The Girl of Fire and Thorns -- Rae Carson

Sixteen-year-old Elisa is the younger of two princesses. She's bookish, uncomfortable in social situations, and turns to food in times of stress: in other words, she's nothing like her perfect older sister.

She's also the carrier of the Godstone. Which means that she's destined to do something great—if she doesn't die before her opportunity to do that Great Thing, whatever it is.

And it's starting to look more and more like she might not live to see her chance. On her sixteenth birthday, she's married off to the king—he's much older than her, but is exceedingly handsome, and seems kind enough, though for some unknown reason he insists on keeping the news of their recent marriage from his people—of a nearby country on the brink of war.

Suddenly, she's the secret queen of an unfamiliar land, thrown headfirst into a sea of political intrigue, unable to trust almost anyone, and where every aspect of her position is uncertain: as the Chosen One, as a ruler, as a representative of her country, as a wife.

HOO BOY, THIS IS A GOOD ONE.

I'd heard great things about it, but I'd put off reading it up until now because I was scared off by the cover, which I find busy, muddy, and generic. (Of course, it could have been much worse.) I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again: thank goodness for the Cybils. The Girl of Fire and Thorns is a 2011 YA SF/F finalist, and so obviously I had to get over my Cover Art Issues and read it.

I picked it up on Friday morning, and I lost two hours. Like, I started reading, and then, what felt like five minutes later, Josh said something, and I realized that I'd read half of the book without even noticing the passage of time.

I WAS SO INTO IT THAT I FORGOT TO EAT BREAKFAST.

Elisa is (obviously) a captivating narrator. She's down on herself in some ways, but always Steps Up when it matters. She's read everything there is to read about the Art of Battle, but she's lacking in life experience and confidence. She's imperfect, utterly believable, and I loved her from page one.

All of the characters—even the minor ones—read as real people, and the worldbuilding was so strong that I'd be extremely sad if I didn't know that there are more books on the way: this is the first in a trilogy. I'd also be really jazzed to see a companion novel from the perspective of a person fighting on the other side of the war. Or a prequel, about Elisa's nurse.

Only complaint? The very last climactic scene didn't work for me. I'm still not exactly sure how or why—the pacing, maybe, or that it was just Too Cinematic in comparison with the rest?—but, really, when it comes down to it, I absolutely loved every last bit of 419 out of 422 pages. Which is a pretty good run.

Also, while the storyline doesn't really allow for Team Guy vs. Team Other Guy, if it did, I'd be Team Lord Hector. All the way. AGE DIFFERENCE BE DAMNED.

Recommended to fans of books by Kristin Cashore and Tamora Pierce, other fantasies starring Strong-Willed Heroines, and also to fans of The Queen's Thief books, but especially to fans of The Blue Sword. Not for the prose stylings—no one can beat McKinley in that department—but because there are some serious similarities in storyline, and as I, a Blue Sword fangirl from waaaaaaay back, had so much fun picking up on them that I figured that others would, too.

__________________________________________

Author page.

__________________________________________

Amazon | Indiebound

__________________________________________

Book source: ILLed through my library.

Comments

[Pam]

I am so glad you liked it!

[Kelia]

FINALLY! Yay that you liked it too :D

[Leila]

Yes, very, very much!

[tanita]

Yeah, I'm Team Lord Hector, too. Not that you wanted to know this, but he saw her all the time - thin, fat, in-between; that equals Worthy Male to me. And hey, he can also just be her, like, secretary or whatnot. You know.

Okay, I suddenly need to reread this book.

It's sad: I'm working on calling the librarian of the teeeeeensy library in our village, to start shifting the Cybils books OUT, and there are just some that I cannot give up. Every. Single. Year. This is ridiculous; I'm supposed to be traveling light through this world, blah blah blah. So not working.

[Jill]

I need to read this book again, just to figure out the age difference between Hector and Elisa. I didn't think there was a huge age difference-- I thought he was around the same age as what's-his-name, Elisa's husband.

Anyway, I think this was my favorite read of '11 and I'm glad you liked it too.

[Lindsey Carmichael]

I love this one, too! I read it as an e-galley, but I'm going to order a copy from Britain. Google the UK cover and you'll know why - it is STUNNING.

[Leila]

@Tanita: YES. And that's why I loved him -- he always saw her as her. Period. As who she was, and who she became. And I totally, totally understand your Book Pain. Believe me.

@Jill: I assumed he was older than what's-his-name, because he'd served under the previous king. But, now that I think about it, that wouldn't necessarily be the case. So, yeah. Either way, I live in the hope that they'll hook up.

@Lindsey: I saw it at Finding Wonderland -- it's so pretty!

[Alex]

Go Team Hector!

[Lily Anderson]

Okay. You sold me. Like read the review, went to Amazon, blew a little of my tax refund sold me.

Damn you for invoking Cashore, Pierce, AND McKinley.

[Lisa K]

Thanks for the link to cover story! Maybe the camels are a bit much, but that cover is way more plausible. I trusted a friend's recommendation to get over my cover issues and even open it and I wasn't very far in at all before I got mad at such an icky cover hiding this good book.

[Melissa (Book Nut)]

You piqued my interest with the fact that you forgot to eat breakfast, and sold me on "fans of Kristin Cashore. I'm definitely reading it now.

[Pat]

Thanks so much for recommending this title. I grabbed our copy from the teen shelf and love it.

[Malloriecolvin.wordpress.com]

I'm totally on Team Lord Hector! I also agree about that final climactic scene - in my head I saw it as a cinematic montage with crazy angles and swirling lights, which is so different from the tone of the rest of the book.