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.
The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson’s debut novel, has definitely been added to my short list of favorite YA fantasy novels. It’s right up there with Graceling and Shadow and Bone. While I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to read it, I’m extremely happy I can binge read this trilogy!
I’m going to get my one complaint about The Girl of Fire and Thorns out of the way first since I only had one problem with it and I loved so many things about it. I hated the way Rae Carson spent so much time drawing attention to Elisa’s weight. It was made clear early on in the story that Elisa was fat. I was perfectly fine with that. In fact, I enjoyed reading about a heroine who wasn’t rail thin. However, I didn’t feel that it needed as much attention as it got. There was a lot of detail about how much Elisa ate and how other people looked at her because of her weight. After a while I got really tired of hearing about how big she was. Luckily as the story goes on the mentions of her weight go down a lot but in the beginning it was really kind of annoying.
Okay, now on to the things that I adored! Where do I even begin?
First up, the characters. Elisa is a kick-ass heroine. She may seem meek at first but don’t let that fool you. It all changes really quickly. Elisa takes control of her future and she takes charge. She’s a leader who is smart and funny and kind and true. There wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about her character. As for King Alejandro, he seemed nice enough but a little weak. He couldn’t make decisions for himself and he was always relying on other people to tell him what to do. I was let down by him. Hector was actually much more appealing to me and I hope we find out more of his story in the following books. Then there were the others. Ximena, Aneaxi, Cosme, Humberto, Belen, Jacian, Rosario, and so many more. I can’t possibly describe them all but I will say that I loved them all in different ways. Rosario was adorable. Humberto was so sweet. Ximena was fierce and loyal. Cosme had a lot more to her than she originally showed. It was a fabulous cast of characters, all around.
The story takes off from the very first page. Rae Carson just jumps right in and readers will be hooked. First it’s an arranged marriage, then it’s a hidden marriage in a strange new palace, then it’s kidnapping and war. There is no break in The Girl of Fire and Thorns. There is always something going on. I was on the edge of my seat by the end of the book and I had no idea how things were going to turn out.
Overall, The Girl of Fire and Thorns is a fabulous read for fantasy fans. There’s a little something for everyone in this story!
What others are saying about The Girl of Fire and Thorns:
The Book Smugglers’ review: “The Girl of Fire and Thorns>does, in fact, live up to its preceding hype.”
Alexa Loves Books’ review: “It was easy to adore Elisa (and a few other characters too), and also easy to really get invested.”
Tripping Over Books’ review: “Friends, THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS has lots to recommend it.”