{Book Review} Fire (The Seven Kingdoms #2)

Author: Kristin Cashore

Genre: YA fantasy
Published: January 25th 2011
Publisher: Firebird
Pages: 528
Source: Purchased Paperback
Available at: Amazon| Barnes of Noble

Goodreads Summary:

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her. She is the last of her kind . . .

My Rating of this Book – 3 out of 5 Stars

What I Didn’t Like:

• Part Three – I was not too thrilled how the plotline turned in the third part of the novel. I loved, through parts one and two, how much Fire had grown as a character. However, in part three, I almost felt that the events had caused a setback in that growth. Also, I felt certain events and certain amount of suffering Fire had to endure were totally un-necessary. Now, it wasn’t all bad. I did enjoy certain events that occurred during the war, the conclusion for the character Leck, and some of the flash backs, but it really was not as captivating as the rest of the book.
• The Ending – Also, I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was hoping for some link to the first book, maybe using the character Leck in some way.

What I Did Like:

• The General Plotline – Overall, I found this book was much better than the first of the series, Graceling. Though, I see this book as more of a prequel to Graceling than a sequel (so, I probably would recommend reading this book first before reading Graceling). It does introduce different characters, but it had strong ties to one character in particular from Graceling, revealing his background and some reason to his actions in the first book.
• The Flash Backs – Though there was still a bit of detail into the character’s emotions like in the first novel, the author also focused on characters’ histories. There were plenty of hidden secrets in this cast of characters and I enjoyed learning about each one of them. It also helped me to understand character’s reactions, emotions, and attitudes to certain situations they were facing.
• Fire and Brigan – Okay, honestly, I really missed Kasta’s strength and Po’s gentleness from Graceling, but Fire and Brigan made a good team. I’m also a sucker for relationships that start with the characters practically at each other’s throats. These two had many reasons to despise each other in the beginning, but through common interests they were able to help each other grow and get past the tensions of their families’ history.
• Leck – Finally, this book explained certain things that I didn’t understand from Graceling, especially about the character Leck. Leck is one of my favorite villains to hate (up there with Capricorn from Inkheart and Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter) because he’s just so cruel and his power is so corrupting which makes it a real challenge for anyone to face. However, I never understood his motivation until this book, and even at a young age he was bad to the bone.