By Cynthia Ayala

“Against all the odds, Ruby has defeated the villainous Frost King and melted his throne of ice. However, 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.” —Goodreads

Published September 12, 2017, by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Fireblood by Elly Blake is the second in her YA fantasy series dealing with prejudice, magic, and love.

Following much of the same premise as the previous novel, this novel takes readers to Sudesia, the land of the Firebloods, where the throne of lava is said to be. Ruby has one chance to get there and make a friend of the Queen while she also plots the destruction of the throne to prevent the coming of the Minax. There are many parallels to the previous novel in the series, but the execution is so different making the novel conceptionally different, and this is because of the dedication Blake had in making sure that the land of the Fireblood has not only reflected their culture and who they were but their power as well.

Once again, it is so interesting to see this play of ice versus fire and to see those two elements explored so emotionally. Blake gives them personality. Fire is always easy when one thinks about fire they think passion, creation, destruction, but when it comes to ice, nothing comes to mind most of the time. Through Ruby, she can explore the differences between the elements and build character throughout the novel. It is remarkable how it works to build up in the character’s narrative within the story because that is really what the story is about it is about Ruby it is about her journey it is about her facing racism and Prejudice all her life and Rising above it. Even now as she enters this new land and encounters life in that functions in such a different way than what her life has always been, she is confused, and just a little lost she feels like she is a child. Ruby does not know what she gets into what she is getting herself into or what her culture even means to her. That is incredibly exceptional writing, and while the there are elements in this novel that reflect onto the previous novel, it works in such a way to make the novel different, focusing on who Ruby is. She is coming into her power she is coming into her identity, and she is coming into her culture. That resonates very strongly with young adult audiences, with people who are from different countries but have grown up in one place without really knowing their original culture. It is powerful because many people have found themselves trying to connect to with their lost ancestry trying to find their history trying to find their ancestry and connect to the Past in a way that they were never able to. That is what Ruby is doing, she is in this new place, and she is focusing so hard on trying to find the comfort In her power and culture in a way that she has never been able to do before. All her life she is had to face this racism, almost die because of it, yet she goes to this new land, and she fights for what she believes in. The people she is fighting for are not defined by the racism she is has felt her entire life and upon entering this new land and see those same prejudices teaches her something about have similar these cultures are and how prejudice is born.

There’s so much growth in the novel as it explores these cultures in it explores Ruby’s history. She is almost a completely different person than she was in the previous novel and so much has changed for her so much continues to change for her as she explores her past and her culture in as she finds something to fit into. It is a compelling narrative to follow, and sure it is full of twists and turns, and it is incredibly fast-paced so much happens, but there’s also so much that Ruby has to face for herself. The novel is just so well done and so well-written by focusing so much on bringing out the personalities of these characters in this novel. In the previous novel readers only get to see Ruby’s personality burn brightly, and sure, in the end, other personalities come to the surface, but in this novel, all these personalities are very prominent throughout the entire novel. These voices are strong they are unique making them very defined characters, giving them lovely voice to listen to. These voices are just powerful, and they are so different from the first book everything is just much more colorful. The descriptions, the details of this land before all we got was this barren ice land, and now we have the sort of tropical rainforest that’s almost a little bit reminiscent of Hawaii. It is such a lovely juxtaposition of going from Antarctica to Hawaii.

All in all the novel is so well-written it is fast-paced it is exciting it is colorful and has such strong narratives, and it works very hard to bring the personality life while making it also just look effortless as you read it. The story flows, and that is important in any storytelling it should just flow and make you want to read it without putting it down fire blood just does the just that it flows. (★★★★☆ | A)

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