Fire (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy #2)

Reader reviewed by Elise

This book is a prequel to one of my favorite books of all
time--Cashore's Graceling. I had high expectations for this book from
the moment I first discovered it, and let me say this: my expectations
have never been so wildly surpassed.

Fire evoked such raw
emotion in me that I was astonished at myself. I have never been so
empathetic to a character as I was to Fire, the beautiful and cursed
girl whose story is thought-provoking and deeply moving. Cashore's
writing is natural and hypnotic, with the kind of perfect, earthly
voice that I find myself unconsciously using for days afterward. Her
imagery is clear and easy to create mentally, thus making the story as
a whole more intimate and believable.

The Dells, for me, are as
real as the Seven Kingdoms of Graceling, or the factual countries of
today. All of them have cruelty, corruption, politics, and war as well
as beauty, peace, and humanity.

In both of Cashore's books, she
explores the complications, joys, and pains of love, providing
situations and feelings that are far from perfect, and so heartfelt and
human. Fire is a welcome contrast to Graceling in this way, although
the raw passion and purity of love is equal in both novels. Also in
Fire, Cashore furthers her exploration of the human mind and its
strength that she began in Graceling, giving the reader an amazing
insight into humanity as a whole. She also repeats the theme of the
exploitation of women, magnified in Fire to a major point of focus.

But
aside from these more academic aspects, Fire is truly an amazing piece
of literature. A happy, welcome addiction that I hardly realized I had
refused to let go of until long after I had finished. It was an
experience that both traumatized and refreshed me, and I will not soon
forget it. Trust me on this, readers--Kristin Cashore is an artist of a
higher caliber.