For those of you who read my review of book one of this magical trilogy, you will know that, even with a book full of tropes, I still loved Frostblood. And of course, those tropes are carried on through to the second book. But did it live up to the first one, or did it suffer from second-book syndrome?

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 a worthy sequel and I do actually think it was better than the first book. Not by much, but it still was a more enjoyable read. I think it was because the main bit of the world-building had already taken place, we knew who most of the characters were and their relationships with each other, so the story could just… well… get on with it, I guess?

In Fireblood, we are introduced to another YA cliche… the love-triangle. *suppresses groan* But to be honest, this love-triangle wasn’t that bad. We are introduced to the character of Kai who is absolutely charming and wins over the heart of everyone he meets. Including Ruby… to a certain degree. Am I Team Arcus or Team Kai? I have no idea. I like Arcus, but I felt that his behaviour in Frostblood was bordering on emotional abuse (which stopped halfway through the book) and I do really like him and Ruby together because they’re really cute, but Kai… it’s just effortless. There’s obvious chemistry between him and Ruby and he is a very charming character who tries to help Ruby as much as he can (even though he lies a few times in between trying to help *tut tut*) so I don’t know… I’d probably have to say Team Kai but I have a feeling that they’re not going to be endgame…

“You’re quite amusing when you’re not lashing me with that sharp tongue. Although” -his eyes turned sultry- “I might not mind the violence of your tongue in the right circumstances”

― Elly Blake, Fireblood

We, again have the trial aspect in Fireblood but this time, Ruby is competing to show that her life is worth saving by the Fire Queen. Yes! We finally get to meet the Fire Queen of Sudesia which had me really excited because she sounded like such a badass in the first book. Upon first meeting her, I wasn’t disappointed. Sure, she could be really horrible at times, but due to spoilers, I can’t say why.

Fireblood was much more tightly-written than Frostblood. It seemed much more concise, the plot was way more exciting and there was some brilliant character development. The ending had me on the edge of my seat and there were loads of twists and turns that I WAS NOT EXPECTING! PLEASE, CAN SOMEONE TALK TO ME ABOUT THAT ENDING BECAUSE OH. MY. GOD. I NEED NIGHTBLOOD IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW!!

Overall, this was a brilliant book. The only reason that I didn’t give it 5 stars was because of how the love-triangle was portrayed at the beginning of the book and even though the ending was absolutely CRAZINESS, I do think that a lot happened in the last 50 pages and was slightly rushed. BUT, it was still a fantastic book, and even better, it didn’t suffer from the second-book-syndrome! Bring on the third AND FINAL book!

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review