Book Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Review: Fire

Author: Kristin Cashore
No. Of Pages: 334

Release Date: October 2009

FIRE IS MORE THAN ATTRACTIVE, FIRE IS MESMERISING.

Fire’s exceptional beauty gives her influence and power. People who are susceptible to it will do anything for her attention, and for her affection. If she wished, they would abuse their power, crush nations and even destroy their own kingdom to please her.

But beauty is only skin deep, and beneath it Fire has a human appreciation of right and wrong. Aware of her ability to influence others, and afraid of it, she lives in a corner of the world away from people – not only to protect them but also to protect herself from their attention, their distrust, and even their hatred.

Yet Fire is not the only danger to the Dells. If she wants to protect her home, if she wants a chance to undo the wrongs of the past, she must face her fears, her abilities, and a royal court full of powerful people with reason to distrust her.

Beauty is a weapon – and Fire is going to use it.

With a cast of astonishing characters, a dangerous world and a captivating, elegantly written story, Fire is a powerful tale of intrigue, death-defying adventure, and unexpected love.

My Thoughts:

I read Fire first, and of Fire and Graceling, I still can’t decide which I like best, but I think I’m leaning towards Graceling.

Fire is close to the same story set in a different part of the land. Fire is scared of her power which lies in her beauty and ability to read minds. She has a suitor that she loves but then doesn’t love. Then she falls in love with someone else. Then she kills (or in this case thinks she kills) the crazy guy (that Katsa actually does kill in Graceling). The essence of both books was exactly the same.

Fire just has less action and more emotion.

That aside and reviewing Fire by itself, it was a good read. The characters take you with them on their journey and it’s intriguing to read about the fact that Fire had to have guards with her all the time because people were either trying to kill her or marry her.

I like the plotting in this book, and the play on the politics and the party. It was so very well thought out, and even though it partially backfired I enjoyed the three or so chapters that were devoted to the party and trying to kill off the other leaders.

I felt sorry for Archer at the start because of the way Fire treats him, but it is understandable the more you read into the journey. Brigan was and is an excellent character, I love his strong mindedness and I wish there was more of him in the book.

There is always a character whether big or small that makes a book. For me in Fire it was Hanna, the little girl that runs around the court getting into fights on Fire’s behalf. She is so feisty and I love that in a character, especially a child. I commend Cashore for not overlooking a role that was played perfectly by a six year old.

One thing that irks me about both books is Cashore's strong message against marriage and babies. In a way I know why she did it, but she threw it in our faces in both books and I felt that the amount of times it was mentioned was unnecessary. It was the first thing I noticed when I read Graceling, because it hit a small nerve in Fire.

I loved this book though, and anyone looking for adventure, romance and a little dip into court politics would love it too.

4 stars