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A review by raven168
Shadow of Flame by Caitlyn McFarland
4.0
Ugh, that ending! When I read that last word, I couldn't help but think 'That can't be the end!'
The ending of this book was definitely the best part. For too much of the book I was actually getting super frustrated with Kai and how immature she was being about everything. Yes, okay, so she has trust issues with Rhys over what he did in the previous book. But she got over it, she said as much. So her reasons just become petty little things about not wanting to know the truth or to have him see who she really is. You want to have a future with the guy but don't want him to know what makes you you? And I totally get why she was so upset and felt like his "dirty little secret", but she's an adult. You would think that she would also realize that a lot more and bigger things hang in the balance about announcing another wingless queen.
Something pretty horrible also happens to Juli in this book. And as much as I want to feel bad for her, it's really hard for me because she brought it on herself.
Cadoc was put threw the ringer again in this book. Living with the pain of having lost his hand and not being able to even go home is destroying him. And every time that he gets a little bit of hope in his heart it fails him leaving him that more broken. But he does know how to break his curse and he is determined to do so. It's pretty obvious who his heartsworn is, and it's confirmed at the end so I'm curious as to how that's going to work out.
So it's been a little under two months since Kai and Rhys have parted ways. The distance between the two is taking its toll on both, but because of Kai's mental barrier, neither has any idea how the other is dealing/feeling. Kai is having difficulty controlling her fire when she angry, frustrated or upset but she hasn't destroyed anything serious yet. Not until she's attacked by one of Owain's dragons and has to defend herself. That experience kind of traumatizes her though too. Having received a vision from his sister Seeress about an attack on Kai, Rhys panics and flies off to go to her and bring her back with him.
It's not all that difficult to keep Kai a secret, but all too soon she's exposed. Ten freakin' minutes more and things would have been okay. But no. Morwenna finds Kai and thinks she's the spy so she literally drags her to the council. Secret's out now. And many of the dragons are not happy. Poor Rhys has so much on his plate that it's a wonder he's still standing. Trying to prevent dragons from leaving, fighting with his sister, fighting with the council, trying to figure out a way to win this war, and dealing with Kai all take their toll. Thankfully he manages to get away for a day or so and go on a honeymoon of sorts with Kai. But even that doesn't go well as they're soon attacked and can't make it back home. Fortunately that ends up providing the perfect opportunity for Kai and Rhys to finally come together and for Kai to FINALLY drop her shields.
Though even that peace doesn't last when as soon as they make it back home they find out that both of Rhys's sisters are missing. Believing that they have been kidnapped by Owain, Rhys heads out with great many dragons to bring them back. What he doesn't know is that they really went to meet with Mair. Whose intentions are not clear until the very end. She was suspicious and hard to read until it was too late.
The ending was pretty great. It has a lot of action and excitement. We have something great happen, but then something potentially devastating happen. We also find out who the spy really was, and things are not looking good for Rhys.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.
The ending of this book was definitely the best part. For too much of the book I was actually getting super frustrated with Kai and how immature she was being about everything. Yes, okay, so she has trust issues with Rhys over what he did in the previous book. But she got over it, she said as much. So her reasons just become petty little things about not wanting to know the truth or to have him see who she really is. You want to have a future with the guy but don't want him to know what makes you you? And I totally get why she was so upset and felt like his "dirty little secret", but she's an adult. You would think that she would also realize that a lot more and bigger things hang in the balance about announcing another wingless queen.
Something pretty horrible also happens to Juli in this book. And as much as I want to feel bad for her, it's really hard for me because she brought it on herself.
Spoiler
I get that she wanted to be there for Ashem when he had to torture his brother. But she didn't have to be THERE THERE. What did she think watching would accomplish? And then she gets all upset when Ashem punched Kavar? Ummm...does she even know what it means to torture someone??? So she freaks out about the blood and demands he be cleaned up. What!? I don't think you understand how this works Juli. And her stupidity there which has her touching Kavar is what ends up heartswearing her to him as well. That becomes a new level of hell not only for her but for Ashem. And the end when she promises Kavar six months of every year to save Kai? As if her relationship with Ashem isn't already irrevocably damaged enough. All I can hope for now is that Kavar sacrifices himself to save Juli at some point and doesn't live to cause more pain.Cadoc was put threw the ringer again in this book. Living with the pain of having lost his hand and not being able to even go home is destroying him. And every time that he gets a little bit of hope in his heart it fails him leaving him that more broken. But he does know how to break his curse and he is determined to do so. It's pretty obvious who his heartsworn is, and it's confirmed at the end so I'm curious as to how that's going to work out.
So it's been a little under two months since Kai and Rhys have parted ways. The distance between the two is taking its toll on both, but because of Kai's mental barrier, neither has any idea how the other is dealing/feeling. Kai is having difficulty controlling her fire when she angry, frustrated or upset but she hasn't destroyed anything serious yet. Not until she's attacked by one of Owain's dragons and has to defend herself. That experience kind of traumatizes her though too. Having received a vision from his sister Seeress about an attack on Kai, Rhys panics and flies off to go to her and bring her back with him.
It's not all that difficult to keep Kai a secret, but all too soon she's exposed. Ten freakin' minutes more and things would have been okay. But no. Morwenna finds Kai and thinks she's the spy so she literally drags her to the council. Secret's out now. And many of the dragons are not happy. Poor Rhys has so much on his plate that it's a wonder he's still standing. Trying to prevent dragons from leaving, fighting with his sister, fighting with the council, trying to figure out a way to win this war, and dealing with Kai all take their toll. Thankfully he manages to get away for a day or so and go on a honeymoon of sorts with Kai. But even that doesn't go well as they're soon attacked and can't make it back home. Fortunately that ends up providing the perfect opportunity for Kai and Rhys to finally come together and for Kai to FINALLY drop her shields.
Though even that peace doesn't last when as soon as they make it back home they find out that both of Rhys's sisters are missing. Believing that they have been kidnapped by Owain, Rhys heads out with great many dragons to bring them back. What he doesn't know is that they really went to meet with Mair. Whose intentions are not clear until the very end. She was suspicious and hard to read until it was too late.
The ending was pretty great. It has a lot of action and excitement. We have something great happen, but then something potentially devastating happen. We also find out who the spy really was, and things are not looking good for Rhys.
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.