Yzabel / June 22, 2012

Fire with Fire by Penelope King

My rating: [rating=4]

I had read the first installment of this series for {Read It & Reap 55} in the Shut Up And Read group, and found it interesting. The second one, that got sent to me through the same group, I went through like a breeze. The story was compelling, and I kept being drawn back to it to read more, which is always a good sign in my case.

We already know the main characters from the first book, of course; we get to know them better here, as well as see some development that I was glad about. While Lucky might have just a tad bit too much of a tendency to feel guilty about everything bad that happens (but still gets out to kick ass no matter what), I thought Liora was getting better. There was less whining about how she doesn’t fit in, and more taking things into her own hands, as well as starting to accept to live with her current state (instead of closing her eyes and trying to ignore Lucky’s doings). There was also something terribly beautiful about the relationship between Lucky and Bones (I was so, so unhappy at how things unfolded in chapter 19, and hope we get to know, let’s say, more in the next novel).

Kieron… got on my nerves, but part of me couldn’t keep on thinking that there must be more to his shitty attitude. It was half expected, but he still gave me a good scare here. I found him weaker in this book, though. Perhaps because he doesn’t appear for the first half, and gets less ‘screen time’?

Tristan seemed so shady from the beginning, but I had no idea at first who or what exactly he was, nor what he wanted. I liked the way he progressively weaseled his way into Liora’s life, and how it was introduced, through her skewed perception. It’s not so easy to do that in a first-person narrative, and I was surprised, then intrigued, then satisfied at the way it was brought. (The part about coming back from the mines, and then chapter 11 especially, made me frown and go all “ooookay, now this is really getting weird”—toppled with that line about the blueberries pancakes.)

And Tatiana. I already liked her in the first installment, but now I like her even more.

It’s hard to write a full review without spoiling too much, so I’ll leave it at that. Suffice to say that I will very likely read #3, because I definitely want to know where the characters are going to take it from now on. Too many things have changed in their lives, they can’t go back, and so going forward is the only option, and is bound to bring some surprises.