Review: Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2) by Elly Blake

Title: Fireblood

Series: Frostblood Saga #2
Author: Elly Blake
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Pages: 416
Genres: Young adult, Fantasy
Source: Ebook

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All hail the Fire Queen.

Against all odds, Ruby has defeated the villainous Frost King and melted his throne of ice. But the bloodthirsty Minax that was trapped inside is now haunting her kingdom and everyone she loves. The answers to its demise may lie to the south in Sudesia, the land of the Firebloods, and a country that holds the secrets to Ruby’s powers and past…

Despite warnings from her beloved Arcus, Ruby accompanies a roguish Fireblood named Kai to Sudesia, where she must master her control of fire in a series of trials to gain the trust of the suspicious Fire Queen. Only then can she hope to access the knowledge that could defeat the rampaging Minax—which grows closer every moment. But as sparks fly in her moments alone with Kai, Ruby no longer knows whom to trust. The fates of two kingdoms are now in her hands.

MY REVIEW

This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

I am really impressed with how much better this book is than the first book. Frostblood is a book that I enjoyed, but it didn't wow me. It was good, plain and simple. This book stepped things up a notch. Blake is really growing as an author, even in such a short amount of time which is really promising. I can only expect her books to keep getting better as time goes by. I will definitely continue to read her books after reading this one.

This series definitely has some cliché tropes, but I think that one of the ways that this sequel pushes past them is with the religious aspects of the inhabitants of this world. There is a specialized mythology with everything centered on their gods/goddesses. The Frostbloods and the Firebloods were created by these deities, but these deities also have a greater history in the story. We get to see more of that in this book than we did with the first one and it brings more interest to the story. It adds intrigue that was only touched upon before. 

There is a lot of growth for the main character in this, which was delightful. There are so many things going on in Ruby's life that she has to overcome. Her homeland is full of people that want her dead, her love interest is the king of these people so there is conflict over not belonging in his world, she travels to her mother's homeland with other Firebloods and is an outcast, she learns some shocking things about her ties to this land, and all the while she is still fighting the possession of an evil creature and trying to solve how to destroy it to save lives. There really is so much going on in Ruby's life in this sequel. 

I liked the addition of new characters. Kai was a delightful character, and I liked his story arc. I had hoped for more of a love triangle with him. Ruby has conflicting feelings about Kai, but she still loves Arcus. I think that the struggle she goes through with everything mentioned above ties in to her conflicting feelings. It was really well written so I was rooting for both Kai and Arcus in this!

Another thing that bumped up the wow factor is the twists you don't see coming. There were some things that happened in the story that I was not expecting at all. I consumed the entire last half of the book in a sprint because of all the shocking twists. 

The world building was fairly written. It wasn't hard to decipher the difference between the two lands. I did enjoy that both kingdoms have different hierarchies in terms of the ruling class. On one side you have a single king ruling over his kingdom and on the other side, there are princes and princesses that rule over individual islands with one queen that rules over them all. 

Overall, this was an outstanding sequel! Blake has bumped up her game and gone from a first novel that was interesting and likable to a sequel that I couldn't stop reading. The plot has been amped up in this one. If you enjoyed the first book then you will love this one! And if you didn't get along with the first book I urge you to try Fireblood anyway. There is really so much more to this book than the first one. I can't wait until the third book, Nightblood, is released! I'm only sad that I have to wait six months!

Have you ever read a series that had an okay debut, but an outstanding follow up? Do you ever continue a series if you don't love the first book?