More Magical Adventures || Review Of Fire Study By Maria V. Synder

It's been a while but I'm back with a review of the third book in the Poison Study series by Maria V. Synder.

A quick recap. The first two books, Poison Study and Magic Study are fantastic and compelling (links of review below). They focus on a nineteen-year-old lady, Yelena, who is released from prison, and becomes a food taster for the Commander of Ixia. Either that or she's executed publicly for her crime. Along the way, she falls in love with Valek, the chief security of Ixia, becomes entangled in the politics of Ixia while her magical abilities surface and grow.

In this third book begins immediately where Magic Study ends. Yelena is a full-blown magician but more particularly, a Soulfinder, a rare kind of magic lost for centuries. This makes her hometown, Sitia, worried about her loyalties as they prepare to go to war against Ixia. As a diplomat, Yelena tries to keep these two regions from war when she learns that a Soulstealer murdered eleven girls and steals their souls in her hometown.

If this chaos escalates, it may result in the unleashing of a Fire Warper from another realm on the world and only a Soulfinder can put a stop to it. But Yelena can't even light a candle wick with magic. She must learn the art of dealing with fire. How will she stop this unleashing? Who are the characters behind this chaos and what do they truly want?

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Review

As always, Maria V. Synder sweeps her readers off their feet with plenty of adventure, action and of course, magic in this book. The first two books are entertaining so I expected nothing less for this book. This author places the main character, Yelena, on a high pedestal of power, intelligence and importantly, responsibilities. I like that she finally knows who she is—a Soulfinder.

I commented in my last review about my discomfort at a young adult shouldering so much and hoped the author would let up on Yelena in this book. You guessed right, she didn't! Apart from being seen as a threat by proud master magicians in Sitia, Yelena struggles to get their support while fighting to save others and herself as a bounty is placed on her head. Wow, that's too much for a youngster, Ms Synder!

All the same, Yelena's adventures are fast-paced and action-packed which makes this book captivating but not as much as the first two books. It's like the author took her readers up the mountain only to begin a steady decline with this book. Yelena is tough and stern unlike her cool self in the first two books. Her brother, Leif, noted this,

"So the first time you met Master Jewelrose, she tried to kill you? And you told me before Valek had wanted to kill you twice. Gee, Yelena, you're not a people person, are you?”

The plot, character development and world building are still impressive in my opinion. The author takes us further beyond Ixia and Sitia to another clan, Sandseed clan, living in the plains with some attachment to Sitia. There's an introduction of new characters like the Moon Man who traverse between the physical world and the magic realm. We are also introduced to Yelena's brother, Leif, who embarks on this adventure with her.

One part where I would fault this author is the few scenes of Valek and Yelena. I enjoy the romance between these two characters—it's realistic and heartwarming but we get a few scenes of them together in this book. Valek is left out for most of this book only to show up towards the end and it feels like it isn't enough. I wanted more. This makes me a little sad but the adventures make up for it. So Ms Synder, you're forgiven.

Overall, Fire Study is interesting and engaging but not like the first two books. Still, I loved the action-packed ending and would definitely recommend this series to fantasy lovers. I'll give it 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Check out my previous reviews:

Political, Magical And Intriguing || Review Of Poison Study By Maria V. Synder

Magical And Adventurous || Review Of Magic Study By Maria V. Synder

Unexpectedly Bland || Review of The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

^{_{Thumbnail Image: Book cover is from my e-library and edited in Canva
Image credit: Darksouls1
Note: Quotes in this post are excerpts from the book}}