Fate: The Winx Saga LIGHTING THE FIRE

With less than a month until the second season premieres on Netflix, a new Fate book has come out. This one is a prequel that happens before the events of the first season. 

It's written in the same interesting style as the first book, though without Bloom's first person PoV sections. There are sections about the teachers, but mostly the PoVs are from Stella, Terra, Musa, Aisha, Sky and Riven. Once again, Beatrix is left out. 

I would say Stella, Sky and Riven dominate the book with Terra coming close on their heels. There was less from Musa and Aisha, but I enjoyed what we saw of them. Especially Musa. She and Beatrix are my fave characters. 

For Musa/Riven fans, there is a great bit with those two. 

Bloom fans will find this disappointing because she's barely in it. But that's okay with me as she dominates the first book. 

There's a lot of interaction with Stella, Sky and Riven. They're sowing the seeds for the Ricki incident, although that is not covered in this book. A lot of time is spent on the ever-changing relationship between Sky and Riven. 

The best parts are fleshing out the backstory with Terra and Riven. I love both of them and she really brings out the best in him, though he needs to stop being such an ass. But then, it's Riven. That's basically his entire character always. 

The best single moment isn't something that happens, but something that's mentioned. It's said twice that there are fairies of technology. I'm not sure this is mentioned at all in the first book. THERE IS HOPE FOR TECNA YET.

So yeah, I enjoyed this and I'm rereading the first one now, then planning on rewatching the first season before the second begins. 

FATE: THE WINX SAGA

Ah, Winx. Sort of. I binged all six episodes of this show on Netflix in a single day and my back hated me for it. 

The show is extremely different from the old cartoon. Hints of the original remain, but it's mostly been darkened up like a lot of similar teen shows. I thought I'd probably hate it, but...I fuckin' loved it. A lot. You just can't go into it expecting anything like what you're used to. Come in with an open mind and it's brain candy. 

So is this book. 

The book summarizes the six episodes from different points of view. Bloom's sections (headed "Fire") are the only ones in the first person. The other characters all use third person. It's an odd choice, but it also works. I do think they could have gotten away with first person for all of the PoV sections though. There are some with the teachers that could have remained in third person. 

But you've got different sections, each headed with an element. As mentioned, Bloom is Fire. Stella is Light. I think she gets the fewest sections. Aisha is Water, Terra is Earth, Musa is Mind. I want to say we saw more of Musa and Terra than Aisha. Then there are ones generically titled Specialist. They're Sky or Riven. I was sad there were no PoV sections for Beatrix, as I loved her. (Of course I did.) But maybe being in her head even in third person would have given too much of the plot away. 

The book is missing a lot of the dialogue from the show. It cuts out the rather prodigious swearing, too. They said "shit" a lot on the show. But the book does add a handful of interesting scenes and backstory that would have rounded out the show better. It's interesting getting into Riven's head, too. 

So I definitely recommend this if you're planning on watching the show. As a stand alone, it's just okay, but paired with the show, it's pretty excellent.