A review by rbellirving
The Fire Keeper by J.C. Cervantes
4.0
Definitely liked this one better than the first one! I liked the layers of mythology that were added, and I like that Zane isn't really the chosen one, per se. His flailing is refreshing for this genre (though at times a bit overdone and repetitive). I especially loved the action in this book, the pacing was awesome for me. Ah-Puch may have been my favourite character. I thought it was great that it didn't have to be explicitly stated he had softened to Zane, it was all shown through character choices and how the character evolved through the story.
My only complaint really comes down to Brook's characterization. It felt really inconsistent in book 1, but since she wasn't in Book 2 quite as much the issue wasn't as noticeable. A good example is how she is all keen to sass the gods back and put up a fight in one scene, but then in another scene scolds Zane for forgetting who's boss. And there still isn't more clarity on her motivations or goals. She wanted to find her family, but then she and Quinn reunited like it was nothing in Book 1. There's been no further insight into her lost family other than the very last page and that didn't give much. So I still don't feel like I know who she is, which is distracting when she's such a primary motivator for Zane. Honestly, I think a lot of my confusion comes down to the exclamation points - they're often placed where the tone doesn't make sense to me and changes the intention of the sentence away from how I interpreted the character. But then maybe I'm reading it as the wrong kind of emphasis (shrug)
This is definitely just my interpretation of it. Hopefully, I'll find that connection in Book 3, because of course they're going to school now.
My only complaint really comes down to Brook's characterization. It felt really inconsistent in book 1, but since she wasn't in Book 2 quite as much the issue wasn't as noticeable. A good example is how she is all keen to sass the gods back and put up a fight in one scene, but then in another scene scolds Zane for forgetting who's boss. And there still isn't more clarity on her motivations or goals. She wanted to find her family, but then she and Quinn reunited like it was nothing in Book 1. There's been no further insight into her lost family other than the very last page and that didn't give much. So I still don't feel like I know who she is, which is distracting when she's such a primary motivator for Zane. Honestly, I think a lot of my confusion comes down to the exclamation points - they're often placed where the tone doesn't make sense to me and changes the intention of the sentence away from how I interpreted the character. But then maybe I'm reading it as the wrong kind of emphasis (shrug)
This is definitely just my interpretation of it. Hopefully, I'll find that connection in Book 3, because of course they're going to school now.