Author: Rae Carson
Series: Fire and Thorns #1
ISBN: 978-0062026507
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pub. Date: August 2012
Source: Purchased
Genre: Romance/ Fantasy/ Historical Romance/Paranormal Romance/ YA
Pages: 448Rating: 5 Kisses
Synopsis (from Goodreads): 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.
My Reveries and Ramblings: Sooooo…..I REALLY REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK! Before reading this, I went on a romance novel binge. I probably read at least six romance novels. (I was at the beach…don’t judge :P) After that, I was craving to read a book with a strong kick-ass heroine. I was so tired of reading about damsel-in-distress-I’m-so-weak women. So picked this from my goodreads TBR list….and read….and read….and didn’t stop.
Elisa, the protagonist, is a princess who carries the godstone, a gift from God to the people of Earth to defend them against dark magic. Elisa’s possessing of the godstone has put her in constant danger since she was a little girl. Of course, she never knew about the danger; her family kept her sheltered. When her father marries her off to a King from a far away land, everything changes.
Elisa is a fantastic character. She starts off incredibly insecure, fat, and depressed. She is fat because she eats when upset or stressed. This is partly why she is very insecure. She is, however, incredibly smart. Over the course of the book, Elisa changes. Some of these changes come at a great cost to her. But she perseveres. She starts out weak, and by the end of the book, she’s so much stronger. What I liked most about Elisa was that she was so relatable. She was nowhere near perfect, but was a character that many teenaged girls can look up to. Hell, I’d like to be like her.
The Girl of Fire and Thorns is really hard to review without giving spoilers. This book does have romance in it, although you’ll be in for lots of surprises. Every time I started to predict what would happen next or how the book would end, Ms. Carson would go “Yeaaaah no” and throw in a huge twist. The Girl of Fire and Thorns was nothing short of gripping and epic. It did involve religion, but it didn’t feel overwhelming.
If you like epic stories with a strong, relatable, kick-ass heroine than you will LOVE this awesome historical fantasy book!
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