bad—far from it. I am glad that she chose the safe route if she did not feel that she could handle a bolder ending. That being said, I think if she had been able to successfully shake things up more at the end, A Fire Endless might have been a masterpiece.

The Run-Down:

You will almost certainly like A Fire Endless if you liked the first book in the duology.

Content Warnings

takarakei's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

I honestly don’t even know where to begin with this book and series. I am so in love with it I think it might be my new life goal to get everyone in my book club to read it.

3🌶️

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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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