"Fire" by Kristin Cashore

461 pages

This novel is a companion to the popular young adult fantasy "Graceling" and takes place about thirty years earlier. In a kingdom called the Dells, there are monsters that have the shape of normal animals but are gorgeously colored and they have the power to control the minds of humans. Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last human-shaped monster, with unimaginable beauty that drives men mad and the ability to control other people's thoughts and actions. Though many envy her powers, Fire resents the complications they have brought to her life, particularly her relationship with her late father who as also a monster. Now a civil war is brewing in the Dells, and each side wants Fire's power to harm the other. Before she knows it, Fire is caught in the middle and it's the last place she wants to be.

I loved "Graceling" and this follow-up novel did not disappoint! I like that it gave me some background on one of the characters from "Graceling" and helped me understand how he got where he was, but some great new characters kept things new and interesting. Oddly enough, Fire was one of my least favorite characters. I'm sure that being insanely beautiful and controlling people's minds would make one really lonely and come with all sorts of other problems, but I just couldn't relate to her in any way and it's hard for me, personally, to like characters when I don't feel any kind of connection. Nevertheless, the storyline and the other characters kept me interested from beginning to end.