Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Review: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead

Ahhhh. Those who know me in person know I am obsessed with Richelle Mead. I once drove an hour in the pouring rain to hear her do a reading from Spirit Bound. It was me and a bunch of 15 yr olds and it was amazing. Major girl crush on that woman. The event of a new Richelle Mead book is ALMOST as exciting for me as those days of yore when new Harry Potter books were coming out. Seriously, if they held midnight parties for new Richelle Mead releases, I would be there. I'd prob dress up as a strigoi.

ANYWAYYYY, getting to the point here, THE FIERY HEART. My heart sunk when I opened to the first page of the book and saw it was from Adrian's perspective. I sighed with every fiber of my being. nooo. Don't do it, Richelle! These dual POV YA books are so overdone and so rarely well done. I can think of like one example of a dual POV YA book that I enjoyed, and it's Perfect Chemistry. So I felt a major sense of foreboding plunging into this. And yet plunge I did, steeling myself with the thought that if anyone can pull off a dual POV, it's got to be Richelle!

Happily, I do think she pulled it off. It wasn't perfect, but it was a hell of a lot better than most of the dual POV books out there, and I can understand why she decided to tell the story this way. In Vampire Academy, she was able to use Rose & Lyssa's bond to show scenes that weren't happening in Rose's immediate presence, but with Sydney and Adrian that's not really possible. I also think the romance aspect of Bloodlines is more crucial to the story here than it was with Rose and Dimitri (even though I still swooned way harder over Rose/Dimitri than I do for Sydney/Adrian), so it was a nice surprise to be able to watch the story play out through Adrian's eyes as well as Sydney's.

 I could definitely tell the difference between Adrian and Sydney's voices most of the time, though I still like Adrian's speaking voice more than his narrating voice. There were a few times when he began waxing poetic over Sydney's glorious amber eyes for the eleventh time in a chapter and I started to feel nauseated, but in general it was mostly sweet. I like that the boy in this story is the whacked out emotional one, whereas Sydney is pragmatic, level headed, and always strong (and obsessed with cars).

I thought the ending was pretty predictable, although that might be because I read an interview with Richelle where she said a lot of readers were going to be worked up over this book. And I know how she likes to torture us midway through her series! So I was ready for it...

In sum, a lovely addition to the Bloodlines series. Adrian continued to be a highlight. The scene where he's having a manic meltdown and decides to attempt baking creme brulee had me spitting out my water. Makes me yearn for a retelling of Vampire Academy through Dimitri's eyes! Ahemm.

4.5 stars! HURRY UP WITH THE NEXT ONE! Also, can't wait for the VA movie in February!!!


2 comments:

  1. I'm a big Richelle Mead fan too, I'll read anything she writes. I love this series, basically because of the characters. Love Sydney and Adrian and all of their quirks and insecurities (and strengths). Although not a whole lot happens in this book plot-wise and yes, the ending was very predictable, still loved it and can't wait for the next one. Great review! ~Pam

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    1. Exactly!! I love Richelle Mead because she is a genius when it comes to creating compelling, well developed characters with strong, unique voices. For me, character development/voice is the most important aspect of YA books. A book could have the best plot ever, but if I'm not relating to the characters, it will inevitably fall short for me. and Richelle is SO GOOD AT THAT! Thanks for reading :-)

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