I'm being generous, I actually felt this book was more of a 3.5

It's a sorrowful story, about all the shame, grief, and violence we endure in life, just to scrape a fleeting moment's peace or comfort. The book did not shy away from trigger words or horrifying details; this book was meant as a love letter to survivors of all kinds. You are Seen, and your pain is shared.

Some parts hit too close to home, like the use of the word "monster" to label beautiful people as Other and dangerous. It reminds me vividly, and uncomfortably, of the words "savage", "bestial", or "exotic" being used to Other non-white people throughout history. (And "witch", in the case of women in history). The invasion and violence of a gaze or a word, and the violation that another's unwanted opinions for what is "right" for a woman to be and do, are all very real traumas we've gone through a staggering, tiring, de-humanizing amount of times. #MeToo Fire.

But other parts of the story did not hit as intended. Fire represents many women whose cultures insist that they cover up, because otherwise her beauty would be too distracting; the women are faulted for what is natural, instead of the men being taught to respect another. BUT, in Fire's case, that danger is not a faulty, patriarchal perspective; she LITERALLY enthralls people with her natural beauty. It was cringey. The book didn't condone rape by any means! But it did seem to imply that Boys Will Be Boys, and girls should forgive them for turning into horny animals from time to time.

Also cringey: Fire finds a way to use her powers to heal rather than harm, and she makes peace with her unwanted inheritance. But she never stops feeling shame for being a "monster". She never meets a secret community of "monsters" who have a totally different name for themselves, and use their power benevolently. She never denies the label herself, and celebrates the person she has become. Her isolation and shame may be accurate for the themes of the book, but it sends a weird message to the audience: "The racists are right, you shouldn't love yourself, you are a freak if you're Other." Fire believes the racist assumption that her power is a corruption SO MUCH that she STERILIZES HERSELF, so as not to pass her race on to another generation. Criiiiinge!

And in hindsight, for all that the book did well in making a story about Survivors... it really wasn't much of a STORY! There's next to no plot. The "romantic leads" are rarely in the same space for more than an hour/a paragraph at a time. The "found family" never really hits home, because all the family members are insufferably judgmental and paranoid. And in what little plot there is, the leads keep getting separated from said scenes! Archer goes rogue, Fire is kidnapped, Brigan is called away to the battlefield, and none of them are present for the WAR coming to a head at the capital!!! All the build up, all the political intrigue, and the greatest action, the scariest sacrifices, are all made OFF PAGE!!! This book is more mood than story.

Lastly, this book made me retroactively mad at Sarah J. Maas, AGAIN! XD It's clear she read this book and was like, "I can fix this, it just needs more sex and a big battle scene!" Then she wrote A Court of Mist and Fury. I hate that Maas clearly stole ideas from this book... And I hate that I kind of agree with her XD. I always get mad at Maas for seemingly being tone-deaf, morphing from a scene of grieving or dealing with PTSD into an erotic scene with little to no transition. But in Fire, I kept waiting for the usual arcs of self-discovery, triumph, "taking back one's power".... and I didn't get it. The book just stayed sad, hopeless, and impotent. The happy ending felt rushed and disingenuous. Fire didn't grow. The country didn't really change. The losses all seem for naught. And the book seems to want to say, "That's right. Losses just happen, it's a part of the life cycle. Deal with it. Be sad. You are flawed, everyone around you is flawed, your world is flawed, you will get occasional, microscopic, fleeting improvements, and then one day you'll all die." Very... very "Goth kids" way of looking at a fantasy realm...

So, in short, props to this book for highlighting Survivors... But I'm disheartened now, kind of want to cuddle a puppy and never pick up another Kristin Cashore book, if they're all going to make me this sad.... Buuuut if you need a good cry, read this book. You're not alone.