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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Fire by Kristin Cashore
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence, rape mention (lots of it) and threats of rape, unwanted touching, sexual harassment, unplanned pregnancy, suicide mention, grief
Fire by Kristin Cashore is the second book in the Graceling Realm series. This book functions as a sort of prequel to Graceling since we get a little bit of background on Leck, the villain from book 1. This was a very character focused story that has almost nothing to do with Graceling apart from Leck's appearance. This is a pretty slow paced book.
We follow Fire, a monster human girl who has the ability to see into and manipulate minds. She also has an effect in other living beings that make them feel compelled to desire her (sometimes too much) or compelled to kill her and/or harm her. Her hair is the color of fire with different shades of red, orange, and pink, hence her name.
Fire never uses her power to control people. She does everything she can to not be like her father, who was an evil man, but loved her. We get a lot of court intrigue, which helped to keep my attention, but the real meat is the relationships throughout the book. Cashore does such a great job at depicting different kinds of relationships and always has her MC putting up and enforcing their boundaries.
We get a sort of love triangle and a slow burn at the same time. I loved Fire's fluid relationship with Archer and the understanding and freedom Brigan gives to her. Nash was annoying at first and I thought he was just going to be a foil at first, but I loved his growth! Though he is in love with Fire and desires her, he has been able to control himself and accept her as his sister instead. Cashore also give us some commentary on the burden and perils of being a women, and having to deal with things men rarely have to worry about. We also get some pretty sweet sibling relationships.
Although I liked Graceling more than Fire, it was still a great read and I'm looking forward to continuing in this world with Bitterblue next.
Fire by Kristin Cashore is the second book in the Graceling Realm series. This book functions as a sort of prequel to Graceling since we get a little bit of background on Leck, the villain from book 1. This was a very character focused story that has almost nothing to do with Graceling apart from Leck's appearance. This is a pretty slow paced book.
We follow Fire, a monster human girl who has the ability to see into and manipulate minds. She also has an effect in other living beings that make them feel compelled to desire her (sometimes too much) or compelled to kill her and/or harm her. Her hair is the color of fire with different shades of red, orange, and pink, hence her name.
Fire never uses her power to control people. She does everything she can to not be like her father, who was an evil man, but loved her. We get a lot of court intrigue, which helped to keep my attention, but the real meat is the relationships throughout the book. Cashore does such a great job at depicting different kinds of relationships and always has her MC putting up and enforcing their boundaries.
We get a sort of love triangle and a slow burn at the same time. I loved Fire's fluid relationship with Archer and the understanding and freedom Brigan gives to her. Nash was annoying at first and I thought he was just going to be a foil at first, but I loved his growth! Though he is in love with Fire and desires her, he has been able to control himself and accept her as his sister instead. Cashore also give us some commentary on the burden and perils of being a women, and having to deal with things men rarely have to worry about. We also get some pretty sweet sibling relationships.
Although I liked Graceling more than Fire, it was still a great read and I'm looking forward to continuing in this world with Bitterblue next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, Sexual harassment, and Grief
Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, and Suicide