Enjoyed this thoroughly!!! Read Feudlings and this one back to back and they were both very entertaining reads. It took me much longer than normal to finish the two books (especially the second one) and these are books that you will enjoy more if you were to read them without a lot of gaps. That’s bad for any book because it breaks the flow of the story and the narrative but still, I hung on and thankfully, I managed to finish them and liked every minute of it.
Feudlings in Flames picks up almost immediately after the events from the previous book. Charity is still missing and the rest of the gang is in a mad pursuit to find her. There are a few close shaves where they almost find her but not quite. The cast is joined by a few new characters and for the most part they helped move the story along. The narrative is well paced and keeps the reader on their toes. There is not a moment to breathe with something happening all the time. Like the previous book, this too was told in multiple POVs but unlike the last one, this one featured Ari’s and Charity’s POV more heavily than Shane’s. While I normally find multiple POV slightly annoying (it also tends to break narrative flow) here it seemed to work in favour of the story. It gave us an insight into what was happening with Charity as well as the others. This came in handy because Charity made some fairly important discoveries. I am also very happy there was no attempt to stretch this along to make it a trilogy, it ended with this book and it was a very satisfying end. There is not a single dull moment throughout the book and once you really get into it, it will be close to impossible to put it down.
Pretty much all the characters from Feudlings were back: Ari, Shane, Charity, Hunter, Will and Dani and while most of them were pretty fleshed out in the first book, this one gave us a closer look at some of the others (like Dani) and also shed more light into the Feud (although, we probably could have done with more details in that department) Ari was amazing, she’s stubborn and selfless like a lot of other YA heroines but what I really liked about her was that she was unafraid to use her powers and she was the most powerful character in the books (with Shane coming in a close second) She knew how to get her way and did not wait for the boys to come and save her. It is very refreshing to come across heroines who are happy with their super powers and have no problem using them. Most of them think that they would be horrible people if they used them and the rest can’t stop feeling sorry for themselves for no apparent reason. While Ari did have some moments of doubt, they had more to do with the way her grandfather had raised her and what he had made her do and the fact that now she was fighting her own family than ‘Woe is me, I have so many awesome super powers but I can’t stop whining’, Ari did not whine, she was matter of fact and straightforward.
Shane was an absolute sweetheart in the first book but this time around, he turned into a jerk for a bit in the middle, with the entry of Tristan. Shane felt threatened by Tristan and the fact that there were somethings about Ari that he got immediately. Ari had been fighting her whole life and had killed quite of few people, these were things that Shane just didn’t get because of the sheltered life he had led. Tristan on the other hand, got this immediately and could sympathise and empathise with her. Shane started ignoring Ari or being very curt with her without even giving her a chance to explain. When they did talk, Ari told him very clearly that she loved Shane and Tristan was not a threat in that regard but he still wasn’t convinced. I mean, come on!!!! What did he want, a promise of fidelity signed in blood? It was apparent from the beginning that Ari was never interested in Tristan but I guess the author wanted some conflict between them and Tristan was the catalyst, that’s all. All in all, quite disappointed in Shane.
I really liked Charity and Hunter. They were both loyal and strong. It was nice to see more of Charity and I would have liked to know more about her character (I plan to read the novella featuring her and Hunter) I liked her dynamic with Ari, it was good to see their friendship. I probably liked Hunter more than I liked Shane. Hunter was the strong and silent type and very no-nonsense. And yet, big as he was, he was warm and caring. He was protective of Ari even when he knew that Ari was stronger than him and even opposed Shane when he thought that Shane might want to hurt Ari (from Feudlings)
Tristan was one of the new characters in this book and apart from being a source of tension between Ari and Shane there wasn’t a lot of about him that came out. For the most part he was a mystery, you knew from the very beginning that he had an agenda but also that for some reason he genuinely did care about Ari and wanted to protect her. Will was a likeable character if not particularly remarkable. He was the sweet, caring older brother who desperately wanted to protect Ari but was unable to for a long time. It was nice to see his relationship with Ari and how close they were. Dani didn’t really make a positive impression in the first book and we see more of her in this book. It was nice to see that she had guts and was willing to fight for Will and Ari but she didn’t really stand out.
I loved Nev and Livi. They had way more screen time in Feudlings than here but they were still memorable. They were so likeable that I missed not seeing them here. Nev was still featured but absolutely no Livi. They were good friends to Ari even when they hardly knew her and made sure that they included her since she was new and did not know anyone else.
The Feudlings series is a quick and fun read if you’re looking for something that isn’t very intense. They are entertaining books with great characters and story that will immediately grab your attention and not let go till you’re done reading them.
Ravings of a Manic Reader 