Review Detail

"Fireblood" was a pretty good continuation of the Frostblood Saga. While the first book took place in the land of the Frostbloods, most of this second book take place in the land of the Firebloods (Sudesia). Here, Ruby travels for answers and adventure, encountering a vengeful queen and strange customs. She has always felt out of place, having to hide her fire, and so, she is seeking a feeling of "fitting in" in her journey. After meeting Kai and having him save her life (in a battle where Arcus is severely wounded), she elects to travel with him away from the troubles that left her feeling like a misfit in Arcus's court.

Upon arriving in Sudesia, Ruby learns that she is not a welcome addition to their society and is given a very short amount of time to prove herself amongst the Firebloods, to attempt to become a Master (after a series of life-threatening tests). Although I thought this sounded like something that could make a whole book, the tests are a relatively small part of the overall story and most of the novel deals with interpersonal relationships. Ruby seems a little immature and to spurn the devotion of Arcus. The love triangle (or should I say square?) that develops felt a little forced, and I couldn't really understand all the drama around it. The relationships seemed like more of after-thoughts than anything else, and I couldn't get into the dilemmas/dramas surrounding them. The very real threat of the Minax who was released and continues to torment the kingdom and Ruby takes a backseat to a lot of relationship drama, when I often felt it should be the other way around.

Overall, I still enjoyed it and would give it 3-3.5 stars, but it didn't spark the same passion I felt about the first book and seemed more like a rehashing/less personal growth in this one. I am still curious to see how this develops and would like to continue with the series- I'm hopeful that we'll see a lot more growth and focus on the storyline that pops up here and there (the battle with the Minax/threats to sanity that were hidden in the thrones). The last part of the book was again the most action-packed and interesting, while the first half seemed a bit slow. I'll be curious to see how the next one develops!