Review: Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Fire Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Published: March 1, 2008 by Mira
Pages: 441
Genre: YA Fantasy, Romance
Part of a Series?: Yes

Goodreads Synopsis:

The apprenticeship is over—now the real test has begun.

When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder—able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before...

Honor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself—and save the land she holds dear.

Well then. Am I the only one who finds it hard to give actual well thought out reviews to sequels? 

*sigh* I expected so much more from this. As I mentioned in my Magic Study review, there was so much potential to turn this into something great, but to me, it just fell flat. Don't get me wrong. It was a solid ending. Everything wrapped up nicely and I wasn't left feeling like there was anything unresolved, however it could have been so much more.

I am a sucker for cool magic systems and the ending of Magic Study had so much promise. Yelena was coming into her powers and there was a lot of self discovery going on, and while that continued through this book, there wasn't so much a focus on it, which kind of disappointed me. 

There was also an issue of pacing for me in this book and a repetitiveness that I found really annoying. The beginning especially drug on and the author had a tendency to repeat minor details throughout that really broke up the story and distracted away from what was going on. 

My entire experience with this final installment was mediocre at best, and if this reflected the first book in the series, I probably wouldn't have continued on. That being said, since this was the last book, my connection to the characters and emotional investment was pretty prominent, so I can't bring myself to completely dislike it. 

And Valek. I don't know what it is about Valek, but I really enjoy him and his character, so he gets a star all to himself. 

Ehh. I mean, you've come this far, right? You might as well finish up the series. It does have a nice ending (and Valek). 

Review: Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Magic Study
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Published: January1, 2006
Pages: 440
Genre: YA Fantasy, Romance
Part of a Series?: Yes!

Goodreads Synopsis: 

You know your life is bad when you miss your days as a poison taster...

With her greatest enemy dead, and on her way to be reunited with the family she'd been stolen from long ago, Yelena should be pleased. But though she has gained her freedom, she can't help feeling isolated in Sitia. Her Ixian background has changed her in many ways—and her newfound friends and relatives don't think it's for the better...

Despite the turmoil, she's eager to start her magic training—especially as she's been given one year to harness her power or be put to death. But her plans take a radical turn when she becomes involved with a plot to reclaim Ixia's throne for a lost prince—and gets entangled in powerful rivalries with her fellow magicians.

If that wasn't bad enough, it appears her brother would love to see her dead. Luckily, Yelena has some old friends to help her with all her new enemies... 

I don't know why it took me so long to read the second book in the series. I remember reading Poison Study and really loving it but for some reason I was never super tempted to pick up the sequel. It's been about a year and because of a read-a-thon I participated in, I picked this up and I am SO GLAD I did. 

For those of you who are unaware, I absolutely love strong female protagonists. More often than not when I've read YA Fantasy/Romance novels,  find myself annoyed with the main character due to their lack of depth. Yelena doesn't have this problem. Now, she is by no means a perfect character. I found that she actually developed more as a person in the first book than she did in this, but her ability to hold her own and stick to her guns remains the same, and for me, that's what sets her apart from other YA heroins. Granted, she has a pretty traumatic past that makes her this way (which isn't a new trend in stories like these) but watching how she uses her past to make her stronger really gives Yelena a uniqueness that I found really refreshing. 

I'm also a really big fan of Ixia. You really get more of an in depth look at the magic in this book, which is always fun to read about. What get's uncovered in this book does a really nice job of setting up a really intriguing plot for the next. I think that the direction this is going has a lot of potential to be amazing and I'm curious to see what the author does and where this will go. 

The romance in this book is great and that's not a compliment I give out very often. I'm really picky about romance. I want it to be realistic. Not too over the top, yet I LOVE a good love story. I like it when there's a good foundation. I like a slow build. Tension. Nothing vexes me more than to have two love interests just fall into each other's arms so seamlessly because real life rarely works like that. Yelena and Valek, while they are a tad cliche, it's forgivable due to their adorableness and what they had to go through to get to where they are now. Also. THAT ROMANTIC TENSION. It was perfect. It made me smile. I couldn't really ask for more. 

If you have read Poison Study and liked it, then yes. Definitely. While I don't think this installment in Yelena's story is quite as action packed as Poison Study, the way it's unfolding is definitely worth the read.