The Memory of Fire, Callie Bates – Readalong

Hello Humans! It is June 4th and – unsurprisingly – the fourth day in my #ABookADay reading challenge. The TBR jar has decreed that my next read shall be The Memory of Fire and, while I can’t remember anything that happened in The Waking Land I’m intrigued by the idea of following a different character – we shall see how things go!

Goodreads Summary:

Jahan Korakides is the hero who saved the life of the crown prince in battle, helped win the revolution in Eren and earned the heart of Elanna, the legendary Wildegarde reborn.

But Jahan Korakides is also broken; haunted by memories of the woman who experimented on him and his brothers as children. So when the empire threatens war in retribution for Elanna’s illegal sorcery, Jahan leaves Eren to negotiate with the emperor on Queen Sophy’s behalf. But the world he left has changed – riots rock the city of Ida, his brother is missing and the crown prince refuses to speak to him.

Jahan’s only hope of success seems to lie with the rebels in Ida. Yet, if he joins them, he will merely spur on the war he’s desperate to avoid, and risk revealing himself as a sorcerer.

And then the witch hunters arrive at court, bringing Elanna in chains.

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Chapter One – Four

Oh, these are long chapters – I’m just shy of 20% through and I’m only on chapter four?

I’ve pretty much remembered what happened in book one, I mean, probably not everything but I can fill in the blanks enough to know that whoever is killing people is probably not a good egg?

There’s been a little bit of ‘why don’t you just talk to each other’ where the leftover romance from The Waking Land is concerned which was a tad frustrating, but now that those two characters have gone their separate ways and we’re just following Jahan I think things are on the up.

I love a bit of court politics and sneaking so this is suiting me so far. I thought I might get frustrated reading a male protagonist – as a rule I prefer to read from the perspective of women – but actually, Jahan is perfectly fine. I think it helps that his aim is currently (in part) to find his brother(s) so it’s not some machismo-fuelled nonsense.

Chapter Five – Seventeen

I’ve just got past the halfway point and I can’t help but feel that this book is longer than it needs to be, I’d say this whole half has mostly been set-up – which I can understand, we’re with all new characters in a new setting – but the plot has only really come into play in the last ten per cent or so (which is a real pain because my lunch break is about to end.

I had a real panic that we were drifting dangerously close to love triangle territory but I think everything is ok, this book has a lot of things that could turn into tropes but so far has managed to avoid some of my particular pet peeves.

I still think Jahan is a good main character, I like that he has a lot of layers, he’s not just a one dimensional YA hero – though I think he could be faulted for brooding a little too much.

Anyway, I’ve just got to a big reveal so I’ll be desperately wondering what will happen next for the rest of the afternoon…sigh.

Chapter Eighteen – Twenty-seven

I was about to type that this was a fairly uneventful segment but that would be a lie, a lot happened – but to talk about it would be too spoiler-filled and would doubtless ruin your enjoyment of the book. Suffice to say, I’m still having a good time reading this, I’m probably too used to short chapters, I’m finding the lack of suitable pausing places a little tricky – which I wouldn’t have expected of myself!

Just got to finish that last 25% and then I’m done.

My predictions:

Someone gets injured
Kissing
A side character dies…

We shall see!

Chapter Twenty-eight – End

Obviously, I am not going to spoil the ending of this book for you, but I wasn’t too far off with my predictions.

I’ll confess, I read this not knowing if there was a third book scheduled or if they were a duology – turns out it’s a trilogy! As a result, I thought I’d reached the end maybe twice before I actually got to the end – and then there was a whole additional book after that! I don’t mind cliffhanger endings – though this is more of a ‘steep incline’ ending, but when you don’t know if one is coming or not it is a little more anxiety-inducing.

Note to self: look up the number of books in a series when you read…

Final Verdict

Much like The Waking Land, I don’t think that this is a bad book – in fact, it’s a good book, especially for one with a male protagonist! But if you, like me, read a lot of YA fantasy then it does make everything a little more predictable. If you enjoy knowing what is going to happen, if YA tropes make you smile as opposed to cringing then I say go for it! I was pleasantly surprised by this sequel and when the third book eventually makes its way into a Kindle sale I will probably part with my money once again!

My rating: 3/5 stars

I bought this book myself, all opinions are my own.

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What will the TBR Jar choose next?