Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore

(summary from goodreads)


Fire, Graceling's prequel-ish companion book, takes place across the mountains to the east of the seven kingdoms, in a rocky, war-torn land called the Dells. 

Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans. 

Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.


Review: After reading Graceling I didn't think Kristin could come up with something any more brilliant, and then I read Fire and was proved wrong. What made this such a great companion to Graceling was that it was still in the same world and had over-lapping characters (okay, only one over-lapping character). 


And even though a lot of the story was just traveling through the woods or explanations of politics, it was still wonderful because these things were written for a unique world and were therefore different and interesting! And the characters, oh the characters. All of them were amazing and wonderfully written. It was great to watch Fire's relationships with Archer and Brigan and to see them developing in different ways. 


It simply astounds me how the author has once again written such an amazing book. It is definitely one of my favorites this year.  

Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

(summary from goodreads) 

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight — she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme, and in her case horrifying, skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. 

She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace — or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away... a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Review: I must say that at first I did NOT want to read this book. I thought it was going to be the typical fantasy. It was not. The world, the characters, everything was truly unique. I love reading world building books, but i am easily confused in them, what with all the different names and places. This, however, was anything but a confusing book. Although it was hard to keep track of names and places at first, it quickly became easy to understand. 

The writing was absolutely phenomenal and the characters were stupendous! Both Katsa and Po were well rounded, well written, three dimensional characters. If you have not yet read Graceling i suggest you go out and get it as soon as possible.