Fierce Like a Firestorm (Wicked Like a Wildfire, #2)

by Lana Popovic

“Lush. Delicious. Bewildering. And darkly magical. Popovic has created a world that you tumble into from the very first words and wish you could stay in forever.” —Evelyn Skye, author of The Crown's Game

In the bewitching conclusion to Lana Popovic’s sumptuous and romantic teen fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo, Malina must rescue her twin sister from a magical power more dangerous than Death.

Twin sisters Iris and Malina thought they knew how to reverse the ancient curse that haunts their line, the spell that destines them to use their gleams—unique forms of beauty-manipulating magic—to entice and enchant none other than Death himself. But both sisters thought wrong. 

Instead of ending the wicked bargain with the power of her infinite bloom, Iris is taken to an uncanny realm between this world and the next. Only, unlike all of Death’s companions before, Iris’s body goes on the one-way journey along with her soul, arriving in a kingdom never meant to sustain a living girl.

Left behind, Lina searches for a way to save Iris. But as Lina unearths the dark secrets that bind her family and Iris tries to outwit Death on his own terrain, a power resurfaces that even Mara, the original witch mother, fears.

Now both sisters must learn to fully embrace their gleams—or else they’ll truly lose each other forever. 

• ISBN10: 0062436864
• ISBN13: 9780062436863
• Publish Date: 4 October 2018 (first published 21 August 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 13 March 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

I don’t think i liked this book. If I still have stars, this would probably get two. Not because it’s badly written, I just didn’t enjoy it.

It’s short and still I skimmed a good bit. Past the flowery descriptions (especially in Death’s kingdom), through the parts I didn’t care about that I knew weren’t moving the story forward. But there was a story and there were new elements and there were revealings.

I think mostly I didn’t like it because it’s sad. For all that it tries to be about beauty there is no wonder or joy or triumph or fun in it. Even the good things from before are lost or tarnished in the end. I stayed outside for hours, long after Luka left. He squeezed my hand in parting, but didn’t try to kiss me or speak. We weren’t each other’s to kiss—not more, though maybe someday..

They say someday but her relationship with Luka is destroyed because he abandoned her as quickly as she abandoned him. He was the sweet, stay, bright spot in her that kept the story interesting. And Fjlor is gone to an endless quiet and darkness existence when he was at least interesting. All his untruths and manipulations kept the story from being boring and oddly made it easy to like him.

It doesn’t matter that they won the battle or defeated the bad guy because everything even slightly good is gone. There’s only a sad, hollow world left and that’s a terrible way to end a story.