After the staggering amazement at reading Graceling, I was hoping that Fire would be a great second book within the Graceling world and would be just as amazing to read. How wrong I was.

It wasn’t the fact that we had a whole host of new characters to follow, neither was it the fact that the events of Fire take place at least 20 years before the events of Graceling (making it more of a prequel). Neither was the fact that we were learning about a whole other world and peoples that do not follow the same rules as the Graceling realms.

No, the problem with this book was that it had so much promise but it took far too long for anything of note to actually happen and even longer still before any of the characters actually became likable enough to care about them.

The world-building was well done and the descriptions as vivid as ever, but while the concept and synopsis made it out to be a fantastical follow-on from Graceling, the whole book just fell flat.

Flat characters, repressed feelings and emotions by said characters, too much narration about meaningless occurrences, and very little actual character arcs and character growth throughout.

The book wasn’t terrible and would be a slow-paced read for those looking for a little more storytelling within the Graceling realms, but I would personally have labeled this book #0.5 of the series and not book #2, as it doesn’t serve to add much to the knowledge that we desired from a second book about Gracelings and the world they inhabit.

The next book in the series, Bitterblue, promises much more action and suspense as it follows once again the characters in the Graceling realm, not so much those in the Dells.

CONTENT WARNING: Death, Death of a Parent, Murder, Torture, Blood, Violence, Gaslighting, Body Trauma, Confinement, Kidnapping, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Animal Death, Rape, Infidelity, Pregnancy, War