Publisher: Little Brown
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Pages: 416
Source: ARC from the NOVL
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Goodreads Description
All hail the Fire Queen.
Against all odds, Ruby has defeated the villainous Frost King and melted his throne of ice. But the bloodthirsty Minax that was trapped inside is now haunting her kingdom and everyone she loves. The answers to its demise may lie to the south in Sudesia, the land of the Firebloods, and a country that holds the secrets to Ruby’s powers and past…
Despite warnings from her beloved Arcus, Ruby accompanies a roguish Fireblood named Kai to Sudesia, where she must master her control of fire in a series of trials to gain the trust of the suspicious Fire Queen. Only then can she hope to access the knowledge that could defeat the rampaging Minax—which grows closer every moment. But as sparks fly in her moments alone with Kai, Ruby no longer knows whom to trust. The fates of two kingdoms are now in her hands.
My Thoughts
Before starting Fireblood I decided to reread Frostblood since I didn't remember too much of the story. I have already reviewed it but after this read I decided to drop my initial rating to 3 stars. It's not that I thought the book was bad, I just couldn't understand why I had given it 4 stars the first time I read it. With that being said, Fireblood was amazing!
Everything I felt was missing while reading Frostblood was given to me in this installment of the series. I felt connected to the main character, Ruby, almost immediately and I was invested in her story. I know this might sound a little crazy but before I felt like there was a distance between the main character and myself. So, while I was interested in the storyline I didn't really care what happened to Ruby or wasn't impacted when something bad happened to her during the first book. Everything about Ruby's character felt real and relatable which made me love her.
Going along with that, there was a lot more tension in the actual story. At least it was for me. Ruby takes so many risks throughout Fireblood and my heart was pounding each moment I was waiting to see the outcome of a decision she made. This brings me back to what I mentioned before, I was a lot more invested in Ruby's story. Also, I felt like the story wasn't as familiar as it was in the first book. A big criticism about Frostblood was that its as similar to too many other young adult fantasy novels and while I agreed I still thought the story had its own unique touch. Fireblood took that and expanded upon it, shaping the story into something I've never personally come across.
While I had some predictions I was not expecting some of the bigger plot points that were revealed. Fireblood was luckily not one of those books that was a victim to the middle book slump. Actually it improved upon the foundation that was set in the opening. Although a journey ended by the end of Fireblood I can't wait to see where these characters go and how their story will end in Nightblood, the conclusion of this trilogy.
