I remember really liking the "Fire and Thorns" trilogy, and although it had been a while since I'd read the series, I had a basic remembrance of the world and the characters. When I saw this new addition, I was intrigued. I must admit (hanging my head in shame) ... I hadn't really remembered Red SparkleStone from the final book (I reread [b:The Bitter Kingdom|11431896|The Bitter Kingdom (Fire and Thorns, #3)|Rae Carson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360281470l/11431896._SY75_.jpg|16365346] as soon as I finished this) but it was okay. This was the same world, and some of the same characters, but it was its own story, so I didn't have to recall every detail from the first three books.

I don't know that I actually thought this was better than the first three books (I rated them four stars ... but as I reread and will do a second review of "The Bitter Kingdom" I am bumping that to five). I loved being back in this world. I loved the language. This had a different narrator than the first three books, which was initially disappointing ... but as this is RED, not Elisa telling the story, it really had to be a different narrator. This narrator did a great job too. As indicated, the language has an exotic, foreign sound when it comes to the names of people and places. This narrator did a great job of matching the pronunciation and recreating the same feel, even from a different POV.

Here, we go back to when Red was a little girl, and learn much more of her history before she connected with Elisa and the story we already know. It was interesting to have that portion of the story repeated here in this book. The book moves between the present (a while after the third book ends) and the past, but was a very enjoyable read/listen.