Saturday, June 28, 2014

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!



For some reason, I really enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, but at the same time I felt completely emotionally unattached to it. It could be because I was still emotionally drained from finishing Champion by Marie Lu, or I just didn’t care, I’m really not sure…

            Elisa has always thought of herself as the fat, useless princess of Orovalle; her sister, graceful and powerful, seemed like the complete opposite, worthy of being a queen. However, it’s Elisa who is married off to King Alejandro, the ruler of the largest territory, Joya d’Arena, on her sixteenth birthday. However, their marriage remains a secret, for Alejandro is afraid that his court may discover that Elisa holds the Godstone, a stone bestowed upon her on her naming day, prophesizing that she would complete some great will of God. Meanwhile, Joya d’Arena is on the verge of war with the neighboring country, Invierne, which has the use of animagi at its disposal, men that can burn people with the necklaces they wear around their necks. They seek the bearer of the Godstone, for they believe that it can increase their powers. At the same time, another, revolutionary group is also searching for her, looking for a savior. With so many people wanting her for her Godstone, who will Elisa side with? Will she even live to join a side at all?

            Elisa is a strong character; physically weak, but mentally tough. There were times that I found her a bit annoying, but most of the time she was fine. I didn’t really like her at the beginning, but by the end I found that I liked and respected her a lot more, which I think was what the author was trying to do. Alejandro was at first a likeable character, but by the end I saw him as nothing but a weakling and a coward. I think I was supposed to be sad when he died, but I felt nothing and I actually kind of enjoyed it… Is that bad? It’s not like I hated him or anything, but it just felt like he was getting in the way of the story. Humberto and Rosario (the young prince, so adorable!) were the only characters that I actually liked, and of course, Humberto dies in a way that elicited absolutely no emotion whatsoever. I think it may have been because I was expecting Humberto to come back to life or something; it seemed so sudden, but at the same time I saw it coming. It was obvious what was going to happen, really, but I still felt confused when it actually did. I just looked up from reading and said “What” out loud a few times, then continued reading.


            The story was good and kept me reading; I was never bored and the world was interesting. It was fun to see what would happen next and to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, but too many of the main characters died, which was kind of strange. Well, at least Rosario didn’t die, that’s all I really cared about. There’s not really much else for me to say on the point because I really don’t know what to feel. Hopefully I can give you a more coherent review on the next one!! J

This book was really interesting! 4 Smileys!!


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