I adore it when writers have so fully fleshed out their fantastical worlds that they are able to build a novel around an entire previously unseen section in an entirely new era! 
 This is the second installment in the Graceling series and, set a few decades before the events that occur in Graceling and sharing only one of the same characters, can almost be read as a standalone novel. 
 Upon finishing Graceling I immediately begun this with less than an hour's break in between and was initially disappointed. I had formed a bond with the first set of characters and had misplaced expectations that I would be spending the entirety of the three books of this trilogy in their company. These feelings soon dissipated, however, as I realized that this new cast was just as lovable. 
 The world Fire inhabits is geographically close to Katsa's, their feisty feminist attitudes are very much aligned and so are their positions in society. But that is where the similarities stop. 
 Fire's world is a far more dangerous and feral place to live, with monster animals haunting her every move and a society of people who distrust and despise her status as the last living human monster. 
 The particulars of what exactly a monster is, is never fully explained, however. And this seemed to be a running theme of the book. I dually loved every moment of reading it and felt a step behind the plot the entire time. Perhaps it was the abundance of characters or that I was still partially still caught up in the previous plot, but I continually seemed to be slightly slow in grasping the particulars of the narrative. I think it says something about the power of the book, as a whole, and the beauty of the writing that I can still give it four stars after stating that. 
 Overall, this is a powerfully written and action-dominated book, with a set of lovable and authentic characters, set in a flawlessly created, vast and varied world that I can't seem to get enough of!