Fireblood by Elly Blake: Review

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.

“They’re barely alive. What’s the point of living if you can’t let yourself feel anything?”

At the end of Fireblood, Arcus has been restored to the crown, the ice throne has been melted, freeing the kings from the Minax, and Ruby has a place in the Frost Court with the king she loves. But nobody will accept a Fireblood in the land of ice, and the Minax is still out in the world, terrorizing and possessing people, spreading its darkness over the land. It seems there’s only one thing for Ruby to do–travel to the fiery land of Sudesia where she’ll learn more about the curse and the other Minax…and maybe more about herself than she ever could have imagined or even wanted to know.

Once in Sudesia, Ruby must train with Kai, a Fireblood with secrets of his own, to complete trials and become a Fireblood master. I loved seeing Ruby training here! It was so amazing to see her in her natural element of fire. She was able to really grow into herself and become so much stronger and more powerful than she ever was in the previous book while surrounded by all Frostbloods. While her character annoyed me at time in the previous book, I completely loved her here.

The world building is amazing too! I loved getting to see Sudesia, and I could imagine it as this beautiful paradise and I really want to go now! A lot of history and mythology of this world was explored too, more so than in the last book. The gods that seemed more background characters before really came alive, and I was terrified of them!

This book was a lot more original than the last book as well, which is the reason that I enjoyed it a lot more. While Frostblood was packed full of cliches and overused tropes, this one felt a lot more original, and I was kept on my toes guessing what was going to happen the whole way through.

And the ending! What a plot twist ahh I did NOT see it coming and I was so stressed out and scared for Ruby and all the characters all the way through. I need the next book pronto! While the end of Frostblood left me not really needing to read the next book and pretty indifferent, this one is killing me with anxiety!

I loved all the characters at the Fire Court. Some of them seemed to have questionable actions, and some seemed just as cruel as those of the Frost Court, but I felt like they were all complex and real, and I also felt like they all had deeper motives to be uncovered.

With the entire Fire Court, I loved Kai. Of course I loved Kai. He’s so flirty and funny and friendly, and I absolutely loved the banter between him and Ruby. With that being said…there’s not much of a love triangle in this book. I feel like there is only a love triangle for the sake of having a love triangle, not because Ruby is actually conflicted between the two love interests of anything. Which was extremely annoying because it totally got my hopes up for the guy who I can tell isn’t going to win!!!