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The Firebird

(Slains #2)

Susanna Kearsley (Goodreads Author),

Katherine Kellgren (Narrator)

4.08 · Rating details · 25,590 ratings · 2,752 reviews

Nicola Marter was born with a gift. When she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When a woman arrives with a small wooden carving at the gallery Nicola works at, she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird - the mythical creature from an old Russian fable.

Compelled to know more, Nicola follows a youn ...more

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Audible Audio, Audible Audio Edition, 15 pages

Published June 4th 2013 by Audible Inc. (first published 2013)

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Average rating 4.08 ·

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· 25,590 ratings · 2,752 reviews

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Jul 18, 2012 Hannah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romances, historicals, 2013-reads

Rating Clarification: 2.75 Stars

This is a hard review to compose, because all my GR friends know how much I love Susanna Kearsley's books.

Let me reiterate:
I.Love.Susanna.Kearsley's.Books.
They make me smile.
They make me cry.
They (sometimes) make me gasp in surprise over her clever plot twists.
They educate me on less known periods of history.
They allow the romantic in me to squee over the characters and their struggles, and cheer these fictional people on.
They even allow the cynic in me to swallow ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, east-europe-russia

All the stars for this Susanna Kearsley dual timeline (of course) novel, which takes us from Scotland to Belgium to Russia, with a brief stop in France, as our two modern characters, Nicola and Rob, who both have strong psychic abilities, follow the trail of Anna, a young girl in the early 1700s (and the daughter of the couple in The Winter Sea). The McGuffin in this story is the eponymous firebird, a wood carving of a bird that may have come from the tsarina of Russia back in the day. Nicola, w ...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Jill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-romance, fantasy-pnr-sci-fi-romance, romantic-historical-fiction

Nicola Marter has special abilities. She can touch an object and sense its past. When a client brings in a small, wooden carving of a bird - The Firebird - to the gallery where she works for an art dealer, Nicola knows that the bird is as claimed by the owner, an artifact from the 18th century Empress Catherine of Russia. There is no proof of documentation to authenticate this though.

Nicola goes to the one person she knows who can help, Rob McMorran whose own psychic gifts are far stronger than ...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Ava {aka JBee} ☕ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Diana Gabaldon fans

Recommended to Ava {aka JBee} ☕ by: Goodreads, of course

Shelves: romance, favorites, classics-and-literature, science-fiction-fantasy, historical-fiction, mystery

It does stand to mention that although this book continues with characters from earlier works,

The Winter Sea

The Winter Sea (The Slains, #1) by Susanna Kearsley

and
The Shadowy Horses

The Firebird can easily be read as a stand alone. You don't necessarily need to read them in any order.

UPDATE 02 May 2013

Yes, a real review, HUZZAH! I couldnt put this down. Love, love, love. Fantastic. Beautiful. Everything I anticipated.

I first started reading Susanna Kearsley after I found Gabaldon's Outlander series. GR recommended similar books and Ke ...more

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Aug 10, 2013 Misfit rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-love-this-cover, russia

“It just seemed a thing worth following, your Firebird.”

How to recap the plot when the book description does it so nicely? I'm going to take the lazy way out and bypass that and just talk about the reading experience.

The Firebird is a sequel to The Winter Sea, and while it could stand alone, I strongly urge that TWS be read first. Fans of Kearsley are familiar with her dual time storylines, and the paranormal elements she incorporates to take the contemporary characters into the past. In this c ...more

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Jul 01, 2013 Lori rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of The Winter Sea

Shelves: favorites

Step 1. Read The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley.
Step 2. Read The Firebird.
Step 3. Squeal with delight.

I was so happy to find out this is the rest of Anna's story. I'm properly addicted to her books now. ...more

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Dec 12, 2013 ✶Rachelle✶ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites, paranormal, death-by-cover-art, historical, slow-burn, romance

5 knave stars

“If we cannot be what we were born to be, the whole of it, we die a little on the inside, every day we live the lie.”

So many happy tears. So many feely feels.

The Firebird is one of my favorite books of all time. This was the first book of Ms. Kearsley's that I inhaled before going on a binge of all her books a couple of years ago. Whereas every single one of her books are fantastic and I recommend them all, this one in particular has a very special place in my heart. Perhaps it is t ...more

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Nov 16, 2015 TL rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This one was not as good as the Winter Sea (Not comparing the books., just stating my humble opinion). The story was slow in some parts and lacked the tension of the previous but all in all, I did enjoy the journey, and getting to know Nicola/Rob and Anna/Edmund and seeing some 'old friends' pop in again... including a clever one who hid in plain sight, the devil :) (And no, I don't care if that's a run-on sentence :-P)

I enjoyed seeing what became of Anna and her journey through life. The woman ...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Marie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian, from-publisher, ireland, own, swoonworthy-guy, wanderlust, historical-fiction, read-in-2013, favorites, wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey

Initial thoughts on finishing, May 11th: *sigh* Susanna Kearsley is one hell of a storyteller. I'm honestly not sure what my final rating for this one will be - 4, 4.5, or 5. On a purely emotional level, it would be 5 stars. I bawled like a baby (happy tears) through the last 30 pages or so, and I really connected with the story and characters emotionally after having just recently read and loved The Winter Sea. BUT looking at it from a more critical point of view as a blogger/reviewer, it wasn' Initial thoughts on finishing, May 11th: *sigh* Susanna Kearsley is one hell of a storyteller. I'm honestly not sure what my final rating for this one will be - 4, 4.5, or 5. On a purely emotional level, it would be 5 stars. I bawled like a baby (happy tears) through the last 30 pages or so, and I really connected with the story and characters emotionally after having just recently read and loved The Winter Sea. BUT looking at it from a more critical point of view as a blogger/reviewer, it wasn't perfect - it started out kind of slow and dragged terribly in places (it took me almost two weeks to read it), so I have to take that into account. But then throw in the fact that Anna was an incredible character, plus the swoonworthyness of Rob and Jamieson and Edmund, and...ugh...this is going to be a hard review to write! Will try to have it up by next week.

Full review, May 22nd:
This review was originally posted on my blog, Ramblings of a Daydreamer. You can find it, and many more reviews at the blog.
4.5 stars

You guys. This book. My heart. *sigh*

I honestly don’t know where to begin. I guess first I’d like to thank the amazing Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this book as an unsolicited ARC because if they hadn’t, I might never have read The Winter Sea, and in turn, never read The Firebird, it’s companion. And that would be a crime because these books…I honestly don’t think I can do them justice in a review. I attempted a coherent review with The Winter Sea, but having just finished The Firebird, I’m a jumble of emotions, and it’s so rare that a book can do that these days.

I said in my review of The Winter Sea that the book single-handedly rekindled my love of historic fiction. I couldn’t wait to immerse myself in another of Kearsley’s worlds, knowing the setting would be rich and vibrant, and as I journeyed with both Nicola and Anna through time and multiple countries, I fell in love with Kearsley’s writing all over again. She has a gift for seamlessly weaving the present with the past and creating a story that is breathtaking in its details, revelations, and characters.

And, oh, the characters. I thought it would be hard to top the characters in The Winter Sea, but I think I might just like Anna even more than I liked Sophia. Anna was strong, fearless, and selfless. She would do anything for the people she loved, and even sacrifice her own happiness to protect them. I was so happy to be reunited with Colonel Graeme and see his affection for Sophia pass to young Anna. Captain Jamieson was sweet and gentle with an air of mystery about him, and I loved his interactions with Anna as a little girl, and the promises he made to her (I get choked up just thinking about it). I won’t mention other characters by name because it seems a bit spoiler-y, but it was nice to see other familiar faces as well, and I adored Edmund as Anna’s love interest. He challenged her in more ways than one - he spoke freely and wasn’t the gentlemanly sort she was used to, but I liked that he was a bit rough around the edges, and I found myself falling for the sexy, roguish Irishman. He challenged Anna, and it was clear she was up for the challenge.

As with The Winter Sea, the historic aspects of The Firebird were my favourite. I couldn’t wait to be transported back to eighteenth century Russia to be reunited with Anna and learn her fate. I enjoyed the present-day parts too. Nicola was a great character, and while I thought Carrie’s story in The Winter Sea was more of a vehicle for Sophia’s story, it felt like Nicola’s story was really thought-out and fleshed out. She started out uncertain and embarrassed by her abilities, but with Rob’s help and encouragement, she grew to not only accept her gifts, but hone them, and it was nice to see. I also really enjoyed the romance between them, and I felt their connection from the very beginning. It’s no secret I’m a sucker for a Scotsman, and I fell hard for the ones in this book.

On a purely emotional level, I would give The Firebird 5 stars. I loved it so much, and I know these characters and their stories will stay with me for a long time. However, on a more critical level, I don’t feel I can actually give it those full 5 stars. The story started out a bit slow and there were times when it really dragged. It took me almost two weeks to read this book, and I’d like to say it was because I was savouring each detail, but it was more because there were times I felt like I was slogging through. I enjoyed the whole story, don’t get me wrong, but it felt like it could have been shorter. However, the last half or so of the book really picked up and it got to the point where I didn’t even want to go to bed because I was finally enjoying the story so much and I wanted to find out what was going to happen.

The Firebird is a beautifully written story with characters that practically leap off the pages, a story that alternately broke my heart and healed it, and a pair of romances (or a trio, more accurately) that made me fall in love. This book made me laugh, made me cry (I seriously bawled happy tears through the last 30 or so pages), and made me certain that Susanna Kearsley has a talent like no other. ...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Laura rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: library-request, hf, 2014, on-laptop, bricks, paranormal, lib-has-audio, library, buddy-reads

2.5 stars. I finally finished! I really grooved on this one at the beginning, but then it fell flat for me. The main characters in the present storyline were just too wooden and annoyingly perfect (him) or weak and dependent (her), and I just couldn't find the will to care about them. The characters in the past were more interesting, and their storyline picked up for me during the last 100 pages or so, but not to the point that I can give this one a high rating.

I'm finding out something about l ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 Karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"I'm no feart."

Wow.. I loved this. Almost as much as the first one. I think I am completely sold on Kearsley's writing. It doesn't hurt that I am also in love with Scotland, and a wee bit of a Jacobite myself. These stories are very romantically written. They include a good bit of history in them as well. And honestly, the things people sacrificed for the love and protection of their king and country just leaves me speechless.

The actual romances, for which there were several going on ...more

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Apr 12, 2013 The Lit Bitch rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Don’t let the Slains #2 fool you….this book could easily be a stand a lone book. I happened to have read The Winter Sea which is Slains #1 and there wasn’t anything in this book that made book #1 necessary to this story. In fact I was kind of wondering why even bother with the Slains #2 part of the title? When The Winter Sea ended I wasn’t under the impression that there was any need for a follow up book.

This book was magical. I loved Anna much more than Nicola though. Nicola was so wishy-washy Don’t let the Slains #2 fool you….this book could easily be a stand a lone book. I happened to have read The Winter Sea which is Slains #1 and there wasn’t anything in this book that made book #1 necessary to this story. In fact I was kind of wondering why even bother with the Slains #2 part of the title? When The Winter Sea ended I wasn’t under the impression that there was any need for a follow up book.

This book was magical. I loved Anna much more than Nicola though. Nicola was so wishy-washy for me and I just could never sympathize with her throughout the novel.

I always felt like she was feeling sorry for herself and would never accept her gifts. Even if she eventually reconciled them, I think it would be hard to believe it because she was almost too resentful and set against her gifts for me to believe that she could accept them.

For me, this was the biggest issue in the book and the reason I didn’t give it five stars. I was too annoyed by Nicola to care how she developed as a character. On the flip side, I loved Anna.

Every time that I had to stop Anna’s story to go back to the present, I was so annoyed! The author always ended Anna’s story in a great place, leaving the reader begging for more. Anna was charming and tough. She was so strong and charismatic that I just wanted to know everything about her.

I enjoyed the love story that developed for Anna…..but I was hoping for more romance in Anna’s story. There was some tension and build up but I wanted more. Maybe I just wanted more of Anna’s story….I’m not sure but the romance between Anna and Edward left me wanting more, more and more because it was so good.

For me personally, I liked The Winter Sea better. I think mostly because the sea and setting added so much atmosphere in the story that I just felt differently about it.

This book because it was in multiple areas, I didn’t get the same atmospheric feel as I did with The Winter Sea. I also liked all the characters in The Winter Sea better….but that said there was a lot to like in The Firebird and it was uniquely its own story. I loved it all the same….it might be because The Winter Sea was my first experience with Kearsley’s books but both were good and worth reading for different reasons.

See my full review here ...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Melodie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-romance

The Firebird is a small wooden objet D'art that Nicola Marten has come across in her line of work. Brought to her for appraisal, its owner is hoping it is valuable so she can sell it and take a cruise. When Nicola touches it, there are flashes of historical memory that lead her to believe it came from the Empress Catherine of Russia.
She is unsure of her gift for seeing the past, so she enlists the help of her friend (an former love) whose gift she believes is stronger and more reliable than he ...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Mary rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2013, historical-fiction, scotland, hf-1700s, russia

This was probably more of a 2.5/3 for me. Susanna Kearsley writes compelling characters, and her stories have a certain charm, a lightness that seems to guarantee a happy ending. Maybe it's because I've read so many of her books within the last year, but I found this one formulaic. I liked both storylines, but I'm not really sure they needed each other. I found myself wishing that Kearsley would abandon her signature framing device and separate the stories rather than forcing them together in a ...more

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Apr 04, 2018 Jennifer Parr rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Oh my heart I do love this series! I need more Susanna Kearsley books in my life!!!

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May 05, 2020 aarya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to aarya by: Jess

Shelves: fiction-genre-historical, theme-c-soldier-vet-knight-warrior, theme-magical-realism-fabulism, s-1714-1795-early-georgian-era, s-scotland-ireland-wales, s-russia-eastern-europe, s-france-western-europe, theme-r-christianity-catholicism, owned-in-ebook-kindle, theme-c-law-enforcement-firefighter

THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. 😭😭😭

So much pain. But also good. ANNA. 😭

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Jun 19, 2016 Krista Claudine Baetiong rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, historical-romance, period-early-modern, literary-accolades, author-north-america, paranormal, dual-timeline

Nicola Marten possesses the gift of psychometry, which enables her to see the history of any object she touches. While her skill seems practical for her job as an antiques expert, she has never publicly shown her special ability for fear of being labelled ‘different’. One day, a woman brings in an old item to their art gallery, needing provenance: a wooden statue of Firebird, which is a Russian mythical bird.

Upon first touch, Nicola instantly glimpses a view of 18th century Russia, and is drawn Nicola Marten possesses the gift of psychometry, which enables her to see the history of any object she touches. While her skill seems practical for her job as an antiques expert, she has never publicly shown her special ability for fear of being labelled ‘different’. One day, a woman brings in an old item to their art gallery, needing provenance: a wooden statue of Firebird, which is a Russian mythical bird.

Upon first touch, Nicola instantly glimpses a view of 18th century Russia, and is drawn to the antique and its story. Eager to solve the mystery behind the item, and wanting to help the woman sell it as well, she seeks the help of Rob McMorran, a former flame with a similar 'gift' that he openly learns and uses to help others. Together, they are able to trace back the owner of the Firebird to a young woman named Anna Moray, and through a series of clues, are able to follow her journeys from Scotland to Belgium and St. Petersburg in Russia during the perilous years of the first Jacobite Rising. And as Anna suddenly finds love in one of her journeys, the estranged couple from the present also inadvertently find love and second chances along the way.

This is a wonderfully-woven story of love, loyalty, and choices, though I admit I only got engaged to the story after the introduction of the 18th-century characters. I didn’t like the present-day characters here as much as I did from The Winter Sea; Nicola and Rob somehow makes me think of X-Men every time they (view spoiler) easily jump back in time just by touching something vintage, and for me it doesn’t quite help with the realism the story is trying to achieve.

I heart fictional Anna’s love story with Irishman Edmund O’Connor, who is kin to a high-ranking military officer and Jacobite leader, but the more I read about this historical person the more I find out that he had a dubious past (he turned against the Jacobites and spied for the Hanover king). Miss Kearsely actually pointed this out in her afterword, although she still gave him the benefit of the doubt by giving him a righteous portrayal in her book. This doesn’t hold off my disappointment, though; I did like his character portrayal and was hoping real-life Edmund wasn’t completely stained at all.

I appreciate how the author tells her story: she writes clearly, seamlessly, and the historical outline is easy to follow. You get to see mental pictures from the words you read out of her, and I count that as talent. There are only a handful of authors who have made me see images or immerse in the story while reading; clearly, Miss Kearsely is one of them.

On the whole, this book gives a pleasant reading experience. This is also my second Kearsely read, and so far she doesn’t disappoint.
...more

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Jun 13, 2016 Christine Spoors rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, read-2017, scottish-celtic

I think I can safely say that Susanna Kearsley is now my favourite author. This book is the sequel to The Winter Sea, but also features a character who was introduced in The Shadowy Horses so I'd recommend reading both to get the best reading experience. I LOVED this story.

This book follows Nicola, a woman from London with a rare gift. When she touches objects she can, with varying success, see their history. When she meets a woman trying to sell a wooden carving called The Firebird, claiming it I think I can safely say that Susanna Kearsley is now my favourite author. This book is the sequel to The Winter Sea, but also features a character who was introduced in The Shadowy Horses so I'd recommend reading both to get the best reading experience. I LOVED this story.

This book follows Nicola, a woman from London with a rare gift. When she touches objects she can, with varying success, see their history. When she meets a woman trying to sell a wooden carving called The Firebird, claiming it belonged to Russia's Empress Catherine, she has to help her. This story loosely follows the firebird folklore and I absolutely loved that. There is also a historical POV which I won't spoil, but if you've read The Winter Sea then you'll love it. The character development was brilliant in this book and I always love the main characters Kearsley writes and she really makes the reader feel their emotions.

This is the first of Kearsley book that I've read which isn't just set in Scotland. Though the book travels to a few locations in Scotland to begin with, and has Scottish main characters, it also takes us to Belgium and then Russia. I loved learning about these new places, especially Russia as I have never read any contemporary/historical set there. From what she wrote about Scotland, it is once again clear that she really took the time to research before she wrote. I didn't know much about the Scottish Jacobite community living in St. Petersburg so I learned something new whilst reading this book!

I usually don't love books that are contemporary or have romance, but there's just something about Kearsley's writing that I love. Her slow-burn romances are always wonderful and I love the way she writes about the modern world. I saw a few reviews saying that they disliked the way she wrote some Scottish accents but, though I'm not from the borders, I thought they were very realistic. Using certain phrases and ways of structuring sentences to show the accents.

A wonderful book with a very unique story-line and a brilliant romance. It made me cry more than once and I would definitely recommend! ...more

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Aug 17, 2013 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

October 2019: It’s funny, how things change. This reread I find myself enraged that Rob didn’t say anything about the first editions right away, but instead chose to yank around two people.

Anna’s still darling, though.

August 2016: Bumping up to five stars. Whatever could I have been thinking, three years ago?

August 2013: The Firebird is an emotional journey - in fact, considering how slight the plot is, and how nonchalantly it concludes, it's amazing that the novel carries such emotional heft ...more

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Dec 30, 2013 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

Please do NOT judge this beautiful book by the audio version.

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Nov 18, 2013 Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: past-present-theme

Goodreads-Giveaway- I Won

Setting: Present day London & 1700 Russia

Nicola Marter can hold an object and "sense" its history. She tells no one of this gift until a woman brings a small wooden carving to her boss,a dealer of Russian antiquities. When he refuses to believe the woman's tale that this is the Firebird that belonged to the Empress Catherine, Nicola knows the woman is telling the truth because she felt it and wants to help the stranger. Nicola decides to turn to her ex-lover, Rob McMorra ...more

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Apr 15, 2014 steph rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2014, e-book, romance-historical, made-me-grin-like-a-lovesick-fool, enjoyable, fiction-family, favorites, library-la-county, lots-of-characters, books-read-in-2018

Review January 2018:

Still 5 stars. An absolute favorite.

-

Review April 2014:(view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 16, 2015 Ian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: a-audiobook, a-stand-alone, g-paranormal, g-mystery

Nicola has the gift. When she touches something she catches a glimpse of the history of the object. Despite her job dealing in Russian art and antiquities she refuses to use her gift, fearing ridicule and being made to look a fool.

Then one day a woman comes to her with a small hand carved wooden bird and a tale that it was a gift to one of descendents from Catherine I of Russia. Unfortunately the provenance of the firebird is almost impossible to prove. But having touched the firebird and knowi ...more

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Mar 01, 2019 Annie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

While I struggled on whether to rate the first book in this series a 3 or a 4, this second book is at least a solid 4 for me. The books' format is very similar. They both have two timelines. There are people in the present day stories that have supernatural gifts that enable them to see what happened in the past. I liked the gifts presented in the second book more. In the first book, the story was set in Scotland. In this one, only a small portion of the story is in Scotland, while the majority ...more

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Jun 27, 2016 Sonja rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-contemporary, read-in-2016, read-in-2017, romance-historical

ETA Oct. 13, 2017: THIS IS STILL SO GOOD. I liked it even more now that I've read the first book in the series as well. What an excellent book.

I loved this so much!!!!!

Both stories were SO GREAT. At the start, I was super into Nicola and Rob in the present, but as the book went on, I became so invested in Anna's story. ANNA!!!!!! WHAT A GREAT KID/YOUNG ADULT!!!! I love her so much.

I didn't quite see the twist at the end coming but it had me clutching at my face because I was hoping that that' ...more

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Sep 07, 2014 Katrina Passick Lumsden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another fantastic Susanna Kearsley. As with most of her works, the writing is poignant, romantic, and informative, the characters are sympathetic, and the story is just downright cool. I love how adept Kearsley is at blending history and paranormal phenomena to make something altogether unique and altogether amazing.

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Mar 30, 2019 Barbara (The Bibliophage) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction-with-a-twist, own-digital, 2019

I’ve been a big fan of Susanna Kearsley for several years. I discovered her not long after I powered my way through the Outlander books. And I felt like her writing had a similar vibe—what I call historical fiction with a twist. In the case of The Firebird, the twist is part time travel and part psychic awareness.

Nicola has a skill called psychometry. When she touches something, she sees its past. It may be just a few flashes, or even a whole scene. But mostly it’s a skill she hides, because tha I’ve been a big fan of Susanna Kearsley for several years. I discovered her not long after I powered my way through the Outlander books. And I felt like her writing had a similar vibe—what I call historical fiction with a twist. In the case of The Firebird, the twist is part time travel and part psychic awareness.

Nicola has a skill called psychometry. When she touches something, she sees its past. It may be just a few flashes, or even a whole scene. But mostly it’s a skill she hides, because that’s what her family taught her. Sometimes, however, it’s a curious and useful skill for her work in the art world.

In a client meeting, Nicola touches a family heirloom that the owner claims was given to her ancestor by Empress Catherine of Russia. She sees that it’s the truth, but has no concrete way to prove it. And proof is what the client needs to sell the heirloom. Based on her short vision, Nicola sets off with the assistance of her friend Rob.

Rob is even more gifted at psychometry. And, unlike Nicola, he’s not ashamed of his skill. He’s developed it over the years, and encourages her to do the same. Their journey takes them from England to Scotland to continental Europe and then Russia.

My conclusions
Typically, a Kearsley novel will grab me by the shoulders and force me to finish it within a week. This one was unexpectedly quite the opposite. Admittedly, I was reading several other books. But still, no great book takes me the better part of a month to finish.

I wasn’t entranced by the story, nor the characters. Nicola and Rob were far from captivating. And Kearsley’s balance of action and description seemed uneven. Just as I’d get involved in the present-day story, it would switch to the past. Now normally I wouldn’t find this difficult. I recently loved it inUnsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. Instead, I just felt disconnected from The Firebird’s settings and pedantic descriptions.

On the other hand, the main character from the past-tense story line was a charming young girl who grows into a young woman during the story. I rooted for her to find answers and peace, as the mystery of the heirloom unfolded.

Perhaps because of this, the book finally grabbed me around 70% of the way through. But that’s practically too late, since I was tempted to abandon the book near 50%. But if you’ve got some patience, you may find it works for you.

I’ll give this three stars, because it’s mostly well written. But I can’t go higher because of how conflicted I feel.

Originally published at TheBibliophage.com, where you'll find reviews of books like this, nonfiction, and whatever fits my eclectic reading taste. Come visit, won't you? ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Bree Hill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

When I initially went into this story I had no idea it was a follow up to The Winter Sea which is not of my favorite books from this year.
As I got further into the book and realized what it was I became so excited because there were so many Up in the Air emotions I had left from Winter Sea.
This book had its slow moments but when I finished it I was so damn glad I read it. Stories like this one remind me of why I love reading.
This story follows Nicola who in present day is trying to help a client ...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Donna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 6-star-life-changing-books

**First read - 1/30/13 to 2/3/13
**Second read - 8/28/13 to 8/31/13
**Third read - 1/28/14 to 2/1/14
**Fourth read - 7/13/17 to 7/20/17

>First listen - August 2014
>Second listen - Oct 2015

<<4th read comments>>
I started listening to this, again, because I was going on a long drive and knew this is a book that would keep my attention. My drive was done but I couldn't just leave the book. I _had_ to pick up the book and read to finish the story. For me, there is magic in the pages. Magic of imagination ...more

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Apr 16, 2017 Frankie Lovely rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Frankie Lovely by: ✶Rachelle✶

Shelves: recommended, romance, read-it-in-2017, want-to-own, rtc-review-to-come, stand-alone, historical-fiction, paranormal

4.5 stars
Review to come

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About Susanna Kearsley

Susanna Kearsley

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New York Times, USA Today, and Globe and Mail bestselling author Susanna Kearsley is a former museum curator who loves restoring the lost voices of real people to the page, interweaving romance and historical intrigue with modern adventure.

Her books, published in translation in more than 20 countries, have won the Catherine Cookson Fiction Prize, RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards, a RITA Award, and Nat ...more

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“Ye'll learn more of a man if ye look at his face when he's looking at somebody else, than ye'll learn any other way, but,' he advised her, 'ye have to keep silent to do it” — 21 likes

“The strongest soldier cannot balance long upon the blade that does divide his honor and his heart, and whatever way he falls, the cut will kill him.” — 13 likes

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The Firebird

(Slains #2)

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