Review--Fireblood by Elly Blake

All hail the Fire Queen.

Against all odds, Ruby has defeated the villainous Frost King and melted his throne of ice. But the bloodthirsty Minax that was trapped inside is now haunting her kingdom and everyone she loves. The answers to its demise may lie to the south in Sudesia, the land of the Firebloods, and a country that holds the secrets to Ruby’s powers and past…

Despite warnings from her beloved Arcus, Ruby accompanies a roguish Fireblood named Kai to Sudesia, where she must master her control of fire in a series of trials to gain the trust of the suspicious Fire Queen. Only then can she hope to access the knowledge that could defeat the rampaging Minax—which grows closer every moment. But as sparks fly in her moments alone with Kai, Ruby no longer knows whom to trust. The fates of two kingdoms are now in her hands.

Fireblood is the second installment in Elly Blake’s epic trilogy, The Frostblood Saga! We pick up pretty much where we left off with Arcus taking his rightful place on the throne, but all is not well. Things are about to get very complicated and dangerous. Ruby and Arcus are about to be tested in more ways than one, will they be able to come out on the other side together and whole? Only time will tell!

Arcus is fitting into his role as king rather well, things are going pretty great for him. Except, poor Ruby isn’t quite fitting in as she could’ve hoped. There is still a lot of animosity between the Frostbloods and Firebloods. Needless to say that the Frostbloods are not too happy that their king is choosing a Fireblood for his queen. But Arcus isn’t like his brother, he wants to change things and he wants to have peace between his kingdom and that of the Firebloods.

After an attempt on Ruby’s life, she thinks it might be best if she were to leave the Frostblood kingdom for a while. She is most eager to continue her quest to find the other Minax that is rumored to be in the Fireblood Queen’s throne. She decides to accept the off of newcomer Kai, who hails from the Fireblood kingdom. He promises to help her train her Fireblood powers and in the meantime, Ruby will also look for the second throne and try to destroy it as well.

And as one can expect, nothing goes according to plan.

One always fears that the second book of a trilogy will fall into middle book syndrome and I am happy to say that Fireblood does not fall into this category at all! If Frostblood taught us the way of the Frostbloods, then naturally, we learn more of Firebloods in this one. We get a little more insight into the mythology/history of the Minax and the ways of the gods in this one too. Things get set into place that will lead us in to the trilogy’s epic conclusion, Nightblood, which will release next year!

Now you might be wondering about this Kai, that I briefly mentioned. He’s a new character and is a Fireblood like Ruby. You can probably see where things are going. We’re entering love triangle territory here and it hurt my heart with even the idea of it. I’d like to say Arcus fans have nothing to worry about. It seems pretty clear where Ruby’s heart lies, but I cannot convince myself of this. Ruby and Kai definitely form a connection of some sort. There’s friendship between them for sure, but there are all these sparks happening between them as well. I honestly don’t know where things will go despite what the words are telling me. And especially since we have one more book to get through, I can’t say with confidence what we see here is what will be final in the last book! I am that unsure! So yes, we do have a love triangle in this one, but it feels unsteady, which could be a good thing.

Which brings me to another point, I was saddened that Ruby and Arcus were separated for a greater part of the book. They have time together in the beginning and more time towards the end, but that chunk in the middle was heartrending to read for sure! I am still amazed at how much of a romantic I’ve become in these recent years! What has reading done to me?! Lol!

The pacing to this one was done extraordinarily well! It’s not exactly a fast-paced book, but it’s nowhere near slow either. Ruby learns more about her Fireblood heritage more than anything in this one. Along the way of course, we learn more too, and there’s a great deal of action and adventures to be overcome in order for Ruby to reach her goal! It makes for an exciting and entertaining read that held me riveted! And all while battling a head cold!

Fireblood definitely amps up the danger and excitement in the Frostblood Saga! It’s a read not to be missed whatsoever! With adventure, danger, romance, and magic, this is a read that will attract fantasy readers of all kind! Kudos for Elly not ending this with an epic cliffhanger either! The ending is just enough to entice the reader for more, but it does allow us to catch our breaths while we wait for that next book in the series! It’s truly the best way to an end a novel!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars