Enna Burning review

Enna Burning
Shannon Hale
2004
Rating: Good

I didn't realise that Enna Burning was part of a series, nor have I read the book before it, The Goose Girl but this didn't really matter. The books have the same group of characters, with some new ones thrown in, but the stories are quite separate.
Enna Burning is about 16 year old Enna, friend of the Princess Isi from the previous The Goose Girl book. She had returned to her home in the Forest to care for her sick mother, who at the start of this book has died. Enna lives with her brother who finds a piece of vellum which teaches him to light a fire without spark or flint. Enna becomes worried about her brother when the warm energy of the fire becomes destructive and Leifer becomes controlled by his desire to burn. When Bayern goes to war, Leifer helps Bayern's army win by burning their enemies, however in the process he is killed by the fire. Enna finds the parchment and decides that she has to use it in order to save her friends and Bayern. She sneaks into enemy camps, burning small things, at first but later in a big battle lets the fire take control of her and nearly gets killed in the process. Her friend, Isi, has similar abilities with wind, which she is losing control of so the two girls set off to a kingdom in the south to find the fire-worshipers who can hopefully help them.
Enna Burning is a unique story and fairy tale aimed for teenagers. There's lots of very graphic and gory moments throughout the book with many people being burnt alive. It was very difficult to like Enna during these parts as it's hard to understand the control that the fire has over her, but she redeems herself in the end. Enna Burning has elements of romance, fantasy, drama and adventure, and is a book that I'd recommend.