Originally posted at Redhead Heroines: Book Review of "Fire" by Kristin Cashore

Fire is described as a companion book to Cashore's Graceling. It's a prequel to the first novel in Cashore's Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, which is to be completed with the publication of Bitterblue in September of 2011.

But in reality, Fire is its own force. It does not rely on the popularity of Graceling. It does not rely on the beautiful cover or the premise of the story. Fire is the story of one of the most wonderful protagonists I have ever read about: Fire, the monster-girl, the person who, against the odds, fought persecution and prejudice to find her place in a world where she is the last of her kind. A place where people want to do terrible things to her.

I absolutely love this book. As I wrote about on my writing blog here, this book totally captured me. It inspired to me to do something better with my own writing. This is because Cashore is an extremely talented writer. Her voice is her own and her characters are nearly three dimensional.

The story and plot in Fire was stronger to me than Graceling, but what was extraordinary in both of Cashore's works is her sense of character. The characters are real. They progress throughout the book. They develop into stronger people throughout the story, something that I find missing from a great many Young Adult novels.

Please read this! If you loved Graceling, you will love this more. And if you love romance, you will love Fire.