Fire Falling Release Tour Review

Hello everyone! Today I am fortunate enough to share my review for the release tour of Fire Falling; book 2 in the brilliant Air Awakens series. Make sure to scroll down and see some final thoughts and comments on Fire Falling from Elise Kova herself. Also check out the giveaway at the bottom of this post!
**Thank you to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review**

 

About the Book

Title: Fire Falling (Air Awakens #2)

Publication Date: November 19th, 2015

Author: Elise Kova

Summary: "Soldier… Sorcerer… Savior… Who is Vhalla Yarl?

Vhalla Yarl marches to war as property of the Solaris Empire. The Emperor counts on her to bring victory, the Senate counts on her death, and the only thing Vhalla can count on is the fight of her life. As she grapples with the ghosts of her past, new challenges in the present threaten to shatter the remnants of her fragile sanity. Will she maintain her humanity? Or will she truly become the Empire’s monster?"

 

Fire Falling deserves a 9.6 out of 10 rating

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Air Awakens. So when I got to receive and read Fire Falling early, my expectations were really high. Not only did it surpass my expectations, but it brought me to a whole new emotional feeling towards the series itself. The characters were even more amazing and brilliant in the second than they already were in the first, and  the conclusion of Fire Falling will leave people wanting more for a very long time. Though I must say that this book should come with a giant warning label that says "Caution & read at your own risk. May induce intense pain and suffering, as well as cause tissue boxes to start disappearing around your house". However even if it did come with that warning, I would still take that risk.

Plot & Storyline:

The plot of this story was a lot more intense than Air Awakens. There were points at which I was on the edge of my seat, or wanting to look away from the book but read it at the same time. There were even times where I found myself yelling at the book in frustration. However to me, all of what I just said is a huge positive. It means that the book brought so many components that it had engaged me and my emotions 100% of the time. It was never slow paced, but it was also never fast paced. The story's speed had a very nice constancy. 

I want to say that I didn't enjoy all the shocking and surprising events because most of them ended up ripping out my heart, however I really did enjoy them. It showed how the story was progressing, it also allowed for the imagination to kick it and have some theories happening for book 3, Earth's End. It also made me more engaged as a reader, because I didn't want to put the book down for one second.

Characters:

I enjoyed seeing more of Fritz and Larel in this novel, as well as Daniel and Craig. I also felt like I grew quite the emotional connection towards Larel. She was extremely brave, and finding out her childhood made it even stronger. I also enjoyed reading the bond between her and Vhalla. Larel was so supportive of Vhalla, and it was nice to read her helping Vhalla with her dreams. Fritz, well what can I say about this beautiful creature. He is to die for in the adorable factor. Fritz is so supportive of Vhalla as well. I also loved the humor he brought to the story and certain events. This character just generally made me happy. Now for Daniel, I had read a bit about him in Air Awakens and loved him and the way he communicated with Vhalla. So when I found out that he would be mentioned more in Fire Fallings,  I was ecstatic.  I believe these characters all helped make Fire Falling and the series Air Awakens, what it is and what it means in the end.

Now for the amazing female protagonist, Vhalla Yarl. She is the definition of the best main character ever. She has flaws, but still excels at a lot of things. Vhalla's devoted to what she believes in and sometimes that devotion gets her in some sticky situations. However, she always manages to make it out. I loved that we got to see more of how her bond with Aldrik works. I won't dive into more details about the bond because I definitely don't want to spoil, but I will say that it was so intriguing and very enjoyable to read. Another thing I liked about Vhalla was how dedicated she was to improving her sorcery and fighting. I was kind of worried how her being a soldier would effect her mental stability, however she was strong and worked through all the problems thrown in front of her. I really want Earth End's to see how she acts and proceeds with certain events that happen in Fire Falling, so I am very excited. All, in all she was stunning in Air Awakens, and quite frankly even more interesting in Fire Falling.

My favourite character remains, It will always be Crown Prince Aldrik. He's tortured, but has sweetness and is healing. He is innocent, yet completely tainted. He can be so clueless, and yet he so brilliant. There are so many amazing components that make up the wonderful swoon worthy Aldrik. In Fire Falling, I saw a very new side to him that was sort of touched on in Air Awakens that made me fall even more in love with him. When him and Vhalla are together it brings me so much joy and so much pain at the same time. It still amazes how oblivious they were towards each other in certain aspects. Is it wrong to say that most of my favorite parts included him... Though the counter to that was that most of my most painful parts also included him. Elise Kova, you kill me.

Prince Baldair, is just wow. I really enjoyed all the scenes and time that Vhalla chose to ride with the Golden Guard and Baldair would make either comments or remarks. He is very entertaining and  though I don't love him the way I love Aldrik, I still LOVE Baldair in another kind of way. Another thing that is really enjoyable about him is his humor, it's subtle, but nonetheless really funny. I want to say that all the warning towards Vhalla and her actions, were warnings out of care for her well being, but since we still haven't seen that much Baldair I am still on the fence about whether he has good intentions or bad ones. In the end I am hoping that they are good intentions, since he's such a great character, but who really knows besides the author in the end.

I have to give Elise like so many applauds along with a standing ovation for her brilliant talents in making such attractive characters, both physically and mentally.

Conclusion:

Now for the actual ending and conclusion of Fire Falling, now that is a different story. I had many emotions while reading the last paragraph. I think my first initial  reaction was shock.



 and then it was anger.

Then there was another reaction of shock after the anger.



 Then finally once it had sunk in, and I had read the last paragraph a good thousand times over... there was sadness and denial.

 These are all the sentences I can possibly mange for this epic conclusion of Fire Falling, without breaking down again. It was brilliant and a total cliff hanging...literally.   

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this book was amazing. Now don't feel bad if you haven't read Air Awakens yet, there is still time before the official release date of Fire Falling to catch up. If you have however read Air Awakens, I strongly suggest picking up this book once it is released. This book was better than Air Awakens, and that to me I thought would be extremely impossible, however it was definitely achieved in Fire Falling.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I had asked Elise Kova on her final thoughts of Fire Falling after writing it. Also how she emotionally felt once finishing it the way she did. She was kind enough to take the time to answer my question and here was her response:

Air Awakens is on such a tight schedule for me that there's not too much time to "decompress" between books. Which is good, because I stay in the world, I stay focused on improving and doing what the story needs done. It also means that the books live well beyond any "finish date". I'm still working on Air Awakens, fixing some edits and typos for a new edition to come out around the time of Fire Falling's release. As of the time of writing this I'm putting the last edits on Fire Falling and I'm preparing Earth's End to go out to my last betas. Oh, and I'm writing book four of Air Awakens (title to be announced later). So, it's not a process where I completely put one book aside ever. It's a living, breathing series.

If I'm completely honest though, I did have an "oh shit" moment after I wrote the ending of Fire Falling, and then again when I sent it out to reviewers. I've literally paced ruts into my floor debating the ending. I know how the series ends. I know what happens next, the whole story, and why everything is happening as it is. So, I'm not as emotionally affected as someone who doesn't know those things (aka, everyone else). But, I'm terrified people will decide not to read book three after the end of book two, and trust me when I say that so much has yet to happen. Book three was actually my cover artist's (Merilliza Chan - zwxArt) favorite book of the series so far. I took a risk on the ending and I'm still nervous about the reception.

But, I have a lot planned between now and the release of Earth's End, a few twists, tricks, and surprises up my sleeves. So, I hope people stay along for the ride and keep an eye on my social media and their friendly book bloggers blogs and social.

Preorder Fire Falling here: 

About the Author

 Elise Kova has always had a passion for storytelling. She wrote her first novella, a high-fantasy, in sixth grade. Over the years she’s honed her love of literature with everything from fantasy to romance, science fiction to mystery, and whatever else catches her eye.

Elise lives in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where she’s currently working on the next installment in her debut YA fantasy series: Air Awakens. She enjoys video games, anime, table-top role playing games, and many other forms of “geekdom.” She loves talking with fans

Connect with Elise through:

~Goodreads~ Amazon~ Twitter~ Instagram~

~Facebook~ Tumblr~

Giveaway:



a Rafflecopter giveaway

ALSO don't forget about the read along that Elise is hosting for Air Awakens from October 25 to November 15 over on Facebook. There will be deleted scenes, giveaways, and a chance to ask her all those BURNING questions about the Air Awakens world! (https://www.facebook.com/events/10372...)