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betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fair warning, this book is pretty slow paced. There is a lot of world-building at the beginning, which is definitely needed and Cashore is a master at it. You also don't need to read Graceling to read this book! It's a prequel, but only loosely connected to what happens in Graceling.
Cashore is also a master at character. That's what really sucks you into this story in the beginning and keeps you reading until the plot starts to pick up. Can't wait to continue my re-read!
Cashore is also a master at character. That's what really sucks you into this story in the beginning and keeps you reading until the plot starts to pick up. Can't wait to continue my re-read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Bullying
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
cmak's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape
marieketron's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read Fire very closely after Graceling this time, but I still prefer Fire ever so slightly even though I noticed a ew more things I enjoyed less this time around. The main characters of the two novels, Katsa and Fire, are similar in that they are both extremely forthright, open, and specific about what they think and feel, even when they don't know what it is exactly that they are feeling. I think I preferred Fire because her environment resembles more closely our modern rape culture - exacerbated by her unnatural beauty. On top of that, she is learning throughout the course of the book to stand up for herself and set boundaries, even with those people she loves the most, which is a hard but important thing to do that I can relate with.
This time around I did notice that there are a Lot of dead mothers in this book. Of course there are dead fathers as well, but they mostly held important political positions and / or were present to raise their children, neither of which applies to all the dead mothers. I would have loved to have seen more older women besides Roen and Tess. On a more personal preference, I felt there was a bit too much plot in this story regarding the conspiracies and factions and general court intrigue, which was compounded by the presence of Leck. On this re-read I pretty much skimmed through the plot-heavy bits.
The main romance is one of my favourites in any work of fiction, as is the case for Katsa and Po. I don't necessarily rank one above the other, but I like that both pairings went on a road trip where they spent a significant amount of time with each other as well as in a castle where they keep running into each other. I'm a sucker for the involuntary road trip as a tool for character development and it worked really well in both cases.
3rd reading: the age gap of the older men falling in love with younger girls is a bit creepy for being such a consistent pattern
This time around I did notice that there are a Lot of dead mothers in this book. Of course there are dead fathers as well, but they mostly held important political positions and / or were present to raise their children, neither of which applies to all the dead mothers. I would have loved to have seen more older women besides Roen and Tess. On a more personal preference, I felt there was a bit too much plot in this story regarding the conspiracies and factions and general court intrigue, which was compounded by the presence of Leck. On this re-read I pretty much skimmed through the plot-heavy bits.
The main romance is one of my favourites in any work of fiction, as is the case for Katsa and Po. I don't necessarily rank one above the other, but I like that both pairings went on a road trip where they spent a significant amount of time with each other as well as in a castle where they keep running into each other. I'm a sucker for the involuntary road trip as a tool for character development and it worked really well in both cases.
3rd reading: the age gap of the older men falling in love with younger girls is a bit creepy for being such a consistent pattern
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Torture, Animal death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Gore, Sexism, Vomit, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, and Adult/minor relationship
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