Young at Heart: Fire by Kristin Cashore (Audio)

Fire
Author- Kristin Cashore
Published- October 5th, 2009
Penguin Audio
12 hours 39 minutes
Obtained from the library

In the sequel to Graceling, turmoil plagues the land of Dells. Armies in the northern and southern regions build strength and prepare to invade King City and dethrone young King Nash. Outside the city, in the forests and mountains, spies and thieves lurk and loot.

Young Fire, a girl who possesses irresistible beauty and can influence others' minds, resides here, and as her world crumbles win the looming war, she desperately searches for a way to save it.-- Goodreads

I can't believe how long I have gone without Audio books! I totally discovered a new obsession. I find myself wanting to clean and do laundry knowing that I can listen to a book while I do it!

So, me being me, I was completely oblivious to the fact that this was book 2, even though it has no relation to Graceling, save for one character. By the time I realized this, I was already three Cd's in. I decided to continue listening anyway after asking a few of my bookie friends if I needed to read Graceling first.

I really, really loved the narrator for this audio. Besides the fact she had a British(?) accent, she also did a great job of bringing the characters to life with different voices and tones. I will for sure be listening to Graceling and Bitterblue! I really hope she narrates for them also!

Now, onto the story! I really enjoyed this book! I absolutely adored Fire. What a kick-butt heroine. She was so admirable and strong throughout the whole story. Her chemistry with all of the characters was perfect. I loved the relationship between her and her horse, Small. It reminded me a lot of when I used to ride horses and had that connection. I also loved the relationship between her and Hannah. It makes me wish I had a sibling or cousin I could mentor like that.

Fire (the story, not the character) had lots and lots of action. People were always leaving to explore, having parties, or taking part in wars. Lots of stuff was constantly happening, which was part of the reason I found this book so entertaining.

I did have an issue with a message that Mrs. Cashore expressed through this book. I DON'T condone casual sex, and I also don't think that it should be encouraged. No mention was made for using protection other than herbs after it has occurred. A lot of points in this book mentioned using sex as torture, so that the woman got pregnant and settled down. What a horrible, horrible thing.

I also think that there may have been a bit too many mentions of Fire's "bleeding" time. I can understand if a teenage girl reads this book, but if I gave it to my brother to read, I think it may confuse him or gross him out. Just my honest opinion.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I really am not a fan of fantasy, but for some reason this one grabbed my attention and held it until the last word. I can't wait to get my hands on Graceling, and then Bitterblue!

I will be giving this audiobook 4 stars!

-McKenna :)

4 comments:

The Peterson'sMay 29, 2012 at 11:03 PM
McKenna,

I just read/listened to a wonderful enhanced audio version of Graceling. I liked it so much that I chose it to share for bookclub. I too found in Graceling that the one big flaw for me was casual sex and raising up an ideal that marriage is like a trap. If it hadn't been for that I would have loved to have shared it with my daughters. The adventure in the book was great and I already have a copy of Bitterblue to dig into. I think it's okay and maybe even good that you startred with Fire because my understanding is that it's like a "prequel" to Graceling and Bitterblue. :)

~Amy
terrieMay 30, 2012 at 12:59 AM
Hi McKenna it's Terrie (from Paperback Swap) just checking out your cute blog. I also recently read all three of these books and I agree with your review. You're in luck because it will make perfect sense to read them in the order that you did because chronologically Fire is first then Graceling then Bitterblue. I think you'll like the other two just as much.