Mixed feelings about this one. No question it is well written and the author did a tremendous amount of research in New Zealand history. I assume great care was taken to capture Maori culture and history accurately.
Many portions were difficult to read - sensitive readers may appreciate knowing this book depicts rape, cannibalism, death by hanging, and other graphic effects of war. I don't like reading these topics but realize they were a part of the history. Biggest complaint is the sheer effort it took to suspend disbelief - the author took many awful things that happened in a particular time period and then basically had all of them happen to one family. Just one hit after another. I found it (and the ending) implausible.
Skilled author, difficult and interesting time period, a powerful sweeping family saga. A story that works except when it doesn't.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed reading the first book from The Fire Blossom Saga, and was excited to read book two, Fires of Change. I thought it was great. Five stars.

As the second volume in this saga, I welcomed to return to so many well-developed characters in a well-rounded look at the Maoris and their clash with white culture. Well written and hope the next book comes soon!

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An interesting story with good writing and engaging MC's.
A good read.

Twenty years after a group of German immigrants settled in New Zealand on South Island this second book in the series continues the story by focussing on their daughters. In New Zealand an uprising under the Maoris is making life on North Island dangerous. A mix of Christianity mixed with cultural identity is spread by a prophet and creates an explosive mix.

The author uses real historical facts to tell her story what in my opinion makes it worthwhile to read. As I have not read the first novel and there are many different characters in this novel it took me quite a while to fully get into the story.

There is quite some violence in the story so not suitable for too young a reader.

To be reviewed in February's edition of Historical Novels Review. Per their policy, I will update the review after it is published in the magazine in Feb 2021

I was really excited for this book but it just never grabbed my attention and I found myself putting it down and picking up a different book to read. By half way through I knew I was not enthralled enough to finish it. It wasn’t a bad story, just wasn’t one for me.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed going through this journey.

I am a fan of Sarah Lark and have not been disappointed in reading any of her novels. I did read the prequel to this book, The Fire Blossom. I am glad I did, some of the references to the past were written about in the previous book. I had looked forward to reading this book and finding out how life treated the characters from the first book. I felt like Jane had not been treated fairly in the first book and this second book made me angry with her, but glad that in the end, she changed to become a better person. For the most part, the main characters after making mistakes, their lives turned around for the better.

3.5 stars, rounded up. There was a lot to like about this book (from the believable characters on both sides of the conflict to the gorgeous scenery to the inclusion of fun historical tidbits) but it was very similar to the six other books I've read by this author. I found this book to be especially similar to Island of a Thousand Springs. I can't go into detail on the similarities without risking huge spoilers, but in a nutshell: cute young white woman gets taken captive by a member of an oppressed group (in NZ it's a Maori, in Jamaica it's a Maroon), they force the woman/women into slavery, where they remain for a large amount of time, eventually getting pregnant by a captor, and finally getting saved by her own people near the end of the book. The shapes of the books were very similar and there were times where I swear some of the same passages were used. It's clear this author likes to write a certain type of book, which is totally fine, but once you get to the seventh book by her, it all feels a bit too familiar