Fire by Kristin Cashore - Book Review (Reread)

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Series: Graceling Realm (Companion to Graceling)

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Spice: Mild

Summary:

In the Dells, there are Monsters of all kinds. Magically beautiful, entrancing versions of any animal from Monster bugs to Monster raptors, and even Monster humans. Fire’s father, Cansrel, was one of these human Monsters and the former king’s foremost advisor, with undue influence over the King’s choices due to a Monster’s ability to manipulate and read the thoughts of others. Now that he has died, Fire is the last of the human Monsters. Though she has been taught to use the same power, Fire is reluctant to use her beauty or influence to determine the course of politics like her father did. She covers her bright orange hair to try to avoid notice and only uses her power of influence to protect herself and her loved ones.

One afternoon, Fire is shot with an arrow by a mysterious hunter in the woods, whose mind is oddly clouded. At first, she believes she was shot because she is a Monster, but when another fuzzy-minded individual kills the first, she suspects something more insidious is going on. So, Fire and her best friend (and sometimes lover) Archer travel south to visit the former queen, Roen, to ask for more protection. While visiting Roen, Fire meets both her sons. King Nash allows Fire’s beauty to overwhelm him, while Prince Brigand, the Dellian Army’s general, is strong-minded and seems to hate Fire for being a Monster. As a war draws closer, Nash and Brigand ask Fire to travel to the capital to use her Monster powers to help gather intelligence on their enemies. Fire’s decision to go will lead her on a journey to accept who she is, what she has done, and her Monster abilities.

Reaction:

Fire is the second book released in the Graceling Realm Series. Labeled as a Companion to Graceling, the events of Fire happen some years prior to the events of Graceling. Without giving a lot away, there’s one mysterious character in Fire that will play a key role in the events of Graceling, but I would advise reading Graceling first; if you were to read Fire first, it would be somewhat of a spoiler for Graceling. Due to the overall lack of overlap in the characters & setting between Graceling and Fire, I decided to review them separately.

When I was younger, this was one of my favorite books because of the slow-burn enemies to lovers romance. I thought Fire and the main love interest paired so well together, and he is a catch: smart, principled, and straight-forward. I still like that aspect of the book, but rereading it, I also appreciated the storytelling. There are parts of Fire’s past that you learn slowly throughout the book as they become relevant to what Fire is experiencing in the present. And in this way, you really learn who Fire is and her motivations gradually as she learns to love and accept those things about herself. While I didn’t relate to Fire quite in the same way as Katsa from Graceling, I still appreciated her character growth and thought there were parts of her story that were still very relatable. Like Graceling, the book introduces Monsters as a unique concept compared to other fantasies, which I think makes the book more interesting, and adds to the overall uniqueness of the setting in the entire series. Overall, a fantastic young adult fantasy book with a slow-burn romance, great character development, and a unique setting.