Book: The Girl of Fire and Thorns

Author: Rae Carson

Genre: Fiction/Young Adult/Fantasy/Romance

Summary: Elisa has always felt powerless, useless. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king - a king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess. And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could save his people. And he looks at her in a way no man had ever looked at her before. Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young. Most of the chosen do. - Greenwillow Books, 2011. 

This one was disappointing. 

Boring plot.  Unlikable characters.  Awkward 1st person.  The magic system was weird, abstract, and random.  It's almost like there wasn't a story being told...things just happened.

The title of the book doesn't even have anything to do with what happens in the story.

Ugh.

There are a few things the author did very well.  For example, I can tell you exactly the body type and attractiveness of each female character.  I can tell you what, how much, and how often the main character ate.  And--most importantly--I can tell you the color of eyes, hair, and definition of the jawline of each male character.  Oh, also...apparently, when it comes to male eye color, cinnamon is a valid color choice. 

I wonder what the abbreviation for cinnamon is on a driver's license?

If the author had spent as much time on the details of the story as she did on the details of how everyone looked, this might have worked. 

But she didn't.  So it doesn't.

Content appropriate for 12+.

The Value of a Star: Ratings Explained

The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson

“I will look in triumph on my enemies. They will scatter to the ends of the earth, and God’s righteous right hand will endure forever.” The ball of light whirls. My body tingles with power.  “I am God’s righteous right hand! And I will. Not. Waver.” The Godstone is all around me now, swirling and beautiful and terrifying. My skin breathes in the energy of the earth, of the air around me, and feeds it to my Godstone.

Princess Elisa is destined for greatness or for a horrifying death. She is the bearer of a Godstone that miraculously appeared in her navel when she was an infant. Few bearers have lived long enough to fulfill their destiny.

Elisa is sixteen when she is married to the young and handsome King Alejandro who rules a country far from her home. She has been protected and indulged her entire life. Secrets have been kept from her. To ease the worry that plagues her, Elisa, from childhood, has used food as comfort. She is a very large young girl, a girl with little confidence as compared to her slender, beautiful older sister. The marriage is a political arrangement.

She travels to the desert country of Joya d’Arena to become its queen, but when she arrives, Alejandro keeps their marriage a secret, offering an excuse pertaining to political issues. His mistress eyes Elisa with narrow, suspicious eyes. In response, Elisa continues to feed her worry with food. She is looked upon by all with scorn for her appetite and girth.

But there is a will of iron beneath her softness and when she is kidnapped a transformation takes place as she learns not only to survive the riggers of the heartbreaking trials before her, but to love the country and its people.

Ultimately, this is a story about belief in faith and in one’s self. Many times, Elisa doubts her ability to fulfill her God given purpose, but her belief sustains her even against seemingly insurmountable odds.

The novel starts of slow but as the story unfolds what Elisa faces engages the reader and holds the reader’s attention. I read late into the night. I had to finish it. The sequels, which I intend to read as soon as possible, continue

Currently reading Girl of Fire and Thorns, and such good writing, though a little slow at times but not enough to put me off. Review coming soon.

Well, it took me more days than the usual to finish this book. But nevertheless I decided to give this book a 4 star rating.

This was my first ever read of a fantasy novel about religion and I could definitely say that I enjoyed this experience. As a Christian, myself, I approve this one. It didn’t step on my belief about God. Also, this book made me reflect about my trust and faith in God. I pretty much understand whenever Elisa had doubts about God’s will because I, also, had moments where my doubts took the best of me.

The Book Cover was pretty, though I still couldn’t see the connection of the title to the story. And the world building was also good. This was my first read about the desert adventures and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. I never had any idea of the way people lived in the desert. I learned a lot about the desert through Elisa’s adventure.

Written in Elisa’s (the heroine) POV, this book was fast paced with several action scenes. The story was unpredictable and there were a few scenes that put me on the edge of my seat. Also there were some scenes I wished that did not happen because they made my heart ached until now after I read the book. So this book successfully gave me different sorts of “feels”.

I shed a tear, I fell in love, I grieved and sympathized for Elisa, and felt triumphant when she did. I pretty much put myself in her shoes. Her insecurities, self pity, and low self-esteem, I.Totally.Get.Them, I liked how the author built her character and I felt some sort of connection with her and I’m anxious to know what would she become further in the future.

I got a hard time with some of the terms used in this book. So, I breezed upon and not really paid attention to them because I found them hard to memorize.

I liked a bunch of characters from this book (aside from Elisa), especially Prince Rosario, he brought smile to my face and he was so adorable. I also liked Alejandro but I liked Humberto more. Then, there was Hector, gentleman and mysterious, I’m also looking forward to know him better. Also the women who helped and had been part of Elisa’s journey namely, Ximena, Anexia, Mara and Cosme, were also worthy to be mentioned (yeah Girl Power!).

The ending was satisfying IMO. Though I would take a day or two (or maybe more depending on my mood) of rest before I start the sequel “The Crown of Embers” to gear up my head and heart for whatever “feels” Ms Carson has to offer from the sequel.

This book might be not for everybody’s liking. But if you want to read a story about faith in God, desert adventures and a romance that is not the central topic of the story, you might as well give this book a try.