Fire

Title: Fire
Author: Kristin Cashore
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 461
Why I read it:  I liked Graceling
Grade: A

Synopsis:
Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.  Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story. 

My review:
Kristin Cashore is fast becoming a new favorite author for me.  I love her writing, and I love that she's not afraid to be real.  Not everything is always happy.  Not everyone magically survives every story.  In that aspect, I would compare her to George R.R. Martin.  The plot in Fire is fast-paced and I had a hard time putting it down.

The characterization was excellent as well.  I loved these characters.  Fantasy books with good characterization are my favorite kind.  I love books where the world is different from our own, and magical, but that the characters aren't secondary to that world.  Kristin Cashore does a good job of mixing it all together, and making something very readable that won't fail to tug at your heartstrings.

I would definitely recommend Fire, and her previous novel, Graceling, to fans of fantasy and YA literature.

This is #1 out of ? for the YA Reading Challenge.