Friday, October 4, 2019

REVIEW: Fire by Kristin Cashore


Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.

This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.

Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.

If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was. 



MY THOUGHTS
For some reason, I always thought this book was about a dragon? The cover always looked like a dragon's wing to me and the title says dragons to me, so I think I was under the impression that Fire was a shapeshifting dragon. That's not the case. I wasn't disappointed that this wasn't the case, but I was so convinced that this was the plot the last eight years of this being on my TBR that I was thrown off by the fact that there were no dragons.

Anyway, Fire's not a dragon. Fire is a human monster, the last human monster. Her beauty to a curse and she has the ability to control minds. This makes her both loved and hated, and Fire fears her ability as she is unwilling to hurt people. But her kingdom thinks her abilities will help them in the coming war.

I read Graceling eight years ago and I have no memory of it. I remember liking it, but not loving it. Thankfully this is more of a companion book than a continuation. There are all-new characters and it takes place in an almost entirely different world. I think there is some crossover, but, again, I don't remember the first book. I didn't have to worry about my bad memory at all. I listened to most of this book on audio as well and it was wonderful on audio. I usually don't listen to fantasy on audio because it can be difficult to process the world-building and language audibly, but it worked. I was even able to switch back and forth between audio and paperback.

I wasn't as intrigued by the story. Yes, there were some intriguing elements and I wanted to see the story through, but there wasn't much of a plot. This book is along the lines of "palace intrigue", which isn't my favorite sub-genre. There's a lot of traveling and talking in this book, along with politics and war. Not really my cup of tea. It made me feel like the story wasn't going anywhere. I'll admit that I'm also a bit of a black sheep when it comes to Graceling. I only gave it *gasp* 3 stars, while many other reviews and bloggers rave about it. I agree that it is a staple YA fantasy book, but I also wasn't that intrigued by the plot in that book.

I did like seeing the characters interact. A majority of the book was simply the characters interacting with one another, so it's good that I liked seeing their interactions. I mainly liked seeing Fire strike friendships with others as she is so guarded at the beginning of the book and she has lived in isolation for so long. I wasn't a fan of some characters, though. For instance, Fire's childhood friend, and current lover, Archer. I didn't dislike him, but he supposedly wanted Fire to marry him, but then he would sleep with half the women in the castle. He also acted like a child when Fire did something he didn't agree with. I didn't understand what his feelings for Fire were. There is a slight love triangle in this book with Archer and Brigan. I say slight because the romance wasn't heavy in this book. Fire does, um, get physical, but there wasn't any romantic tension or much in the way of inner romantic thoughts from Fire. There is a hate-to-love tension at the beginning between Fire and Brigan, but it's over very quickly.

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I did like the book, but it wasn't my kind of fantasy book. The plot focuses more on the politics of war, and less on action and intriguing world-building. The world was still intriguing, but there wasn't enough story for me. Again, it's just not the kind of fantasy book I enjoy reading. I do own a copy of Bitterblue, so I'll read that someday. Although I've heard it is more of a continuation of Graceling, which means my memory will likely fail me.



I hereby give this book
3 Stars

Meaning: I liked it.

No comments :

Post a Comment