Release Date ~ 9/20/201
Format ~ ARC
Publisher ~ Greenwillow
Source ~ Swapped
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Elisa was just an amazing main character. I don't think Rae Carson couldn't of created a more refreshing or realistic main character. Elisa was overweight. She know's she's overweight. She has terribly low self-esteem because of it. She's lived in the shadow of her older and more charismatic sister all her life. And yet, god has bestowed upon her a "godstone", something only given to someone once every 100 years and means they are destined for greatness. She has no idea why the godstone has been given to her. I think one of the many joys of this book was reading about her transformation and about her finding herself and her destiny.
The one thing that I both loved and hated about The Girl of Fire and Thorns was that Rae Carson frankly didn't give a damn about your feelings for a character. She'd build someone up, make you love them, and then kill them. I think she's a twisted, sadistic meanie to do that to us, but I admire that she has the courage and the wit to do that. Only great authors know how to kill of characters you really care about.
The settings in The Girl of Fire and Thorns were so vivid and lush. With so many different landscapes and kingdoms, it was hard to remember all the names, but it was like looking at a full, palatable painting with a canvas a mile long. It was so easy to imagine the world you were there alongside Elisa every step of the way.
Never before has a book in this genre been so masterly written or so elegantly done. Rae Carson is a genius of a novelist!
Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.High fantasy isn't a genre I've explored too much. It's never been too of a genre for me, as stuff like The Lord of the Rings was something I always stayed away from. But after George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Shadow and Bone by Liegh Bardugo, I was less reluctant to read from this genre. I still won't read Tolkien, but I am more willing to pick up other high fantasy. And when I heard about Rae Carson's The Girl of Fire and Thorns, I couldn't wait to read it!
Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs 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 be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
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.
Elisa was just an amazing main character. I don't think Rae Carson couldn't of created a more refreshing or realistic main character. Elisa was overweight. She know's she's overweight. She has terribly low self-esteem because of it. She's lived in the shadow of her older and more charismatic sister all her life. And yet, god has bestowed upon her a "godstone", something only given to someone once every 100 years and means they are destined for greatness. She has no idea why the godstone has been given to her. I think one of the many joys of this book was reading about her transformation and about her finding herself and her destiny.
The one thing that I both loved and hated about The Girl of Fire and Thorns was that Rae Carson frankly didn't give a damn about your feelings for a character. She'd build someone up, make you love them, and then kill them. I think she's a twisted, sadistic meanie to do that to us, but I admire that she has the courage and the wit to do that. Only great authors know how to kill of characters you really care about.
The settings in The Girl of Fire and Thorns were so vivid and lush. With so many different landscapes and kingdoms, it was hard to remember all the names, but it was like looking at a full, palatable painting with a canvas a mile long. It was so easy to imagine the world you were there alongside Elisa every step of the way.
Never before has a book in this genre been so masterly written or so elegantly done. Rae Carson is a genius of a novelist!
Cover Comments:
I love the gold on this cover and all the hedges/bushes on the outline! The entire cover looks so magical!
Rae Carson will be visiting The Non Reluctant Reader on Wednesday, 9/19 with an interview as part of THE CROWN OF EMBERS blog tour.
Looooovvvveeee this review!!!!! And since you're open to High Fantasy now after Crown of Embers I suggest Maria V Snyder's books starting with the Study series ;)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Jaime
Great review. So true. I loved this book. The sequel is great too.
ReplyDeleteI have had my eye on this book for ages. I am glad to see you enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteBecky @ A Reader’s Devotion
This is one of the series that I keep hearing good things about but I stupidly have not bothered to pick up- and I should!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
I'm not really into high fantasy, either, but...these ladies make their books sounds so interesting. And then hearing good things from EVERYONE I ASK about it isn't exactly pushing me away either. I have to read this book. HAVE to.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have more rambling things to say that are relevant, but probably/maybe not all that interesting to anyone but me. Or maybe it would be. I don't know...
♥Jessica(:
Such an awesome review! I have been desperately wanting to read this book and after reading your near-glowing review (especially being that you're someone who doesn't gravitate to this sort of book too)... omg, I am moving this book toward the TOP of my to-purchase next list!
ReplyDeletethanks for the insight and thoughtfulness in your review.