"Fire Study" by Maria V. Snyder

Genre: Fantasy
Series: Study #3
Publication: March 1, 2008
Format: Paperback; 441 pages
Cover Rating: 2/5 Stars
Goodreads Link:



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.

          Sigh. I'm not even sure where to start with this review. I have so many mixed feelings about the latest (and what I thought was the last) installment of this book. Okay, I guess I should begin by saying I really did LOVE this series! It had everything you could want in a novel: adventure, romance, a kick-ass heroine... but "Fire Study" lacked something. I didn't really feel like it could hold it's own against the other two books. A couple of problems I had:

• Too much was going on. There can come a point in a novel when there's just way too much happening, and you start to feel like you're either ADHD or the author was while writing it. I don't feel like I could appreciate what Yelena was really going through, because I didn't have time to soak it in before something else came along. Which brings me to my next point...
• Yelena felt robotic. Weird, I know. But I didn't connect to her at all in this story, which is sad because I really do love her character. But I felt like she was just on auto-pilot for the whole novel. It felt like I was reading something that read like this: "She did this, then that, and finally, then this again." I hate to say it, but it was boring.

     Now, does that mean that I totally hated the book? Not at all! Eventually (as in, the very last chapter), I liked it. It did have a fantastic ending, and a lot of questions about Yelena, her power, and the commander were answered. Along with some lingering questions about the oh so swoon-worthy Valek. 

     So, what's my rating? 3/5 stars- with the scale dipping towards 2. But I just couldn't give it that. I loved this series so much,  the story line along made up for the other errors. It's definitely worth your time to pick up this series!

My Rating:

It has POEtential!