Fire

Fire was completely different from Graceling. As different as it can only be. It is a companion novel and the only character that connects the two books is one infamous king.

In terms of plot, it may be a better book, But I didn't have that connection to main characters as I had with Katsa and Po. That's why the rating.

Maybe 3.5
The author went to great lengths to describe what Fire was thinking, which took a long time (to me). This book is also said to be in a series with the author's other book, “Graceling”. However, I have found that not only is the main character not Katsa, it is in a completely different land. The only relevance between each book is that they're in the same fictional world and the same boy is in each book. The author also ended the book in a melancholy manner, and it is my personal taste to like at least somewhat somewhat happy endings, but again, that is just my personal feeling. All in all, I guess it was a pretty good book.

This is one of my all-time favorite books and it gets better with every reread. I can't help but love what and who Fire loves, and she loves so much and so many. I think that's sort of the overall theme of this book, love in all it's forms and all the ways it changes us. Fire grows up lonely and afraid of herself, and despite all the tragedy in this book, I can't help but find hope in the journey she goes on, one that ultimately ends in an expansive family that adores her and the knowledge that she is capable of more love than cruelty. Every part of this book destroyed me, but the relationship between the royal siblings the most. Nash and Brigan especially. When Nash tells Fire that he loves his brother more than he realized before she came along... Yeah, I cried like a baby. Generally, this is a story that is as much about family as it is about monsters.