The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1)
Author: Rae Carson
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published Date: September 2011
Hardcover; 424 pages
Genre: YA Fantasy
ISBN# 978-0-06-202648-4
Reviewed by: Shanda
FTC FYI: borrowed from my local library
Summary
Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
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.
Review
The Girl of Fire and Thorns was not quite what I expected. It was even better. I soon found myself swept up in the story of Elisa, the second daughter, princess, and Godstone-bearer who was coddled and ate as many honeyed pastries as she wanted.
The book opens as Elisa is getting ready to be married to King Alejandro from a neighboring kingdom. They have never met and she is nervous about leaving all she has ever known to travel to a strange land. Elisa isn’t sure why she was chosen and not her older, prettier sister. She is self-conscious about her appearance, knows she is inexperienced about what it takes to rule a kingdom and doubts her ability and worthiness to be the first Godstone bearer from her country in over a hundred years.
Over the next several months, Elisa sees and experiences things she could never have imagined. These series of events change her, physically and emotionally, into a young woman of strength, character and confidence. She discovers power within herself she never knew existed, not just in regard to the Godstone, but in her ability to lead others and overcome tragedy.
I really enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns. The characters were memorable, with depth and the ability to change and grow as the story progressed. The story dragged a bit for me in spots, but my interest in how Elisa was evolving and the relationships she was forming with those around her kept me reading.
The Girl of Fire and Thorns is written in first-person present-tense, which I love, though some people have a hard time reading it. I was drawn into what was happening to Elisa, her new kingdom, the war, her discoveries about the Godstone, as well as her relationships with Ximena, Cosme, Humberto and King Alejandro. At one point I was floored by an unexpected event and felt all of the emotion that Elisa was experiencing in the story.
The Girl of Fire and Thorns is a bit of magic, romance, adventure, suspense, loss, and discovery all woven together to create a memorable story that I can easily recommend to others. I am anxious to read The Crown of Embers, book two in the Fire and Thorns series. If it’s as good as the first, I’ll be adding this series to the top of my shopping list.
Content
Language: not that I can remember, though it’s been a couple of weeks since I finished it
Sex: a few kisses, no detail, no sex
Violence: some violence, it takes place during wartime
Drug Use: none that I recall
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