3.5 stars. I can't believe it took me almost 2 months to read The Fiery Heart. I got stalled out by the midway point and didn't have any motivation to want to pick the book up again. Was my love affair with Richelle Mead coming to an end? Say it isn't so! 
 I really couldn't figure out what was up with the "whole lot of yawn" happening in the first half. Even having Adrian's PoV didn't really perk up the non-events going on. Maybe the alchemist side of the story and all of the new characters just don't do it for me. 
 I'm still also trying to reconcile in my head how much magic humans can do now. Back in VA, it almost seemed like the magic that alchemists had was borrowed through the use of vampire blood and infused items. Now, humans are just going around left and right and kicking ass alongside the vamps. Are we heading into a world where the poor guardians can go extinct because yet another race ends up having more value with them? 
 ...and Hopper. WTF is this thing? It's alive. Oh wait, it's not. Oh wait, it is. What is the point of Hopper? We didn't have cutesy gimmick creatures before. 
 I'm starting to feel like the further we get into this series, the more the rules change. Adrian's character growth has almost turned him into an unrecognizable character, and I can't decide how much of this is for the better. At least he didn't forget to call Rose "little dhampir." Score a point there. 
 The second half of the book finally brought it all back though. Even a weaker Richelle Mead book still ends up being better than 90% of the stuff I read, so I have to give credit where it's due. When I decided to come back and try again, I ended up loving the rest of the story. 
 What Jill did after the fight scene : I was mentally cheering her on. 
 Sydney and Adrian : Not as exciting as I'd been hoping for. They're sweet, but this spin-off series just doesn't have the heart-pounding and epic romance of the prior series. 
 Dimitri : I laughed at Adrian joking about him not being able to hold his liquor, and him having a WTF? reaction. 
 Eddie : Is it too much to ask for more Eddie time? He's one of the actual characters who came over from VA, yet he is still background fodder. I know that Mead probably doesn't want to write Dimitri part deux, but when she teases me with phrases like Eddie was magnificent. I'd nearly forgotten that the adopted brother I joked and ate lunch with was a lethal warrior. or He was one of the most badass, capable guardians out there, but he couldn't believe that about himself, not when he kept seeing those failures laid at his feet. DOESN'T THAT SCREAM for more character time? We have another brooding person who wants to save the world and he's delegated to being the designated driver. It's wrong, I tell you. 
 Anyway, even though the book slipped off a little, the strong and exciting second half somewhat made up for a weaker first half.