Firebird

Pure #2

by Catherine Mesick

Sixteen-year-old Katie Wickliff wants nothing more than to settle into a quiet life with her cursed beloved, William. But both Katie's past—and William's—are far too troubled to allow them to live in peace. Shortly after Katie discovers that a shadowy figure has placed a price on her head—and that a pack of vampires is out to collect the reward—William disappears, leaving Katie without the one person she can trust.

Bereft of her true love and surrounded on all sides by danger, Katie must find out who it is that hunts her—before her life is claimed.

Genres: Vampires, Paranormal

474 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 10, 2018

Reviews

[J. Kahele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow

This was very long and drawn out. I did enjoy the innocent love between William and Katie, it was sugary-sweet. But it seemed that every time the author would throw a surprise at you, it took so long to reveal the purpose, I found myself wanting to skim pages to get to the answer

[SapphireRose26 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was largely a disappointment to me. I read the first book of the series for free thanks to a promotion, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. So much so that I purchased this one, the second book in the series. I had some criticism for the author's style in the first book, things like her need to account for every minute of the main character's time, and I had hoped this would be less of an issue in the second book. I was wrong. The first half of this book was so tedious to read I actually contemplated not finishing it. I decided I would always wonder about the ending if I didn't finish it, so I forced myself to keep reading. I just can't stress enough how boring and pointless it is to account for every minute of every day. There's also far too much internal dialogue, with sometimes whole pages of Katie whining about William's absence or contemplating the problems going on around her and what she should or should not do about them. It slowed the pacing of the novel to a crawl.

On top of that, I just couldn't get past how willfully ignorant Katie was in this book. I mean, who is willing to date a guy who won't tell them anything about himself? When she asked questions, he would say things like "You don't need to know that," and she would simply take that answer. I just wanted to shake her every single time. Her interactions with her grandmother were the same way. It was also so frustrating when she began seeing things out of the corner of her eye and kept convincing herself there was nothing there, even after she'd experienced all the paranormal occurrences of the first book. It became blindingly apparent that the only reason the plot was able to work out was because of the main character's willingness to remain in the dark and let everyone else around her do what was best for her. I'm sorry, but that's a truly unattractive quality in a main character, especially one that's supposed to be a heroine.

One scene in particular demonstrated pretty clearly how stupid Katie was by choice. In the first half of the book, Katie's best friend, Charisse, believes there's something wrong with her mother because of a creepy man she's dating. She keeps comparing this man to Katie's boyfriend, William, and even when Katie sees Charisse's mom acting out of character, she convinces herself it's nothing. Never once does she even consider maybe the quality about this mysterious boyfriend that reminds Charisse of William is the fact that he's a vampire. Face palm! Later in the book, when GM begins dating a mysterious man, and she's acting out of character the way Charisse's mother did, I expected to discover that the new boyfriend was also a vampire (because foreshadowing). It was even pointed out that this man was related to the villain of the last book. Yet, at the end, GM is still with him, very much in love, and everything is normal and great. So...That went nowhere. I guess that first scene had no point at all. So much about this book was just so poorly executed.

All that being said, the reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 (and really it's like 2.5 stars) is because the story itself is great. I love the Russian folklore, and the plot itself was so interesting I HAD to see how it ended. Unfortunately, I think I'm done with this series, though.

[Shauna Zaugg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

I am enjoying getting to know Katie and William. I appreciate that even though they are romantically inclined, there’s not a lot of extra romantic stuff. This is an adventure with lots of paranormal creatures. The author is great at keeping you guessing which characters are going to be helpful & which are there to cause trouble.

[Kasey Gozza]

Very good sequel to Pure. I was more invested in this story than the first, but still too many unanswered questions. I suppose that is a carrot dangle to read the next. The only thing I didn't like was the abrupt end. I felt like it was not wrapped up sufficiently. I will be reading on though and hoping for a little more depth.

[Brittany Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good

This one was intense. The action took us to the very end and I was afraid of a cliffhanger ending. But I was pleasantly surprised. Looiung toward to book

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Pure series and Firebird picks up a few weeks later. Katie and William are together (which I love) and everything appears to be back to normal. That is, until two old friends of William’s (vampires, naturally) appear with a request. Innokenti and Anton ask for both her and William to return to Krov, Russia. William flat-out refuses to go and Katie is left to wonder what’s going on.



Innokenti reveals several vampires are out to capture/kill Katie (Little Sun) in a version of a Slayerfest (Buffy reference, sorry but I couldn’t help thinking it as I was reading). Katie doesn’t know who to trust and then in the midst of this crisis, William vanishes. Was he captured or did he just abandon her? Katie’s heartbroken either way and in a struggle to pick up the pieces, she agrees to go back to Krov with GM (her grandmother). Has she just signed her own death warrant or will she be able to find William and seek the answers to what’s happening?



I must say, this was very much a darker book than the first one. Katie has everyone from her GM to her friends bashing her relationship with William and they all gang up on her constantly. GM and her friends dismiss what’s happened in the previous book which was annoying. What kind of friends and family do that?



I loved the fact that Mesick filled in the reader with backstory just in case you didn’t read book one. It reminded me what happened in Pure (book one) and kept the story moving along.



I won’t give away any spoilers but I was extremely upset with the ending. It rankled me how it ended and I wanted to throw my Kindle out the window. So, I had to drop a full star in my rating.



Certain characters made this a book worth reading and their appearances kept me captivated. I loved the introduction of Anton and GM’s paramour. I’m hoping book three will tie up all the loose ends.



If you’re a big fan of vampire, paranormal and mythology, you’re going to love this whole series. In Firebird, you’ll find more vampires than you can shake a stick at and the action propels the story forward. Fans of Twilight will love this one!



Favorite Character: Anton. I loved his addition to the cast of characters in this series. It’s obvious from the start that he and William have a history, a combative one. But when William disappears, Anton comes calling. He’s a deliciously evil creature and tempts Katie. Will she be caught under his spell or will she be able to resist his song? You’ll have to read Firebird to find out.



Favorite Quote: Anton’s amusement deepened. “Too stunned to speak? I have that effect on a lot of women.”



My Rating: 3.5 stars


This review first appeared: https://princessofthelight.wordpress....

[Victoria Simcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why has William vanished? Now Katie is on your own and she is defenseless? A band of vampires are trying to gain a reward for her. A sinister character has laid out a fee on her. All 16 year old Katie wanted was to have a peaceful existence with William. That cannot be though, for the two of them have had too much of a troubled history that will not permit them reside in harmony. Since book 1, (Pure) Katie has blossomed into a stronger character. She is still having to deal with past terror and fears that have reared their ugly heads again but to add to it there is new trouble abounding. Through all of the turbulence and the absence of having William at her side their love for each other only becomes more resilient. Author Catherine Mesick has pulled it off again, a story that will keep your mind pondering the question: What will happen next? If you love teen paranormal romance then this series is well worth your time.

[Dianne]

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