Fire (Graceling Realm, #2) in What's the Name of That Book???

Sep 26, 2009 Sara ♥ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009, romance, action-adventure, young-adult, fantasy, wishlist, challenge-winter-2009

December 11-13, 2009

All right. So I really enjoyed this book, but it just didn't flow like Graceling did. I loved the premise. Fire was AWESOME. LOVE Brigan (although he kept taking off, which was a bit frustrating). I thought the two of them together were AWESOME, and I was excited to see what developed between them from the moment Brigan walked onto the pages. There were quite a few surprises along the way...

But the book just didn't flow... Maybe it had something to do with how easy it was to ...more

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Dec 19, 2009 Grace rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, bad-sequels

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was really disappointed with this book. I read Graceling in just a few days and really enjoyed it. Fire, on the other hand, I felt like I had to slog through and for the last half just wanted to read something else. I am still confused as to why this was written as a prequel/companion for Granceling when it could have been edited slightly and been a completely stand alone book with out any ties to Granceling what so ever. The only thing that ties it to Graceling is the presence of Leck which i I was really disappointed with this book. I read Graceling in just a few days and really enjoyed it. Fire, on the other hand, I felt like I had to slog through and for the last half just wanted to read something else. I am still confused as to why this was written as a prequel/companion for Granceling when it could have been edited slightly and been a completely stand alone book with out any ties to Granceling what so ever. The only thing that ties it to Graceling is the presence of Leck which is minor and doesn't do much for the plot at all. In fact, I felt that his part in the story was very forced. He wasn't a compelling character and it did nothing in the way of explanation or back story for Graceling. Basically, all it confirms is that he was completely crazy from the start and tells us how he lost his eye, which was really not that pressing of a question for me.

I was not interested in Fire as a character at all and found her at times to be quite annoying. The most interesting characters in the book, to me at least, were Brigan (who is absent most of the book, off fighting battles) and Clara (who doesn't get much time in the story).

There were a lot of random "mysteries" introduced at the beginning of the book. Who Archer's real father was. What Brocker did to get so brutally punished by king Nax. What was up with Brigan and why his "father" King Nax hated him so much.... To tell the truth I'd completely forgotten about those until the end, when those loose ends were hastily tied up with great revelations made by Fire. I thought the way Cashore decided to convey this information was awkward. It was very "I'm going to explain parts of the plot to you now."

Graceling was very engaging, and even at times, in the middle, when the plot was slower I still enjoyed reading the parts with Po and Katsa. With Fire, on the other hand, I found myself getting bored and wanting things to pick up. It's not that I think a book should have action on every other page - far from it - but I do want the plot to be going forward.

I was really surprised by how much I disliked this book. I love fantasy and I really liked Graceling, so was expecting to like this one too. It seems to have been received well, but I really didn't see the appeal of it. ...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Casey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: conspiracies, retelling-fairy-tales, romance, ya, books-i-teach, fantasy

I'm not sure how to compare this to Graceling, but I do suggest reading Graceling first even though Fire is technically a prequel. The anxiety from the opening straight through to the end was magnified by knowing what I did from reading Graceling first. And no, I won't say anymore about that part.

I adored the concepts of the monsters and would like my own monster kitties pronto. I loved the idea of turning beauty on its head like that, and making the beauty into the beast in many way.

Gah, I want ...more

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Nov 06, 2009 kvon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: librarybook

Prequel to Graceling. The main character is an empath (receptive and projective, although Cashore doesn't use those terms) which leads to a lot of situations of dealing with emotional situations, including getting away from a pushy suitor, loving two people with different agendas, establishing your own identity as separate from your parents, true love, shyness, etc. There is one character from Graceling who shows up, the odious Leck, he sort of comes and goes (a lot of his backstory shows up in ...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Sara ♥ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, young-adult, action-adventure, 2012, books-i-own, suspense, fantasy, audiobook, 2013, 2017

February 1-2, 2017

3.5 years here, too. I don't even remember the hero's name. It's one of the guys in the capital city, but I can't remember which one! PATHETIC! But I know I like this book, so.... here we go!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Good book! :)

August 31-September 1, 2013

The audiobook! *gush* My FAVORITE is the way Brigan says Fire's name... *melts* SO CUTE!! The scene near the end where he comes back from the fighting and she's hurt and doesn't want to talk to him. Oh my gosh. All I have to do ...more

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Jul 06, 2018 Sarani Rangarajan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Starts slow

If you don’t like it four or five chapters in, you may not like it. But give it that long. The characters come from uncomfortable places and so their beginnings are difficult to see. But eventually that initial difficulty is outweighed by far by the growth in Fire and her friends, and the narrative picking up. This is probably one of my favorite YA books. Stands alone and worth everyone’s time.

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Feb 10, 2010 RachelAnne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventures, youngadult, fantasy

Complex and well-realized characters, together with a wonderfully compelling magical world aswirl with political intrigue made this a powerfully absorbing book. I didn't immediately fall into this one the way I was swallowed by Graceling, but once the book drew me in, I was gone. More please! ...more

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Dec 18, 2020 Kate H rated it really liked it

Shelves: goodreads-yajuvenile

I love Kristin Cashore's writing style and her characters. I think her world building is excellent although it can get a bit overly complicated at points. I do think the Graceling Realm books started off incredibly strong and got a bit weaker with each subsequent book. ...more

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Nov 01, 2009 Laurie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

I really loved this book, which is sorta related to the author's other book, Graceling, but not really. It is the story of a kingdom where there are "monsters", versions of living things that are more beautiful and mesmerizing than the normal sort. They can also control minds to get what they want. The main character is Fire, the last human monster.

I thought the characters in this book were so compelling and well-realized, and the rather complex plot with political intrigue and war was handled ...more

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Oct 25, 2009 CLM rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

It finally came! I have gotten no work done today; finally gave up and brought it to the gym with me.

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Jul 12, 2012 Abigail rated it liked it

Kind of dragged for me. And I'm getting tired of the disfigurement device. ...more

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Jan 12, 2016 Jessica rated it liked it

Not as good as Graceling, but still really good.

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May 10, 2011 Kerry (The Roaming Librarian) O'Donnell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya-fiction, romance

This prequel takes place 30 years prior to Graceling in the neighboring land of the Dells. The story is incredible, full of beauty and magic. Fire must navigate the intrigues of court life and learn to survive in a world where she is one of a kind.

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