Fire

Fire (The Seven Kingdoms, #2)
by Kristen Cashore

461 pages
Published September 24, 2009

Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.

Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.

***

After looking forward to this book for as long as I did, and having such insane expectations, I worried. And I worried some more. Then I read the prologue and first two chapters that Cashore linked to on her blog. After that, my expectations got even higher. And I got antsier.

I honestly don't see how this book could disappoint. Period.

Fire's story is fun, exciting, adventurous and heart-breaking. It's also a little more mature than GRACELING, for anyone out there wanting such a warning. However, I thought everything was handled well, and everything is there for a reason.

Going into FIRE I knew the cross-over character was Leck. And that was one of the things that worried me. I didn't want the story to be entirely about him--I was worried he'd take over. So I was pleasantly surprised that while he certainly had his part to play, his appearances were fairly short--which is good, since that kid really freaks me out.

If you liked GRACELING, you'll love FIRE. If you haven't read GRACELING, FIRE will still make sense and be a fantastic story. And if you haven't read either of them yet, get to it! You're missing out.

5/5 stars