Blue Fire by Janice Hardy

Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.
Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer—if she doesn’t destroy it first.

I read The Shifter earlier this year and loved it. Nya is my favorite kind of character: a spunky, proactive, reluctant hero. She doesn’t want attention or kudos, or even to be noticed, really. But when someone is in danger, she steps up without even thinking twice. I love her.

Blue Fire picks up almost right where The Shifter leaves off. And, it packs just as much of a punch as the first book. Lots of action, great characters, and interesting twists. It explores some great themes of preconceptions, relying on others, and knowing who you really are.  Some of the twists were fantastic and heightened the tension tenfold.  I loved it. This is definitely NOT a sophomore slump of a book.

If anything, the story was a bit too fast-paced. It wasn’t quite as smooth as The Shifter, and sometimes felt a little rushed. But still, the tension never let up and I was glued to the book from the first to last page. If I’d had the time, I’d have finished it in one sitting. I’m definitely looking forward to book three.

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