Reviews

This is a well written book and it was very realistic in that Enna would make a plan in her head and as she would go to act it out something would happen that disrupted her plan--very much like my life. I don't know why i didn't enjoy it more, just didn't.

vibeke_hiatt's review against another edition

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3.0

It was a little hard to get into this book, but once I got halfway, I didn't want to put it down. Sometimes, it moved a little too slowly and I found that Enna wasn't as likable as Isi. The plot wasn't put together quite as well as The Goose Girl, but I enjoy Shannon Hale's style. She sets the scene so vividly, I couldn't help feeling what Enna felt.

roseleaf24's review against another edition

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4.0

Three years after The Goose Girl, and much has changed for Isi and Enna. The winds have begun to intrude on Isi, and Enna has grown restless in her forest home after her time in the capital. When her brother Leifer begins to work with fire, she is torn between her own attraction and worry about the consequences. Though she believes she can retain control, she gets drawn into recklessness. To be honest, because of the differences in these beloved characters and a string of poor decisions, the first half of the book was a difficult read. But then , things developed so that the differences came into agreement with the characters I knew before, and everything resolved with the action and beauty I expect from Hale. And Finn was wonderfully steady as always.

myleejmiller's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Enna has always been an energetic person, but when her brother brings home the secret to a power which eventually destroys him, she finds herself stuck between two choices. One, to forget her brother and stay out of the war between her homeland's friends and an opposing force. Or two, learn the secrets of the fire which her brother died for, protect her homeland, get revenge... and perish in the process. When Enna's mistakes multiply and her friends' lives are put at risk, Enna faces more than the threat of destroying herself. She faces the reality of others abusing her power for their own gain.

Enna Burning has been a book I've had on my shelf for years but never had the motivation to read. As a kid, I read a lot of middle grade and only recently (after the unreadable days of High School) got back into reading. In that time, I discovered many authors and (sadly) forgot about Shannon Hale's work. I have never been gladder to have returned to an old, familiar voice in the literary world.

This book was both nostalgic for me and incredibly inspiring. As a writer myself, I completely forget that The Goose Girl, book one in The Books Of Bayern series, had inspired much of my current writing style. One of my favorite parts of Hale's work is the way she uses word choice and prose to build up and beautify her fictional worlds. Especially in The Books Of Bayern, I see so much attention to detail through the use of verbs for inanimate nouns and the way Hale creates a world based on emphasized movement. It made the novel easier to read and easier to enjoy.

The only regret I have is that I didn't read this book sooner. Although my current TBR is massive and it may take me a bit to read the rest of this series (and, hopefully, Hale's other work), I cannot wait to dive into the rest of these characters' lives and the adventures which Hale has crafted with such masterful paintbrush strokes of prose. Hale's voice is unmistakable, and her works are world changing. I cannot thank her enough for the joy her stories have brought me (and others in my life). Definitely worth the read (and reread, too!)

mrsbrharris's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked Goose Girl better, but I liked the end even if it was a little corny.

stephxsu's review against another edition

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4.0

Enna is not fit to live out her life in the uneventful Forest. One day, however, her older brother Leifer brings home a piece of vellum that holds the secrets of the language of fire. The knowledge brings about his end: in Bayern’s war against their southern neighbor, Tira, Leifer destroys himself in using the fire to help out Bayern.

Enna pledges to herself to learn the magic that had possessed Leifer. The language of fire fills a space in her chest that she didn’t even know was there. All of a sudden, Enna is spurned to make secret missions into enemy camps to set things on fire and destroy. Tira begins to refer to her as the fire witch.

Then, one night on a mission, she is captured. She is the prisoner of Sileph, a wily, smooth-talking commander who charms Enna into falling for him. Sileph wants her to use her fire abilities to make herself feel better, because by then that’s what it has become: an insatiable desire to burn that she must obey. In short, the fire is slowly taking over Enna.

Luckily for Enna, she has wonderful friends. These people include Isi, the Kildenrean princess turned goose girl turned Bayern queen; Razo, a short, playful boy; and Finn, formerly sensitive, now toughened into a world-class soldier, but who always carries a soft spot for Enna. It’s not just that Enna needs to be rescued from the enemy camp: the fire is also killing her as well. How far will her friends go in order to save the spirited, brave young woman?

Once again the talented author Shannon Hale weaves a tale of magic and realism. The characters in ENNA BURNING are well drawn out, and their predicaments are unique. Fans of Hale’s first book, THE GOOSE GIRL, are sure to love this companion.

jamiehandy's review against another edition

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4.0

I read the goose girl (the first in the series) way back in 2007. I liked it, but I was not immediately curious to see if it was a part of a series . . . So I picked up Enna burning at a book sale and it sat on the shelf for the last year or so. I just couldn't seem that motivated to read it. But the day finally came and I picked it up and really had a hard time putting it down. I think it much better than the Goose girl and thought it dealt with a lot of interesting themes.

1. the price of war
2. the value of friends
3. the role of balance in our lives

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