Breath of Fire (The Kingmaker Chronicles, #2)

by Amanda Bouchet

I AM CATALIA FISA,
AND I DO NOT BREAK

Deep breath in. Long breath out. The Gods are telling me I'm some sort of new Origin, which apparently means it's my job to give Thalyria a fresh start. Griffin crowned me with the symbols of the three realms.

If I'm supposed to be not just a queen but the Queen, I'd better start acting like it.

• Publish Date: July 2023 (first published 3 January 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Publish Country: US
• Edition: Dark and Quirky Exclusive
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[lizarodz]

Quite the Novel Idea http://quitethenovelidea.com http://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-breath-fire-heart-fire-amanda-bouchet/Breath of Fire was even better than A Promise of Fire!  Cat and Griffin are such an amazing couple and they shine in the second book of the series. 

This book is action packed, our favorite host of characters (and many new ones) go from one quest to another. There are a whole lot of mythical creatures, gods and of course, myths that make an appearance and I found that fascinating.  I found some portions of the plot somewhat unnecessary (I don't want to include spoilers), but the overall feel of the book is of excitement, love, power and forward movement. 

Cat is such as strong character.  She was made that way by her mother and siblings that were all abusive and honestly, just plain crazy.   I think she grows stronger still because she learns to love, she understand the meaning of family, she finally understands her importance and how carefully the gods have played in her life.  Cat is straightforward, tries to be honest, ironic, and though.  Griffin is also strong, but he's not afraid to show his feelings to anyone.  He loves Cat beyond reason and he's ready to always protect her and be his number one fan. I just love them together, they were made for each other. 

Griffin's Beta team, and his family as a great cast of characters, I loved all most of them and a few more get added as Sinta gets more powerful.  An awesome addition to the series!  This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

[stacey_is_sassy]

I'm about to get real...

First off, I have chatted (online) with Amanda Bouchet and she seems like the nicest and sweetest person. The below comments are not meant to directly attack Ms Bouchet, this is actually more of a reflection on the frustrations of buying books in Australia. It seems like we pay more than double the price of books that are sold overseas and we NEVER (or hardly ever) have access to sales prices offered elsewhere. Sometimes, we don't even have access to the same books.

It has taken me yonky donks to read this book. The first book in the series, I absolutely loved and could not sing its praises loud enough. When the second book was announced, I put in a request to read and review and was rejected. No harm, no foul, you can't win them all. So, I waited for the release and planned to buy myself a Kindle copy on Amazon. Bloody Hell!! $16.99 for the Kindle copy. Wow, I haven't EVER paid that much for a Kindle version. So, I sat and waited, hoping that the price would come down. Months went by and I checked regularly with no changes. Recently, I put in a paperback order (Amazon USA) and out of curiosity checked the price for a paper version and it was $5.98, so I added it. I was a little disappointed though because I don't enjoy reading paper books anymore. Then I had an idea...why not buy the audio version when I had my next audible credit available?

SO, I DID IT!!

It was pretty good but unfortunately, I had my expectations set a little too high. The ending was action-packed, heart pounding excitement. I loved it. Unfortunately, the lead up to the ending was a bit boring. I even took a week off listening because I felt like something more exciting. I can't even put my finger on what was missing. It just felt like Cat had lost her backbone and her confidence. Every so often she'd come out spitting fire, but there were more times where she looked to Griffin or her team to make decisions.

The third book in the series is set to come out soon...ish, but I'm not sure I'll be going on, to be honest. I can't justify paying nearly $17.00 for a Kindle book.

[Leigha]

Cat is back in an action packed second installment to The Kingmaker Chronicles.

The second book in the series is even better than the first! Cat and Griffin move toward a more healthy relationship (less ownership, more friendship), each learning to lean on the strength of the other. Not to worry, it still contains plenty of sarcasm and sensuality between the two. More time is spent developing the secondary characters, particularly Beta Team and Griffin’s family. The other characters are all enjoyable, as is the comradery built between everyone during the novel.

The Greek mythology is once again center stage with more Gods and Goddesses present. It’s the number one reason I adore this series so much! It’s just so much fun mixing the Greek mythology with a fantasy setting. Just as secondary characters are given more time to shine, more time is given to the fantasy setting. The world is further developed, particularly the history behind each kingdom. The plot is action packed and fast paced, although the ending is fairly predictable. I can’t wait for the third book in the series to come out.

tl;dr An action-packed second installment with plenty of romance and sarcastic quips for all to enjoy.

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Okay, where to start with this book… I’ll start with the fact that I started this series hesitantly. Book one has RAVE reviews. I was very worried that I was going to into it with my hopes too high and would be disappointed. That didn’t have happen. I listened to A Promise of Fire and really enjoyed it. So, I never questioned requesting Breath of Fire. Then I started seeing some reviews for it. They weren’t nearly as good, mostly mixed. Some people loved it. Others didn’t. That made me not really want to tackle this book, but I requested for review, so I need to at least attempt it. That is the problem with reviewing audiobooks, you’re one of the last people reviewing the books, so you see how everyone else feels about book before you can jump in. Even if I don’t read reviews for fear of spoilers, I do see ratings. That can color my opinion before even starting the book.

So this book has a bit of a rocky start. There’s a huge fight between Cat and Griffin. Cat had lied by omission (who can blame her, she was trying to protect others from her family). Griffin goes off the rails and destroys everything in the room and is even physical with Cat. So she thinks things are over between them (and wouldn’t you??), she cloaks herself and goes to hide in shame. She berates herself, a lot. She also panics be she’s magically tied to Griffin and can’t leave him because of her vow. He is not under the same compulsion. She’s very concerned she will have to watch him move on to another woman while she can’t leave or move on herself. When Griffin finally finds her, they have a big reunion and a ton of makeup sex.

The story does get better as the Beta Team goes on a quest to get help to fight Cat’s mother in the Ice Plains. A lot happens and I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers. Then there is how they decide to go into these games to make it into castle Tarva. These games are life and death. Again, a lot happens, but no details to avoid spoilers again.

Now, that is an extreme summary of the story. A lot happens throughout the entire story. There is a ton of action and fight scenes, many of which are life and death. We also learn a lot about Cat and the prophecy surrounding her. We continue to learn more about this world and the wonderful Greek characters in this world.

I have a few issues with this story besides the rocky start. One, the team puts themselves in some pretty tricky situations. Yet they make it out with little issues. Don’t get me wrong, their fights aren’t a walk in the park. But when you think about this team of mostly humans taking on magical beings, including giant cyclops and other magical humans, they come out better than I think they should. There is loss of life, but that loss, at least to me, came at times when things weren’t nearly as dire as times when they should’ve been slaughtered. It just didn’t have much of a realistic feel to me.

All of this being said, I still think this series intrigues me. I’m very interested to see how the series will wrap up. I am glad to know that I’m going into the last book knowing that I will have the complete series under my belt. If I didn’t know how many more books in the series, I don’t know if I would’ve wanted to keep tackling these books with an unknown ending.

Narration
4 stars
Again I love Mia Barrow’s narration of this book. I think she helped keep me going when there were parts of the books that weren’t my favorite. I love the voices that she uses for all the characters. I think they fit the characters’ personalities to a tee. She is also good about setting the tone be it a fight scene, sex scene or a scene where everyone is down because of the events in the story.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Ashley]

I feel raw and hollowed out and in desperate need of book 3.

[leelu92]

EPIC. 'nuff said.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Caffeinated Aspects:

• I love the world Bouchet has created from the four kingdoms to the mythology. She vividly delivers battles and countryside descriptions that explode in my mind as I listen.



• Cat our heroine is snarky and all sorts of badass. She isn't without flaws, but I love watching her evolve and try to understand her role. She has this incredible strength and vulnerability about her. She has a tendency to act first and think second. Think Rachel from Kim Harrison's the Hollows.



• Griffin get's a bad rap from some but I think his scruffy, over protective self, is swoon-worth. When it comes to Cat, he loses his head. However, when it comes to the lands and the people he alway puts them above his own gain and status. Not many alpha males can do that.



• Secondary characters are unique, offering comradery, conflict, and excitement as the overall arc continues to develop.



• The Gods and Beasts are delightful described and interaction with them is intense.



• We learn more about Cat and her family history as well as the world Bouchet has created. All of these reveals and tidbits helped further develop the overall plot and drew me in.



• Despite some issues I will mention below, I like the overall story ARC in this series and thought Breath of Fire was an intense, enjoyable read. Bouchet is a genuinely talented author, but I felt the book suffered middle book syndrome.



• Mia Barron continues to be the perfect narrator for this series. She captures the tone of the story perfectly creating an added level of enjoyment for the listener. Each voice is unique and enhances Bouchet's interpretations of the character.

Decaffeinated Aspects:

• I had problems with the first chapter. It contains a fight, loads of sex and quite frankly even re-listening was confusing.  It didn't set the tone for the story and I think I would have preferred starting with chapter two.



• More plot, less sex. I get it, these two are madly in love. I love the romance, but I NEED the story to be the main dish and for the sex scenes to be a great side dish.  Not we lived another day, sex, battle, sex, take me here now. Nope.



• I love the epic battles that occurred throughout Breath of Fire. We get plenty of action and rich descriptions. I can even handle Cat's impulsiveness, but in almost every fight Cat ends up nearly dead and is miraculously saved by some intervention. It was cool, but when it kept happening it stole some of the power of those battles for the reader. It lost its intensity because I basically knew the outcome.  I would have liked to see Cat use her wit.



• Cat took a step back confidence wise, despite all that we learned she has some developing to do for the final novel.

This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Cocktails and Books]

I don't know if I can say anything other than this book was freaking awesome. Tons of action, loads of angst and at it's core is a heroine who is starting to believe she can make a difference. I love Cat, Griffin and the Beta (or maybe Alpha) team. This group amazed me and made me a little jealous that I couldn't be one of them.

I can't wait for the next book.