Review of Fire by Kristin Cashore

MISS MISS MISS.
Fire by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

description

DNFed at 50%

WHY DID I EVEN TAKE THE TIME TO ”DESIGN” THAT PICTURE?

description

It does not deserve it.

Yes, 2 stars (one star for ”I didn’t like it” and another star because it was truly well-written.)

First of all, you shall know that I really really enjoyed the first book in this series, Graceling. I adored it actually. I thought I was discovering another great author knowing how to write great fantasy/adventure books.

Kristin Cashore got on my nerves.

She played with them.
She played with me.
She played with my emotions.

Ok, first of all, we have a dark and intense prologue of 16 pages. The number of pages is not important but sure is a lot more than usual books I read. So, in that prologue, we meet two characters, one of them being a boy who really got my attention. Leck (not called like that at that moment.) Anyway, so Leck is able to control minds as Fire. I thought ”oh my my, what a great love story that’ll make. They’ll meet and fall in love with each other because probably they won’t be able to control each others minds and they’ll be relieved.”

Like hell.

I don’t even know if they finally met. (Ok, I do because I read some last pages but, while I was reading, I did not know.) I did not know that he was the one who (view spoiler). All I know is that I wanted Fire and Leck to meet and fall in love. Because duh, doesn’t Leck redeeming himelf, because of Fire, seem exciting? For me, it did. But, that’s not what happened.

Oh la la, I just have so much anger in me right now. Must say that it sure doesn’t happen often because of a book. At least, it’ll be a memorable one for a special reason. *Sigh.*

I didn’t have a direct problem with Fire. She was nice enough, for a fantasy/adventure book MC. I liked when she got all angry and on defense but she mostly was calm and one-dimensional, as many other characters. I didn’t know that much about her. I knew things only when the narrator told us memories of her and her father (which is a badass!) Shame shame shame because she could’ve been such an interesting character.

Damn.

Fire and Archer have a ”relation” at the beginning of the story of what I understand. But, seriously, I have no idea what kind of relation it was. It was much of:


”Would you marry me, Fire, if I slept in no one’s bed but yours?”
He knew the answer to that, but it didn’t hurt to remind him. ”No, and I should find my bed quite cramped.”

Oooook.

Also, in this book, there was a war setting. I hate war settings. I don’t like when a book gets that serious. The only books I tolerated (and REALLY enjoyed) with war settings were Captive Prince: Volume One and Captive Prince: Volume Two and probably Captive Prince: Volume Three, but it hasn’t been realeased yet so I haven’t read it. I must admit that I’m a bit scared I won’t love Days of Blood & Starlight because of that.

The writing was splendid (due the 2rd star as I said.) I wansn’t expecting and I didn’t get less. The pacing was SLOW. So SLOW. Not much was actually hapenning up to where I got (and DNFed.) That’s kind of why I DNFed this book (along with the fact that Fire and Leck weren’t already a couple as I was hoping for.) The author created a good world building with many descriptions. In one page, there was usually 1 small (very small) dialogue and the rest were descriptions. A lot of them. Most were boring.

I bet this book would’ve been so much better and I may’ve liked it more if it was directed to adults. More interesting, exciting and yes, some sex scenes would’ve been welcomed as in my opinion.

Technically, I wouldn’t recommend this companion novel. I didn’t like it and I wouldn’t probably read Bitterblue. Maybe I’ll finish this book if I ever feel like to but that could also never happen and I won’t be sad. Yes, technically I wouldn’t recommend this book but, since I saw that I’m in the minority here, why would you not read it because of what I said about it? Maybe what I was expecting isn’t what you want in a fantasy/adventure book. So, go ahead, see for yourself. Maybe you’re going to really like it. 🙂

That’s it. I could say more, but I feel calmer now.

description

THIS IS SUCH A MISS, unfortunately. The writing makes me give this book 2 stars but I definitely think 1 in my head.

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

14 thoughts on “Review of Fire by Kristin Cashore

  1. I gave up on this series after Graceling actually. But just the fact that this one has a war setting is not really appealing to me. I’m glad it was well written at least. So sorry that this one disappointed you and I hope that your next read will be amazing. Great review 🙂

    Like

  2. I’ve never read Graceling. I’ve thought about it, but it doesn’t seem like I would love this trilogy. I do recommend giving Days of Blood & Starlight a shot even though you don’t like war settings. It’s a beautiful book. One of the most well-written and horrifying novels I’ve ever read. While the war plays a huge part it is what makes the trilogy so much more thought-provoking and different from other YA novels. Great review though, Lola!

    Like

    • Hmmm, yeah but I did love Graceling though. This was too dark. I REALLY didn’t expect it to be that way. 😛 Ok, will do. Anyway I wasn’t prepared to give up on that series but thanks for the rec 😀
      Thank you, Sarah. 🙂

      Like

  3. Good idea stopping when you did, I wish I’d stopped. In the second half all that Fire had going for her changed, she turned into a weak, whiny girl… And the ‘love’ was very anticlimactic.

    Bitterblue is okay. The best parts were with the old main characters Katsa and Po, which sadly aren’t in the novel much. It’s mostly slow while we’re stuck in the stupid castle with Queen Bitterblue while Katsa goes off on adventures.

    Like

    • Oh, yes. Sometimes I feel bad for DNFing book, you know? But you telling me that makes me feel better. 😀 So thank you.
      I hate weak whiny characters so bad. xd
      humm, Bitterblue doesn’t seem so appealing. I love Katsa and Po but if they’re not much in it, maybe not.
      Thank you for stopping by!

      Like

  4. I liked Graceling. This one annoyed me so much, mainly because I felt like Fire’s “power” was so passive and sort of victim-blamey. I actually thought that Bitterblue was the best of the series, but I still don’t love the series as a whole.

    Like

    • Yeah, liked Graceling too…It’s so deceiving when a sequel (or companion) is too different from the first book or just…boring. Fire was darker than I expected so it didn’t work for me. Plus, I wanted a couple to happen when obviously it wasn’t going to. And I agree with you reagarding Fire’s power. I hear so many different opinions on Bitterblue; it’s crazy! Not sure if I will or not continue with this series. 😛
      Thank you for stopping by! 😀

      Like

  5. Oh wow. This review surprised me so much. I actually liked Fire best of her three books. I really enjoyed seeing a female MC who was strong in a passive way. Just goes to show how different opinions can be. Nice review. 🙂
    -Antonia

    Like

    • Oh, really? Well that’s great. ^^ ”Passive way” is not really my thing I guess. 😛 I like my heroine like Katniss and the one in the first book. Yeaah, opinion can largly vary and thank god we’re not thinking the same lol. Thank you, Antonia. 🙂

      Like

Leave a comment