They will turn away from their families, their work, and their duties for her. People who are susceptible to her appeal will do anything for her attention, and for her affection. Fire is mesmerising.īut with this extraordinary beauty comes influence and power.

Marked out by her vivid red hair, she's more than attractive. Set in a world of stunningly beautiful, exceptionally dangerous monsters, Fire is one of the most dangerous monsters of all - a human one.

From the deft characterisation to the gripping story, the fast-paced action to the evocative prose, this is one of the strongest fantasy novels of the year. (If they were made into movies, they would definitely get at least a PG-13, based on violence and sex.A must-read title for all fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Trudi Canavan, Fire is an exceptional fantasy novel. I would not recommend this series to those under 13. Unlike some reviewers, I don't subscribe to the notion that just because kids today are barraged with sex and violence in the media, that it's appropriate for them. In general, the not-so-subtle take-home message from the books in the series is that sex feels good and is fine between friends so long as you do something not to get pregnant, which isn't something I'd want my kids reading without talking to them about it. One can admire that there are many references to taking an herb to avoid pregnancy (some notion of 'safe sex'), but as this is in a fantasy land, there are apparently no sexually-transmitted diseases, so no concern over that. The part that bothered me in general is that in all the books in the trilogy, there is the general message that sex is a casual thing between friends (particularly prevalent in 'Graceling', the second book, where two characters get together just to 'hook-up'). in the series (particularly the last one, 'Bitterblue')-all in all, pretty grim.

There are mentions of rapes, visions of torture and murder, etc. This is handled mostly pretty well, but it bears pointing out (spoiler alert) that the protagonist is a hired thug to rough-up or kill others (although she has a conscience about it). The series contains a lot of violence-from fighting, wars, and torture (of animals, and in later books, of people). However, you'll want to read it, too, as there is quite a bit that you'll want to talk to you child about. This is the first book in a series, it's quite engaging, and if you child likes it, they will want to read all three.

Fire by Kristin Cashore