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yodamom's review against another edition
5.0
I was literally holding my breath during much of this action packed fantasy. This book is even better than her first Graceling, another fantastic book. This heroine(Fire) so magically beautiful everyone that looks upon her desires her in very different ways, some quite ugly She has to fight against impossible odds, run from fantastic beasties, and suffer horrible jealousies. She is seen as a human monster, her gorgeous locks of hair, must always remain covered. She has to power to read minds and even change some. She has suffered so much in her life, the daughter of a horrendous father, who treated her with love. She has to make many hard choices to ease her mind and find her path towards the future.She is a lonely, untrusted and an outcast. She is called upon to help stop a war that could have been started by her nasty father. She see's a chance to perhaps redeem herself, but will anyone truly trust her. The king and his family struggle with her monster beauty and powers.Ah and so refreshing is the fact that another heroine did not need to be married, to end her story upon the alter. The women of Ms. Cashore's books are strong and independent and exceptionally inspiring. I read it, my teen daughters read it, we all loved it.
lotak's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
jboivs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
irfan3's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Graceling more than I loved Fire. Maybe because of her skill is just almost the same as Po's with the ability to control someone. It's well paced, interesting, and I'm satisfied enought with it. Though I dissappointed at some part. Why Leck is just a boy? He should be an older teenager. The family tree is awful and I really hate it.
atnea's review against another edition
2.0
Update: 08/07/2015
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 1.5/5 stars.
Fire is the awaited sequel, or rather, companion novel, that follows a different heroin from the same land. Set a few years back before Graceling, we meet Fire, the last Human Monster, and how she tries to live being a part of a falling kingdom, caused by her father, Cansrel, who was an even more powerful and crueler Human Monster.
Yeah, I did not like this, really.
I admit it, nothing was missing. There was a plot, there was a drive, there were the two lovers with a slight love triangle so common, and a heroin with hidden powers she's afraid to use. But already that is super cliche, it's the same formula for every standard Young Adult Fantasy book.
But even that sounded great with the setting this book provided. But it wasn't enough. Not nearly.
Once I finished reading, I realized it reminded me of Graceling. This book had the same weird under the radar plot and the two fighter/lovers, and all those special powers. But in Graceling, it worked. It did not in this book.
Really, the first half was completely boring and tedious, and the second half was better but too random. And once again, like Graceling, I felt the author was trying to achive something bigger than what she could handle, and ended up coming short. And it's really disappointing, because if you see what happened through the whole book, it should have worked, but it didn't.
And I didn't buy the MC character at all. She was too weak and suddenly so strong and so whinny and at the same time silent. She was a contradiction of things. One minute she was crying for this and the next she said it was better like that, and then back to hating. It was a disaster.
And it had that Twilight thing, that every action had a face to join it, and of course, it was over analyzed.
There was also that thing about king Leck and his past. That small story was actually nice, but his place in the plot-line was confusing and totally unnecessary. And I also needed some explanation about this kingdom thing, like, why are there two worlds and they don't know nothing of each other, and how does that even work? But once again, it was too big for the author and she couldn't handle it.
So yeah, I'm really disappointed with this book, specially because there's thing I kind of liked in Graceling that I now want to cringe my eyes at.
I don't recommend you to read this book, unless you're like really obsessed with it and need more of it. But I'll call it a waste of time.
If you'd like to read this review on my blog.
Rating: 1.5/5 stars.
Fire is the awaited sequel, or rather, companion novel, that follows a different heroin from the same land. Set a few years back before Graceling, we meet Fire, the last Human Monster, and how she tries to live being a part of a falling kingdom, caused by her father, Cansrel, who was an even more powerful and crueler Human Monster.
Yeah, I did not like this, really.
I admit it, nothing was missing. There was a plot, there was a drive, there were the two lovers with a slight love triangle so common, and a heroin with hidden powers she's afraid to use. But already that is super cliche, it's the same formula for every standard Young Adult Fantasy book.
But even that sounded great with the setting this book provided. But it wasn't enough. Not nearly.
Once I finished reading, I realized it reminded me of Graceling. This book had the same weird under the radar plot and the two fighter/lovers, and all those special powers. But in Graceling, it worked. It did not in this book.
Really, the first half was completely boring and tedious, and the second half was better but too random. And once again, like Graceling, I felt the author was trying to achive something bigger than what she could handle, and ended up coming short. And it's really disappointing, because if you see what happened through the whole book, it should have worked, but it didn't.
And I didn't buy the MC character at all. She was too weak and suddenly so strong and so whinny and at the same time silent. She was a contradiction of things. One minute she was crying for this and the next she said it was better like that, and then back to hating. It was a disaster.
And it had that Twilight thing, that every action had a face to join it, and of course, it was over analyzed.
There was also that thing about king Leck and his past. That small story was actually nice, but his place in the plot-line was confusing and totally unnecessary.
Spoiler
It felt like, he could have died and we could have avoided so much, but Fire is stupid and unreal so she didn't kill him.So yeah, I'm really disappointed with this book, specially because there's thing I kind of liked in Graceling that I now want to cringe my eyes at.
I don't recommend you to read this book, unless you're like really obsessed with it and need more of it. But I'll call it a waste of time.
bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like this book nearly as much as Graceling. I thought Fire was rather whiney and she grated on my nerves. More complete review to come.
Full review:
Ah, Fire. After having read and strongly loved Graceling, it was disappointing to read Fire. I didn't mind that it picked up with new characters but still wove itself into the fabric of the story created by Graceling. This would have worked just fine for me if I hadn't found Fire herself so unlikable. Spoilers to follow.
Logically, it seems kind of strange for me to dislike Fire so much when, in some ways, it seems like she should be a much more sympathetic character than Katsa, who I did like. However, no matter how prickly and infuriating Katsa could be at times, she was always capable. Fire, on the other hand, drove me nuts with her passivity. While I understood her struggle and it made sense to me, I hated the way she dealt with it. She came across as angsty, needy, and whiny, and it really set my teeth on edge. While I didn't mind the "Woe is me, I'm so beautiful" aspect of it all that much--I could see how that beauty would be a burden--I did get tired of her feeling constantly sorry for herself. Where Katsa was an active player in her life, Fire just seemed to sit around and wait for someone to save her from herself.
I also could not stand Archer, who bears no comparison at all to Po. It's interesting to me that in a series with such a strong feminist subtext, Archer is presented as a character who is ostensibly meant to be sympathetic. He uses and discards women with abandon, and Fire doesn't ever really take him to task for it, other than yelling at him about it far into the book. It made me especially angry when he then turned around and blamed her for his profligacy. No, Archer, it is not Fire's fault that you can't manage to control your own animal urges. This is maybe where I will quibble with the tone of the books. Almost every male character in these books--particularly in Fire--is entirely subject to his baser instincts. That does feel unfair to me. It's as if every last man in the kingdoms is a rapist just waiting to happen, and I don't think that's an acceptable way to portray male characters. Where Graceling kind of flirts with this characterization, Fire crosses into territory that did not sit right with me. Feminism should be about gender equality, which means neither men nor women should be looked at in stereotypical ways.
The story in this book just didn't resonate with me as much either. Both Katsa and Fire possess abilities that can be used in really terrible ways, and both Katsa and Fire use their ability in terrible ways. While both of them agonize over this, I liked Katsa more as a character because she accepted her potential for doing terrible things and then worked hard to ensure that she didn't do them. Fire seemed more prone to trying to run away from her own abilities and then endlessly splitting hairs over them once she finally decided she couldn't deny what she was.
This book had a different attitude toward marriage and child bearing than Graceling did. Fire didn't seem as dead set against marriage as Katsa did, and her attitude about children was different. While it's true that she doesn't want to have them either, her reasoning differed from Katsa, and it was one area where I agreed with Fire. It made sense to me that she worried about the potential for a child of hers to do terrible things and that this made her decide that having children was something she shouldn't do. While I do think that Cashore is too hard on marriage at times, I think that the themes about child bearing and child rearing make sense in these books. Fire loves children and desperately wants them, but has good reason for thinking she has no business having them. Katsa doesn't want children and acts responsibly by taking care to ensure she won't have one. I think this is an important issue for women and men to think about. Social norms dictate that everyone is supposed to get married and have kids, but the decision to have kids is an extremely personal one that depends heavily on how people feel about children, what their financial situation is, etc. I like that, in these books, the main characters think seriously about what it would mean for them to have children and then act accordingly. I don't see this as anti-child, I see it as a message about carefully considering what it means to bring a child into the world.
While I liked Brigan, I didn't care for the relationship in this story all that much. I get why Brigan was initially mistrustful of Fire, but I didn't feel it was ever acceptable. The idea that the children are somehow responsible for the actions of their parents is a strong theme in this book, and I simply didn't agree with it. I can see how the terrible legacy left behind by their parents would make things difficult for Fire, Brigan, and company, but it didn't make sense to me that they all somehow took it upon their own shoulders as if they were someone responsible for it. Yes, their past experiences should absolutely influence their future behavior, but rather than the characters sighing and despairing about how terrible it was that their fathers had been so awful, I'd have liked to see the characters more focused on how they could try to make something good out of the chaos their fathers had wrought.
Still, despite the book's shortcomings, I thought it did pick up in the later parts of the book, and I did like the way it portrayed war, the futility and sense of waste the characters had about the loss of life. I think it looked at war realistically rather than portraying it in heroic terms that minimize war's cost. The political intrigue was interesting to me as well, as was Fire's involvement of trying to untangle the threads of the many plots and motivations of the other characters. I think I'd have liked this book more had the first part been much shorter and had it concentrated more on Fire's role in the palace intrigues.
Even though I wasn't all that thrilled with this book, I thought it was well written and thoughtful. I just would have liked to see less of endless monster attacks and more of Fire being an active player in her own life. There's no denying that this book was a disappointment after how strongly I felt about Graceling, but I still want to read Bitterblue, so this book didn't entirely destroy my enjoyment of the series.
Full review:
Ah, Fire. After having read and strongly loved Graceling, it was disappointing to read Fire. I didn't mind that it picked up with new characters but still wove itself into the fabric of the story created by Graceling. This would have worked just fine for me if I hadn't found Fire herself so unlikable. Spoilers to follow.
Logically, it seems kind of strange for me to dislike Fire so much when, in some ways, it seems like she should be a much more sympathetic character than Katsa, who I did like. However, no matter how prickly and infuriating Katsa could be at times, she was always capable. Fire, on the other hand, drove me nuts with her passivity. While I understood her struggle and it made sense to me, I hated the way she dealt with it. She came across as angsty, needy, and whiny, and it really set my teeth on edge. While I didn't mind the "Woe is me, I'm so beautiful" aspect of it all that much--I could see how that beauty would be a burden--I did get tired of her feeling constantly sorry for herself. Where Katsa was an active player in her life, Fire just seemed to sit around and wait for someone to save her from herself.
I also could not stand Archer, who bears no comparison at all to Po. It's interesting to me that in a series with such a strong feminist subtext, Archer is presented as a character who is ostensibly meant to be sympathetic. He uses and discards women with abandon, and Fire doesn't ever really take him to task for it, other than yelling at him about it far into the book. It made me especially angry when he then turned around and blamed her for his profligacy. No, Archer, it is not Fire's fault that you can't manage to control your own animal urges. This is maybe where I will quibble with the tone of the books. Almost every male character in these books--particularly in Fire--is entirely subject to his baser instincts. That does feel unfair to me. It's as if every last man in the kingdoms is a rapist just waiting to happen, and I don't think that's an acceptable way to portray male characters. Where Graceling kind of flirts with this characterization, Fire crosses into territory that did not sit right with me. Feminism should be about gender equality, which means neither men nor women should be looked at in stereotypical ways.
The story in this book just didn't resonate with me as much either. Both Katsa and Fire possess abilities that can be used in really terrible ways, and both Katsa and Fire use their ability in terrible ways. While both of them agonize over this, I liked Katsa more as a character because she accepted her potential for doing terrible things and then worked hard to ensure that she didn't do them. Fire seemed more prone to trying to run away from her own abilities and then endlessly splitting hairs over them once she finally decided she couldn't deny what she was.
This book had a different attitude toward marriage and child bearing than Graceling did. Fire didn't seem as dead set against marriage as Katsa did, and her attitude about children was different. While it's true that she doesn't want to have them either, her reasoning differed from Katsa, and it was one area where I agreed with Fire. It made sense to me that she worried about the potential for a child of hers to do terrible things and that this made her decide that having children was something she shouldn't do. While I do think that Cashore is too hard on marriage at times, I think that the themes about child bearing and child rearing make sense in these books. Fire loves children and desperately wants them, but has good reason for thinking she has no business having them. Katsa doesn't want children and acts responsibly by taking care to ensure she won't have one. I think this is an important issue for women and men to think about. Social norms dictate that everyone is supposed to get married and have kids, but the decision to have kids is an extremely personal one that depends heavily on how people feel about children, what their financial situation is, etc. I like that, in these books, the main characters think seriously about what it would mean for them to have children and then act accordingly. I don't see this as anti-child, I see it as a message about carefully considering what it means to bring a child into the world.
While I liked Brigan, I didn't care for the relationship in this story all that much. I get why Brigan was initially mistrustful of Fire, but I didn't feel it was ever acceptable. The idea that the children are somehow responsible for the actions of their parents is a strong theme in this book, and I simply didn't agree with it. I can see how the terrible legacy left behind by their parents would make things difficult for Fire, Brigan, and company, but it didn't make sense to me that they all somehow took it upon their own shoulders as if they were someone responsible for it. Yes, their past experiences should absolutely influence their future behavior, but rather than the characters sighing and despairing about how terrible it was that their fathers had been so awful, I'd have liked to see the characters more focused on how they could try to make something good out of the chaos their fathers had wrought.
Still, despite the book's shortcomings, I thought it did pick up in the later parts of the book, and I did like the way it portrayed war, the futility and sense of waste the characters had about the loss of life. I think it looked at war realistically rather than portraying it in heroic terms that minimize war's cost. The political intrigue was interesting to me as well, as was Fire's involvement of trying to untangle the threads of the many plots and motivations of the other characters. I think I'd have liked this book more had the first part been much shorter and had it concentrated more on Fire's role in the palace intrigues.
Even though I wasn't all that thrilled with this book, I thought it was well written and thoughtful. I just would have liked to see less of endless monster attacks and more of Fire being an active player in her own life. There's no denying that this book was a disappointment after how strongly I felt about Graceling, but I still want to read Bitterblue, so this book didn't entirely destroy my enjoyment of the series.
robinhood2000's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! I gave the first book in the Graceling series 3 stars because it was a slow start and according to me, 2 stars the first 250 pages and 4 stars the last 250 pages. This one was a 5 star straight through! I read it in Swedish which is my native tongue and honestly it was still so good. It has aged really well and has a lot of interesting themes. 100 % recommend! I will start the next one ASAP.
bad_fatty's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
raverzay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Honnêtement, j’ai été déçue de ce livre car je n’ai pas retrouvé la même énergie que pour le premier. J’ai beaucoup moins accrochée à l’histoire, aux personnages, au dynamisme de ce livre, mais bon c’était quand même agréable à lire. Malgré tout, j’ai apprécié les révélations et les relations entre les personnages, bien que je les trouvais un peu complexe ou tirés par les cheveux quelques fois. Rien que le manque de graceling, qui est tout de même au centre du premier tome, m’a fait perdre de l’appétence pour cette lecture car j’y voyais moins d’intérêt et d’originalité. Les réflexions étaient un peu niaises et les personnes m’ont parfois déçus mais bon…. Je suis tout de même curieuse de lire le 3ème tome, qui, je l’espère, va de nouveau avoir ce quelque chose qui a fait du 1er tome un coup de cœur.