Book Review: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

October 10, 2012 by 4 Comments

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Source: Purchased
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone’s power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy. – Goodreads

Review:
As you might remember, Rae Carson’s The Girl of Fire and Thorns was a perfect fantasy read for me. I screamed, I squeed, I cried, I fangirled…I was pretty much the physical embodiment of exclamation points over it. Yes, it WAS that good and The Crown of Embers immediately became one of my most anticipated titles of 2012. Friends and I tried to track it down at BEA, I missed it at ALA by a day, and then, when I actually got the book in my hands on release day, work and real life got in the way so I didn’t get the chance to read it until recently, TWO WEEKS later. Agony, let me tell you! Anyway, enough personal anecdotes, The Crown of Embers was astonishing and, hello, yes, much gushing ahead!

First off, Rae Carson’s pacing was so energetic and intense. A LOT happens in The Crown of Embers, and it was easy to see that the stakes were much higher from the first chapter. From there on out, it was a complete adventure with Elisa, Hector, and everyone else and, HOLY CRAP, things got crazy! There were twists and turns, political drama, and so much danger. I was glued to the pages and only stepped away from the book when absolutely forced to. Needless to say, The Crown of Embers had my heart racing with every page turn.

Next is Elisa. MY QUEEN. I am so, so proud of her growth. She has so much weight on her shoulders, and it would be so easy for her to crumble under it, but instead she grows and matures. She demonstrated so much determination and courage, both in standing up for herself and her kingdom, and I continue to look forward to cheering her on. Trust me, Elisa is a character to admire.

And then, of course, there’s the romance. I won’t say a lot about it, but excuse this outburst here and now: OHMYGODOHMYGOD, SUCH PERFECTION. No, really, Rae Carson knows how to build a relationship based on mutual respect and admiration and I was completely crazy over it. I held my breath during their scenes because their chemistry was so palpable and, gah, more of this in my reads, por favor.

Basically, The Crown of Embers is such a quality read and I wish I could put this series into the hands of everyone I know. If you haven’t read it yet, please do so that I can have more people to gush with. Filled with great writing, adventure, romance, and a fierce heroine, this is one fantasy series that I cannot recommend enough.

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Book Review: Entwined by Heather Dixon

October 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Entwined by Heather Dixon
Release Date: March 29, 2011
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 480
Source: Purchased Copy
Rating: ★★★☆☆ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it’s taken away. All of it.

The Keeper understands. He’s trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation.

Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.

But there is a cost.

The Keeper likes to keep things.

Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late. – Goodreads

Review:
Though I’m not all that familiar with the twelve dancing princesses fairytale (I see you judging me!), I was sure that Entwined would be a book I could immerse myself into. I started it during my most recent reading funk this past week and, unfortunately, we got off to a shaky start. After taking a reading break, though, I found myself very much charmed by this retelling.

I won’t even lie, it would be impossible to try to recall all of the sisters; all of them didn’t have unique, distinguishable characteristics to tell them apart. However, I can say that their dynamic was so much fun to read about. They were stubborn, loyal, and very loveable. Bramble was definitely the standout with her behavior and fierceness.

Following their mother’s death, the girls are ordered into mourning by their father. The biggest change for them was not being allowed to dance. Their defiance led them into a secret, magical passage every night where they met the villain of the story, Keeper. I have to admit, I found Keeper to be quite alluring at first, but he of course turned into a creepy creepster.

Romance wise, I would have loved more depth to the relationships. They were all very cute and sweet, but there wasn’t enough swoon for my liking. Azalea was obviously the focus of the story, and I loved her suitor, but the story would have benefited from more attention to Bramble and Clover’s romances. I adored both of the girls and I would have liked to feel the same way about their guys.

By far, my favorite part of the book was the relationship of the girls with their father, the king. It was easy to sympathize with both sides and understand how they felt following the death of the mother. The distance was aching, but it was so wonderful to see the gradual growth back together. The king? Was amazing and I loved peeling back his layers to uncover what a big softie he was. He was probably my favorite character of the entire book.

Overall, this was a cute and very likable story. I will definitely give this a re-read in the future when I’m in the mood for a heartwarmer.

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Book Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

July 12, 2011 by 13 Comments

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 432
Source: Netgalley
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

On her naming day, Elisa was marked for an act of great heroism. A blue sapphire-like stone has hummed in her navel for the past sixteen years, a constant reminder that she’s mastered nothing but reading ancient texts and raiding the kitchens. And then her father marries her off to the king of a neighboring country. What kind of queen can a fearful, untried teenager be? Amid terrifying attacks, kidnapping attempts, and an onslaught of enemies fueled by the fire of dark sorcerers, Elisa will find herself, her heart, and her epic destiny. – Netgalley

Review:
Eeep!!! I am absolutely in love with this novel! Let me count the ways:

1. Kick-ass heroine. Oh my god, you guys, it was truly a journey with Elisa! Born as the bearer of the Godstone, the chosen one to carry a special purpose, her life is full of expectations and pressure from those around her. But here’s the thing: Elisa is lazy, fat, full of insecurities, and she lacks any sort of motivation. It was easy for me to feel skeptical about her character growth when I found myself frustrated by some of her behavior and actions. How would she ever amount to anything when she had such low self-esteem? I wanted her to grow up and stop feeling sorry for herself. Lucky for me, she did just that! I won’t detail all the things she went through, but I am so proud of the woman she grew to be.

2. The Spanish and religious influence. As a Spanish speaker, I loved being able to pick up on things while still being able to appreciate the work that Carson put into her world and characters. The religious aspects were also expertly used and I found the history of the previous bearers to be very fascinating.

3. The romance that wasn’t. This point will go nicely with the next, but it gets its own special mention because one — it’s me — when does the romance stuff not get a special mention? And two, and more importantly, Rae Carson really threw me for a loop. I went into this thinking I had an idea of how the romantic aspects would play out and… NOPE! Some chapters in, I had other suspicions and…NOPE! Then I thought we were getting comfortable and settling in and ha…NOPE AGAIN! Not understanding the direction where this was headed would usually annoy me, but I genuinely appreciated the natural progress of what transpired — and what’s to come. Some of my suspicions from earlier on came back to the forefront at the end of this installment, and it certainly seems that that’s where we’re headed, but I won’t get ahead of myself like I did with this book. I’ll simply wait to see what Carson has up her sleeve in the next one. (But on the off chance that I’m actually right this time: I’M SO, SO EXCITED.)

4. The unpredictability. Love. Friendships. Fatalities. Secrets. Betrayals. Carson didn’t pull things out of nowhere — it was very clear that she knew where she was taking her story — but I was pleasantly surprised by some turn of events and my inability to see them coming.

5. The lack of cliffhanger. Now, Elisa’s journey is far from over, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing her again, but The Girl of Fire and Thorns wrapped up the events from this book well enough that I don’t have to go punching things in anger. That said, can I get the next book now, please? Before I go punching things in anger?

When the time comes to wrap up my favorite books of this year, The Girl of Fire and Thorns will definitely be on that list. It’s such an amazing start to a wonderful series. READ.THIS.BOOK.

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