A Review for Embracing the Flames (Born in Flames Trilogy #2) by Candace Knoebel

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: June 17th, 2013
Finished Date: July 4th, 2013

Publishers: Self Published
Source: For Review

Format: Kindle 
Pages: Unknown

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US 

The Stone of Immortality has always been kept under the watch of the Draconta. That is, until the betrayal of a Fate. Now, everything is about to change.

Aurora Megalos accepted her destiny without blinking-even if it meant succumbing to her dragon side. Deemed the Progeny, she left the ordinary life she knew and has done everything in her power to learn the ways of her new home and what it means to be part dragon. But when her mentor, Astral, suddenly disappears, she is forced to take the reins with war on the brink. She sets out on an epic journey to find what her arch enemy, Zordon, is after. What she discovers is far worse than she could’ve ever imagined. She will be tested and pushed to the limit. Lives will be lost, love will be found, and most importantly, a battle will begin.

The Review: Embracing the Flames is a great sequel to Born in Flames and I enjoyed it just as much. Aurora, Fenn & Lexi are now firmly back where they belong and are being trained for the battle that is to come. Things aren’t straight forward as some people aren’t being as honest as they should and leads to a fair few revelations with some very serious consequences for all involved. As Zordon starts building his armies in preparation for what’s to come, Aurora is making unlikely alliances herself but nothing can prepare her for what she must go through or what those around her must face to be on her side and we are reminded that there is a lot at stake if Zordon is to be defeated and sometimes you must lose the battle to win the war.

I liked the progression throughout this book, things went along as I thought they should but by the end…. I was knocked for six as events took a different route. This book had a lot of emotions, sending me on a roller coaster ride… Aurora’s progression as a character was good, as I said in the beginning I was getting what I had expected in the form of her struggling with and attempting to master her magic under the instruction of her mentor Astral whilst also learning some form of combat with her soul mate – Fenn. What I really liked was that in order to control her Draconta side she had to go to her mother and spend time with the Draconta at their home and be trained to protect the Stone of Immortality, this gave us a great insight into her other side. I enjoyed the romance between Aurora & Fenn also but it didn’t hit me like the first book did, Sometimes I felt like she was a bit childish with him and it sort of put me off a bit, however I did like the complication brought from another character and what that brought out in Fenn, giving us a definite idea of the depth of his feelings.

The storyline was a lot more revealing this time around, a few new places are revealed filled with new and sometimes unusual characters and there were some major secrets revealed throughout which will leave you with your mouth agape. I really enjoyed how Aurora’s world opened up in this, she visits new places and meets new characters that will have a real influence on her both for better & worse. I loved her mother’s homeland, the descriptions of the Dragons and their home was begging for some imagery to go alongside the story – it sounded amazing! I thought the same with another mystical place you will read about, but I will leave you to discover that for yourselves. I still enjoyed the glimpses we got into Zordon’s actions… they felt a lot more dangerous this time around and really had me on edge that she would be discovered most of the time especially as we see that Zordon will stop at nothing to get his way. It was definitely a roller coaster ride with lots of ups and downs with the downs being as low as a story can go, leading to some heart breaking moments that affects our characters profoundly & as Aurora makes unlikely alliances she also has to deal with the flip side of that & the consequences. She really does go through it in this book and you can definitely feel that this book is a game changer, the players have well & truly been placed and Zordon does indeed strike but that’s when things take a surprising turn, a cliffhanger of sorts that left me wishing I had the next book, right now, because I just have to find out what’s next for all involved especially Aurora & Fenn. 

Author:

Candace Knoebel is the award-winning author of Born in Flames-a young adult fantasy trilogy. 

Published by 48fourteen in 2012, Born in Flames went on to win Turning the Pages Book of the Year award in February of 2013. Embracing the Flames, the second in the trilogy, is scheduled for release in the summer of 2013.

Candace Knoebel discovered through lunch breaks and late nights after putting her kids to bed, a world where she could escape the ever-pressing days of an eight to five Purgatory. Since then, she crawled out of Purgatory and has devoted her time to writing and sometimes heelying.