Loved the first book in this trilogy, the second book less, and this one just wasn't for me. ( )

Worse than Magic Study, sigh. A direct continuation of the events of the previous book, and worse in all ways. Worse characterisation, worse plot, worse dialog, worse writing, just... worse. All worse.

I’m glad I'm done with it. ( )

I like this cover for Fire Study, I think its pretty and gets a good idea of the book. I like the UK cover too, though I think it has less to do with the book itself (its blue though and blue is my favorite color).

As the last book of the 'Study' series, its the last book from Yelena's perspective and the setting stage for the heroine of the next series. Practically everyone from the first or second book makes an appearance in some form (though the story is primarily set in Sitia) and whoever doesn't (not that I can think of many) is mentioned at least.

A lot of questions are answered--the true nature of Yelena's 'Soulfinder' abilities, the true evil genius, and the fact that really Ixia nor Sitia can rely solely upon themselves any longer. Yelena, being unique in the fact that she is widely accepted in both countries by the leaders, began this change and works (for at least most of this book) to make it a reality. Oh and less I forget Valek's immunity to magic and the Commander's own curious case is also explained.

I won't lie, I spent a lot of the book ready to smack Yelena halfway to Ixia and back again. She made mistakes in the other two books of course, but this book it just seemed like she was ready to jump into every single mistake she could. And then get mad at everyone else. She isn't alone in her bumbling however, Moon Man decides to take a detour down troublesome annoyance lane as well, which was less then pleasing. To be fair they were both urged onwards by outside forces bent on corrupting them, but I guess I was disappointed how easy that could have been.

The final resolution is satisfying in that it wraps up many of the mysteries that plagued Yelena's story specifically, but left a lot of doors open to be explored in the next series of books (the 'Glass' series, which should give you an indication of who's the main char). I particularly liked the explanation of Valek's 'immunity to magic'. I was down for slightly harsher punitive measures against Cahil however, but I guess he tried to be better so I guess he deserves leniency.

I'm going to review the two short stories 'Assassin Study' (from Valek's POV in between Poison Study and Magic Study) and 'Power Study' (with Ari and Janco in between Magic Study and Fire Study). ( )

I love this series but my fav will always be the first book. ( )

I will admit that it took me 3 tries to really get into this one. But once I hit 3/4 of the way, I was hooked. Wonderful series that I didn't want to ever end. ah well, I will be reading more by this author. ( )