Fire Falling (Air Awakens #2) by Elise Kova
As Vhalla marches off to war she battles with her security of who she is while discovering more about her power and her place in the army.
The Story
Holy Crap. If you’re looking for a cliffhanger, read this book. I don’t know how I am going on without knowing what happens next. Okay, I do, it’s because I have so many other reads to keep going at the moment, but I seriously can’t wait till I continue. First of all, I love Elise Kova, and I am going to be auto-buying her books from now on. I already really liked her, but I just need them all now.
So this book picks up pretty much where we left off on the first book, Vhalla is sentenced off to be in the army as punishments for what she did. What I loved about this book was that it wasn’t like Vhalla suddenly has a grasp on what is happening to her. She is still stumbling with what she is, controlling her magic, and dealing with the tenuous relationship/friendship she has with the crown prince. So the book is sort of romance driven, sort of driven by her self discovery/learning, and by the increasing presence of a war she will encounter.
World Building
I think we got a decent idea of what the world was like in the first book. What this book introduced was a little more action with the magic. I loved how Kova describes the physical actions mixed in with the magical skills that each character wields. It created a diverse range of abilities as well as a creative way to differentiate them all. I especially loved Aldrik’s “killing move” so to speak that is exposed. I thought it incredibly clever to use a fire capability that way as opposed to just shooting fire balls in a PvP fighting game or something.
The Characters
Vhalla and Aldrik have this almost obsessive relationship. I understand the boundaries that they have, but seriously, Aldrik you’re torturing us, just communicate a little better why don’t you? For someone who’s life is directly linked to, you would think that he would express himself a little better? No not really, which, honestly, after what we see of his personality in the first book I am not exactly surprised. But there are times when I seriously feel bad for Vhalla, and just wish she would fall for someone else. Would a love triangle completely ruin this book? I’m sure Kova would be able to master that either way.
There are a lot of other great characters in this book, but I won’t really get into that because I would probably start spoiling because of what I like about them. I will say that Vhalla really is incredibly lucky throughout the book because of who she has supporting her. She may feel alone or isolated, but she really isn’t and her growth through her friendships is really beautiful.
The Soundtrack
Third Eye Blind – How’s it Going to Be
