Title: Fire (Seven Kingdoms #2)

Author: Kristin Cashore

Publisher: Firebird 2009

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 461

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: NPR Teen; Top 100 YA; Mount TBR; Seriously Series; 52 Books - W21

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. Exquisitely romantic, this companion to the highly praised Graceling has an entirely new cast of characters, save for one person who plays a pivotal role in both books.

I liked this volume even more than Graceling. There was something about Fire that just grabbed me from page one. I wanted to see her journey in its entirety. I wanted her to find peace and happiness. I wanted to see what happened in the Dells and the fate of the mysterious boy. Initially I was wary of reading a companion novel, but realized that this is a great book that happens to be set in the same world as the previous book. Such a fascinating world it is. I especially loved the inclusion of the monster animals in this volume. How different the monsters are from the gracelings in the Seven Kingdoms, and yet they have similarities. Definitely a must read!

Seven Kingdoms:

• #1 Graceling
• #2 Fire
• #3 Bitterblue