Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Blue Fire by Janice Hardy

Blue Fire
Author:  Janice Hardy
Publisher:  Baltzer + Bray
Pages: 336
Release Date: October 1st, 2010
Source: Oyster Book Subscription Service

Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.

Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer— if she doesn’t destroy it first.

Blue Fire is the second installment in the Healing Wars books. While I really enjoyed the first book, The Shifter, I will admit Blue Fire left a little to be desired. 

Nya's powers have continued to develop since book one, and she is struggling as she tries to use her new abilities in the right way. But things don't really go as planned with the Duke and his people continually hunting her and other Takers. 

What I had trouble with in this book was the distance I felt with the minor characters in this story. I hoped we would get to know the supporting cast a bit better, but the world really felt like it revolved around Nya. I didn't feel like anyone really developed between book one and book two, and it made it hard to really engage at times in the story. Run away, get captured, fight back, save people. Somehow some of these elements felt a little robotic, rather than exciting like the first book. Maybe I was just expecting something a little different. I just didn't feel as captivated as I did readingThe Shifter

Regardless, I enjoy Janice Hardy's writing, and I felt like there was enough new material to make a exciting conclusion in the final book. I don't feel like the book was bad, I just know it didn't quite meet the expectations I had. I still like Nya and her friends, and eagerly wait the conclusion.




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