A review by rays_reads
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

adventurous dark

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

4.25

Overall Rating: 4.25

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE CONCLUSION OF ANOTHER SERIES! Yelena's story slaps every time and I'm so glad to have read all 3 books and to have found love for a new author. 

This story takes place after Yelena finds out she's a soulfinder and is navigating her new powers alongside a council that is scared of her and a soul weaver who is so cryptic even Dr. Seuss can't compete. Seeing her navigate, and fail, at trying to understand her power made her so realistic. It's like if a person who's mastered Swimming now learns they have a gift for Diving and they have to learn a new set of skills that are somewhat related but are completely different. 

I also loved seeing her relationship with Leif as their relationship was so strained in book 2 but now it's like I got to witness my own sibling relationship come to life. The bickering, the pouting, the feelings of annoyance... ahhhh I loved all of it! It's like Leif finally got a personality. Same with Moon Man. He and Yelena kinda had an annoying uncle and annoyed niece type of dynamic going on and I felt bad for both Moon Man and Leif while they were in Ixia because Yelena was lowkey being an asshole LMAO.

The action and suspense were great and I loved how the author chose to portray the villains in this book. They were pretty predictable but it was nice to see them and how they're somewhat of a parallel to Yelena being a soulfinder. It's like a "what if" situation and shows the reader and Yelena what would happen if she were to let magic corrupt her.

Shout out to the original book 1 characters as well as we see Janco, Valek, & Ari. It's never a proper book without those three coming into either bicker or save the day! It was also nice to see Valek and Yelena get their happy ending.

Another shout out to Kiki as she was one of the best things in the book... Who needs a "man's best friend" kinda dog when you have a somewhat magical horse??? I'd take that any day lowkey.

I will say however... that the book did drag a bit in the middle of the story as it felt like I was being fed too much repetitive content... I was like "Ms. Snyder I get the point please... for the love of GAWD move onnnnn"... I ended up taking points away for that unfortunately. 

Overall, the book was very enjoyable, and I can't wait to read the other side stories and books within this world. The world-building is phenomenal and leaves the author so much room to tell more stories.

P.S. Commander Ambrose has got to be one of the most interesting characters throughout this series as there's so much story surrounding him.

The fact that he has 2 souls within him and is lowkey kinda like someone who is trans or nonbinary I feel like speaks wonders about how progressive this book was considering it was published back in 2008 when the LGBTQ movement was just starting.

I would love to see a full prequel surrounding his backstory and for it to show the journey of how he met Valek and became the Commander of Ixia.

P.P.S. Just found out this is a YA series...HOW?!?! THIS GOES INTO GRAPHIC DETAIL OF TORTURE AND RAPE DF?! Nah I'm not tagging this as YA I'm tagging it as New Adult.... jesus