Book Review: Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Title: The Girl of Fire and Thorns

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: 448
Rating: 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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Book Review: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Brightly Woven

Author: Alexandra Bracken

ISBN:  978-1606840382

Publisher: Egmont USA

Pub. Date: March 2010

Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance/ Magic/Adventure

Pages: H-368

Rating: 5 Kisses

Author's Website

 Excerpt

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com):  Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him.

In return for this gift, Wayland North is offered any reward he desires—and no one is more surprised than Sydelle when, without any explanation, he chooses her. Taken from her home, Sydelle hardly needs encouragement to find reasons to dislike North. He drinks too much and bathes too little, and if that isn’t enough to drive her to madness, North rarely even uses the magic he takes such pride in possessing. Yet, it’s not long before she realizes there’s something strange about the wizard, who is as fiercely protective of her as he is secretive about a curse that turns his limbs a sinister shade of black and leaves him breathless with agony. Unfortunately, there is never a chance for her to seek answers.

Along with the strangely powerful quakes and storms that trace their path across the kingdom, other wizards begin to take an inexplicable interest in her as well, resulting in a series of deadly duels. Against a backdrop of war and uncertainty, Sydelle is faced with the growing awareness that these events aren’t as random as she had believed—that no curse, not even that of Wayland North, is quite as terrible as the one she herself may carry.

My Ramblings and Reveries:  Wow! This was one exciting adventure.  Sydelle lives in a poor small village where there is currently a drought.  It hasn’t rained in 7 years.  One day a wizard, North Wayland, comes and makes it rain.  At his request the Sydelle’s father gives her to North for this service.  Both begin their journey to warn the queen about the upcoming war and who truly poisoned and killed the King.  Clearly upset at being forced from her home, Sydelle tries to ignore him, but actually ends up yelling at him quite a lot.  North ignores her yelling, especially when he’s drunk.  After several messy encounters with other wizards, Sydelle finds it difficult to be mad at him.  Her hatred turns to compassion. 

       Sydelle is 16 yr. old weaver who has the ability to repair magical talismans.  I really respected her strength and determination.  She also has a habit of attracting the worst sort of trouble.  However, North doesn’t mind rescuing her and playing the part of hero. I just loved North.  He reminded me of Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle (the movie).  On the outside he is strong, stubborn, very good looking, and optimistic.  On the inside, he is cursed and tortured.  Both North and Sydelle are very selfless characters.  Their willingness to do anything to save their country, even sacrifice their lives, was touching. 

       Magic is a large part of this book.  However, the relationship between Sydelle and North forces the reader to look beyond all the magic, war, and secrets and watch as two people see the good and importance in the other.  Both characters have always felt insignificant and do their best to fight that feeling.  That doesn’t mean the feeling goes away.  Their love and kindness for each other removes their insecurities making them all the more powerful and useful. 

      Behind this love story, there is a journey involving a war.  The upcoming war is based on rumor, and therefore does not need to be fought, especially since it is a false rumor.  Alexandra Bracken handles the issue of a reason-less war with care.  The threat of many lives lost hangs over the characters giving them a very real consequence if they fail.  It gave the story a sense of urgency. 

       Alexandra Bracken built a beautiful and very original world.  The countries had their own religions, myths, legends, etc.  She established guilds, abundant resources for the regions as income, and different terrains.  It was all very engaging.  I would love to jump back into the world, even though Bracken currently has no plans to write a sequel.  I adored this book.  The writing flowed easily and Bracken’s word choice and phrasing made Sydelle’s voice clear and relatable to the reader.  Brightly Woven is an enthralling adventure that will leave you eager for more.  

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Book Review: Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton

Title: Tyger Tyger

Author: Kersten Hamilton

Series: Goblin Wars #1

ISBN: 0547330081

Publisher: Clarion Books

Pub. Date: September 2010

Genre: Fantasy/YA/Romance/Adventure

Pages: H-320

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Synopsis (from Goodreads.com): Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures--goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty--are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems.
     Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too . . . and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

My Reveries and Ramblings:  Tyger Tyger follows the adventure of Teagan, her brother, Aiden, and Finn into Mag Mell to rescue Teagan’s father from Fear Doirich, the goblin king.  That’s basically the gist of the whole story.  Hamilton put together a wonderful story.  The mythology was well crafted/researched.  It really brought the story to life.  However, I felt that there were just so many names and places that I could barely pronounce that I found myself having to reread certain parts to get the back story correct.  I did like how Hamilton incorporated the Gaelic phrases.  Finn’s dialogue was interesting to read.  He was confident in everything he did-from fighting to flirting.  His character was a bit flat though.  I just didn’t get that spark of a three dimensional character from him.  I didn’t feel that he was real.  In fact, most of the characters didn’t seem that three dimensional.  Since this is the first book in a series, I’m really hoping Hamilton explores them more.  Although I really liked Aiden and his singing ability.  It made for some very funny moments, especially in Mag Mell (Kiss the Girl scene-wish he kept singing). Oh, and Ms. Skinner, a very obscure character, made me so angry, she needs to get a life instead of trying to control and judge others’.

       I was a bit frustrated at how both Teagan and Finn have the whole love-at-first-sight moment, then Finn goes away for a while, and she’s not upset.  What bothers me is that they barely had a conversation and he’s in love with her.  Also, throughout the book there aren’t any serious romantic moments-there are a few cute ones, though. Also, Abby, Teagan’s best friend, kept warning Teagan about how the goblins are coming for her in the beginning, but then when they finally do show up, Abby doesn’t believe her. 

       Tyger Tyger is like a modern day fairy tale-without the fey.  It was a good book.  Hamilton included Irish folklore, religion, goblins, and a really cool car chase in her novel.  That car chase was very fun to read- most of the books I read don’t include one so that was interesting. I give this book 3 Kisses.  

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Book Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Title: Fire

Author: Kristin Cashore

Series: Graceling #2

ISBN: 0575085118

Publisher: Gollancz

Genre: Fantasy/ Adventure/ YA/ Romance

Pages: H-461; P-336

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Synopsis (from Goodreads): Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans.

Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.

My Reveries and Ramblings:  Fire is the last human monster-and she intends for it to stay that way.  Fire’s father, also a monster, was the king’s best friend who used his power to get what he wanted.  He did terrible things just because he could.  Fire was the only person her father loved and who was never under the influence of his power.  Over time Fire realized her father was not good.  After her father’s death, she vowed never to have children-that the line of human monsters end with her. 

       The novel starts with Fire getting shot with an arrow.   The shooter is one of the many men being found around the kingdom who have clouded minds and don’t seem to understand what they are doing.  Fire is asked to help the royal family interrogate prisoners with her ability to reach into people’s minds.  However this proves difficult since Fire refuses to do anything bad with her ability.  On top of that, she also has to deal with Lord Brigan who seems to be set in hating her, King Nash who keeps declaring his love for her at every opportunity, Archer’s (her lover) growing jealousy, and a boy with different colored eyes who gives her the chills.  The story is set during a tension filled time leading up to a huge war which takes place as the story progresses. 

       I LOVED this book!  I read it twice and still couldn’t stop thinking about it.  Fire is such a strong character and yet ironic character.  Fire’s beauty drives men mad.  Many try and kill her because they know they can’t have her.  Others harass her and then turn to violence.  She is hated by those who hated her father and even worse, is only trusted by her close friends.  Throughout the course of the story she has to overcome all of these difficulties. 

       Lord Brigan.  I couldn’t imagine a hotter knight in shining armor.  He’s so strong and was forced into the army at a young age by Fire’s father in hopes that he would die. Instead, he emerged a hero.  He grew up distrusting monsters and because of that distrusts and hates Fire.   However over time his heart softens and he sees Fire as a human instead of a monster. 

       This story was just riveting.  I was engrossed in the novel from the very first page.  It had suspense, adventure, and romance.  It was epic.  I thought it was so much better than Graceling even though it is a prequel or companion novel.  It takes place years before Graceling.  Also, I love reading books that have a redhead protagonist because, well, I am one!  Overall, I highly recommend this book.   I borrowed it from the library, and will probably one day buy it so that I may reread it a million more times.   

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Book Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Title:  Graceling

Author: Kristin Cashore      

Series: Graceling

ISBN: 015206396X

Publisher:  Harcourt Children’s Books

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, YA, Romance

Pages: H-471

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com):  Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight — she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme, and in her case horrifying, skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace — or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away... a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

My Ramblings and Reveries:  A Graceling is a person born with a magnified skill.  Gracelings, who have two different colored eyes, are considered property of the King.  Katsa, a Graceling, is used by her uncle, the King, as a killing machine.  She doesn’t like killing or violence and only uses her Grace if there is no other option.  During a rescue mission, she meets and fights Po-the only person who ever put up a challenge for her.  After knocking him out, Katsa resumes her mission, only to meet Po again when she returns.  Both set out to solve the mystery surrounding the kidnapping and rescue. 

       I liked this book.  I loved the world and the whole concept of Graces.  I really wanted to love the book, but there were a few things that I just didn’t like.  They mostly revolved around the ending.  I just didn’t like it.  What I did like was the suspense and how Katsa was strong and independent.  I liked Katsa and Po’s relationship and how their personalities complemented each other.  Leck creeped me out-as he should.  Bitterblue reminded me of my niece.  I liked how Katsa felt almost maternal towards Bitterblue.  Overall, it was a good read.  I give it 3 kisses. 

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