The Fire Sisters by A.G. Henley

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Title: The Fire Sisters
Author: A.G. Henley
Series: Brilliant Darkness #3
Published by: Indie
Release Date: August 15, 2019
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 9 hours and 13 minutes
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
Source: Audible
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Fall, Lenoreo's 2022 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 Finishing the Series Challenge, Lenoreo's 2022 Fraterfest Readathon
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:

Blurb:

Fennel and Peree are finally together and safe from the scourge in the protected village of Koolkuna. Except, on the day of their partnering ceremony, the children of the village are stolen away - Fenn's loyal companion Kora among them.

Fenn and Peree join a small search party led by rival Kaiya, the one person who stands a chance of finding the children, thanks to her mysterious past. As they travel away from the safe waters of Koolkuna and into the scourge-infested wilds, Fenn endures Kai's scorn, her subtle designs on Peree, and the squabbling of the group, but nothing in her life so far has prepared her for the fierce warrior women who will steal others' children to preserve their own existence - the Fire Sisters.

If Fenn is to survive the threat of the scourge, rescue the children from the sisters, and have a hope of making a life with Peree in Koolkuna, she must face her fear of failure and loss and become the leader she's destined to be.

The Fire Sisters is the final book of the Brilliant Darkness fantasy romance series. Fans of Divergent and Under the Never Sky will love this series about a blind girl who alone can protect her forest people from terrifying flesh-eating creatures.

My Review:

4.5 stars — Okay, I will admit that I remember feeling pretty satisfied until the twist at the very end of Defiance, and thinking that Fenn and Peree didn’t need another book.  But after reading The Gatherer short story (highly recommend before reading this one), and having just finished the story, I will admit that it feels necessary now.  The conclusion I had was good, but there were still loose ends and growth left for Fenn to do, and I got that from this book.

At the end of the second book, Fenn is consumed by her grief, and she feels shaky and uncertain about the future.  She loves Peree, but she can’t get past all the things that have happened to her.  In this book she gets time, and a set of circumstances that help her work through her grief and grow into the leader that everyone else but her knows she truly is.  She is Miri, she is the star to lead her people.  It takes encounters with all sorts of characters for her to get to that place, but it’s so satisfying and believable when she does get there.

I will admit, part of the reason I’m rounding down instead of up is that I didn’t get as much time with Peree as I might have liked…or at least time with just the two of them.  But that’s just me being greedy.

And it wasn’t just Fenn that got some much needed resolution to their story.  Even if the stories are left a bit open ended, I felt like some crucial characters are at a better place in their life journey at the end of this story, and I can see how their path might move forward.  Yes, I’m being cryptic on purpose.

All in all, this was a very satisfying ending that I wasn’t sure I needed, but now know I definitely did.  And it just makes me want to go back to the beginning and reread it all.  I can see it making it to my fave rereads list when I need a pick me up.

As always, Emily Woo Zeller did an absolutely fantastic job with the narration.  I think this story, in particular, I love LISTENING to…it makes me feel closer to Fennel.  It makes me notice the things that are described, the different voices, just so much about what her experience must have been like.  And Ms. Zeller is so great with emotions, pacing, and distinctive voices.  I can’t imagine doing anything other than listening to it.

COYER Community: I buddy read this book with Lillian from Mom With a Reading Problem, and she gave it 4.5 stars (her review).  After both of us having a bit of post COVID challenges reading, we both powered through this one and remembered why we loved the series and kind of want to reread it!  We both agreed it needed more Peree though.  😉