Review: Breath of Fire

Breath of Fire 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

SHE'S DESTINED TO DESTROY THE WORLD...
"Cat" Catalia Fisa has been running from her destiny since she could crawl. But now, her newfound loved ones are caught between the shadow of Cat's tortured past and the threat of her world-shattering future. So what's a girl to do when she knows it's her fate to be the harbinger of doom? Everything in her power.

BUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT
Griffin knows Cat is destined to change the world-for the better. As the realms are descending into all-out war, Cat and Griffin must embrace their fate together. Gods willing, they will emerge side-by-side in the heart of their future kingdom...or not at all. 

So, I actually really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy although I freely admit it was a smidge cheesy/cringey at some points! The same can be said for this book, but it was still an enjoyable and fun read although I really do think that the first book might still be my favourite!

Breath of Fire picks up right where we left off in a Promise of Fire. The secret about Cat is totally out of the bag and Griffin has to deal with it. I so knew I was right when I was reading the first book! From there, we end up going on a Quest to find help in protecting their little Kingdom from the neighbouring one, and from there we enter in to a Hunger Games style death championship. With no hiding places. 

I was immediately sucked back in to the world of the book and happy to be reunited with the characters, there's angst and drama right from the start and I am a sucker for that, it has to be said. Although Griffin's behaviour at one point was a little bit questionable. I find him adorable and kind of sweet, but at the same time I want to smack him and I end up rolling my eyes more than once. Like I said, these books are a little bit cheesy/cringey at points but they're a great mood lifter! Plus there's all the Greek Mythology and I freaking love Greek Mythology. 

The author has clearly done her research on the mythology front and I enjoyed seeing more of it in this book! Plus spotting which other Gods made an appearance, even if in name only as assisting Cat. I'm hoping some of them will make an appearance in the final battle! I find Cat's odd little family of Gods and Goddesses who are always willing to help her out, oddly charming. You know who else I found charming? Titos the snake. He was kinda of adorable, especially his 'hug'. 

Cat has developed a lot in this book, she's more mature and she's taking on more responsibility, especially towards the end and I loved seeing that. I feel like Griffin kind of took a back seat a little bit and let Cat run the show and it was nice to see his trust and faith in her. I continue to really love Cat and Griffin, they're adorable together and I get serious warm and fuzzies which is just what I need lately! Although there's a plot twist and I was so hoping the author wouldn't go there because I'm not really here for that kind of thing, and I'm hoping it's not going to change Cat and her role too much. So yeah..not sure I really liked that twist. I was hoping we could do this story without that. I feel like all books like this, romance etc, have to have that. 

I loved seeing all of my favourite characters again, I'm so curious about Carver and his past and the tidbits we saw weren't enough but I'm not sure if we'll ever get the full story as it's not really relevant to the plot that I'm aware of. I totally ship Flynn and Jacosta and I'm hoping book three brings that to fruition, especially after Flynn's behaviour in this book! I did crack up at poor old Flynn's expense at one point, because Cat was like, "I'm starting to think emotion terrifies him. I can utterly relate". Poor Flynn. 

And speaking of Jacosta...I was so pleased to see her coming in to her own and stepping up to help out. She's on her way to being a total badass like Cat, she's already not doing bad as it is! I'm excited to see where her character goes. Piers...I'm struggling to remember if I liked him in the first book, I wanted to like him because he's Griffin's brother, but I didn't warm to him this book and from the looks of the sneak peek at the final book...I'm going to hate him. We get a couple of new characters, Appoline's sisters are going to be interesting and I hope we do get to see more of them! Ianthe is the other new character and I really liked her and I really hope she's actually genuine! 

One of the things I loved about the first book was still present in this one, albeit not as much unfortunately. That being Cat's banter and friendship with the rest of her team. I'd loved to have seen more of it although I loved seeing her and Kato in the labyrinth. 

That being said, some of the scenes at the beginning with Griffin...I was like HELL NO. He was behaviour was way out of order. But he did redeem himself. While the book is fast paced, I felt like this time around it was a little too fast paced. I'd have loved to have seen more of the epically huge Arena battle and the time spent there. We zipped through the labyrinth fast and after setting up the challenges with a certain individual to be a big thing....they where over pretty fast and then we never saw the dude again. I feel like there where a lot of points in the book that could have been fleshed out more, or pulled out for a bit longer because I feel like we did rush a bit too much through some events and jump a lot of time. After the ominous comment made to Cat...I was expecting a character death. But the only character to die was one we met for two seconds and had no real attachment to, so we where kind of made to think the stakes where really high...when they really weren't. I never really felt like Cat or any of the others where in serious danger. 

While I did enjoy the first book a little bit more, Breath of Fire has plenty of magic, action, mythical creatures, Gods, Goddesses and humour to keep you interested and reading. I love the mix of fantasy, mythology and romance, and it's exactly the kind of book I look for but rarely find! I'd love to read more of this particular blend of genre/theme! After the ending of this book, I'm intrigued to see how it's all going to end, although I will admit to my anticipation being slightly dimmed due to the revelation about Cat at the end. Sorry but I'm just really not here for that kind of thing!