Fire
Fireby Kristin Cashore
Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story. (goodreads.com)
I bought this book in October 2009. I started reading it in January 2010 and stopped on January 23, 2010 (my birthday!) per Goodreads. I don't know what it was a year ago, but I just could not connect with the book or characters. I loved Graceling so I was sort of thrown for a loop when I wasn't immediately loving Fire.Then the book sat in my TBR pile forever. As pretty as it is I just could not bring myself to pick it up again.Something in me called out to the book this month. I'm down in the dumps, I'm not reading very much but somehow I thought "I think I'll finish Fire" this month.And I did. And I really enjoyed the second half of this book. Somehow I cared more about Fire and the people around her. I grew to love her guard and I really liked little 5-year old Hannah. What I still didn't really connect with was the romance angle of the story. I'm a big old party pooper when it comes to romance in books, often it feels forced and like it's written just to bring in the readers who want sparks with their characters. I personally like character development and relationships with each other and the story line more than swooning goo-goo eyes at each other.Thankfully there were very few goo-goo eyes in the story. :)I think part of why I didn't like Fire at the start of the story was because she didn't like herself and that translated into her being stubborn and difficult due to her fear of becoming like her father. I grew to love her more as she began to love and trust herself and embrace the potential she had. When Fire stopped fearing whom she might become and embraces who she was that was a turning point in the story for me.Kristin Cashore's writing is wonderful to read. She's great with description and great with dialogue and has a knack for creating inner struggles for her characters that truly shine and evolve as the story goes on. I am looking forward to more from her in the future.The Seven Kingdoms