Fire Study (Study #3)

Reader reviewed by Lexie

As the last book of the 'Study' series, its the last book from Yelena's
perspective and the setting stage for the heroine of the next series.
Practically everyone from the first or second book makes an appearance
in some form (though the story is primarily set in Sitia) and whoever
doesn't (not that I can think of many) is mentioned at least.

A
lot of questions are answered--the true nature of Yelena's 'Soulfinder'
abilities, the true evil genius, and the fact that really Ixia nor
Sitia can rely solely upon themselves any longer. Yelena, being unique
in the fact that she is widely accepted in both countries by the
leaders, began this change and works (for at least most of this book)
to make it a reality. Oh and less I forget Valek's immunity to magic
and the Commander's own curious case is also explained.

I won't
lie, I spent a lot of the book ready to smack Yelena halfway to Ixia
and back again. She made mistakes in the other two books of course, but
this book it just seemed like she was ready to jump into every single
mistake she could. And then get mad at everyone else. She isn't alone
in her bumbling however, Moon Man decides to take a detour down
troublesome annoyance lane as well, which was less then pleasing. To be
fair they were both urged onwards by outside forces bent on corrupting
them, but I guess I was disappointed how easy that could have been.

The
final resolution is satisfying in that it wraps up many of the
mysteries that plagued Yelena's story specifically, but left a lot of
doors open to be explored in the next series of books (the 'Glass'
series, which should give you an indication of who's the main char). I
particularly liked the explanation of Valek's 'immunity to magic'. I
was down for slightly harsher punitive measures against Cahil however,
but I guess he tried to be better so I guess he deserves leniency.

I'm going to review the two short stories 'Assassin Study' (from Valek's POV in between Poison Study and Magic Study) and 'Power Study' (with Ari and Janco in between Magic Study and Fire Study).

((reprinted with author's permission))