Title: Fire Touched
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson #9
Pages: 350
Fire Touched focuses on the Fae, specially a human, Aiden, who has spent centuries living in Underhill and is no longer fully human. He requests protection of the pack from the Gray Lords and changes everything for the Tri-Cities.
“Coyote had told me once that changes were neither good nor bad—but brought with them some of both.”
This was a fascinating one! Aiden is a human who now has the ability of fire. He has spent centuries trapped in Underhill but is still a child. He just wants to be free and the Pack gives him that chance. I really liked Aiden. He was terrified and traumatized, but determined to have his freedom. At first he causes a lot of problems because he doesn’t understand how the pack works or just human interactions in general. I loved seeing him accept that he was safe and actually start to grow into an interesting character.
Mercy and Adam are such a power couple. I love how they continue to show the werewolf world, and the rest of the world, what a strong pack can be like. Mercy continues to protect everyone she can, especially those she considers family. Mercy makes a declaration of sanctuary for anyone who needs it in this book. It changes everything for the paranormals and humans in the city. I loved that Adam wasn’t upset about it and saw how important it was. He even throws down an ultimatum to the pack because of it and it’s about time. Adam really stepped up in this one and I am glad because some of his actions in the previous book made me mad.
The Fae were ruthless and self-absorbed as expected. There were a lot of new and scary Fae introduced in this one, many of which turned out to be enemies. It was interesting getting another glimpse at Underhill as well. We got a small glimpse of it in Iron Kissed but now we actually get a more in depth look at what Underhill is and can do. It was scary but fascinating, which is what you would expect from a Fae world. Also, I loved Baby Yaga and I want to see more of her in the future.
Overall, this was another wonderful book for this series. I can wait to see how this new peace treaty will go and how the pack’s territory will be tested.
Trigger Warnings: imprisonment, torture, domestic violence briefly discussed, suicide of parent briefly mentioned, violence, death
Previous books and reviews for the series:
Red-Haired Ash Reads 