#naxdell

Things I liked:

-     I loved that this book took place in a different country, in a different time, with different charters.  I really like book series that are in the same world but aren't about the same people.  It really shows that author loves the world they made and wants the reader to see everything about it.

-     Fire and Kasta had some similarities to them but I think they both stood out for different reasons.  Fire wants kids, but can't have them because she is a monster.  Whereas Kasta just doesn't want kids.  I think Fires struggle with love and children throughout the book is another great representation from Cashore.  There are lots of people in the world who suffer for mental illnesses that prevent them from having children.  Whether it's from the fear that they could pass their struggles down to their children or their mental illness could prevent them from taking care of their children properly.  So being able to read about Fires struggle with wanting children but not being able to have them to keep everyone else safe was very nice to read about.  Plus her struggle with the fact that everyone she loves runs off and dies was really interesting to me.  Her growth from the beginning to the end of the book was really amazing to read.  

-     Fires powers were another thing I really liked.  It kind of makes me think that maybe the Monsters and the Gracelings are connected in some way.  Since Po has mind powers and Fire does, from being a monster, I want to know if they have anything to do with one another.  Cause we know from this book for sure that the Gracelings and Monsters lived at the same time.  But we don't really know if one came before the other, or what happened to the other monster humans besides Fire and Cansrel,  We may never know but I think it would be cool if we did.  

Things I didn't like:

-     I found it a little weird that Leck was present in this book.  I didn't really understand how he fit in with the new cast of characters.  I hope that since the next book is about Bitterblue that it'll all tie together in the Realm as a whole.  

Overall:

-      This book was also really good!  It defiantly above a 4.5 but not quite as good as the first one.  This book was more a political intrigue fantasy novel rather than a fighting action fantasy novel.  But I think that was a great choice by the author.  It separates this book from the first one in a great way.  Usually I don't like these kinds of book, but this one was great!  I also loved seeing a new part of the world with new kinds of adversaries.  The fact that the Dells don't have Gracelings but actually monsters was fun!  Fire struggles with so many human emotions in this book, and  loved reading all of them.  From love to grief Cashore really dove deep into how one person could feel so many different things all at once.  Fire’s powers are so much more fun than anyone else we've heard from yet.  And the fact that she had decided to do what she wants to do with them even before we meet her was also really cool.  Leck being in this book for like 0.02 seconds really didn't make much sense to me.  He felt really out of place in the story as a whole.  But other then that I have no complaints! Very excited for the next installment of the series!