The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2)

 

Author: Rae Carson
Series: Fire and Thorns, #2
Pages: 410
Challenge: Goodreads Challenge 2015
Genre: Fantasy
Acquired: Library
Rating: ★★★★

*****

Goodreads Summary:

She does not know what awaits her at the enemy's gate.

Elisa is a hero.

She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army. Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But it isn't.

Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from foreign realms and even from within her own court. And her destiny as the chosen one has not yet been fulfilled.

To conquer the power she bears, once and for all, Elisa must follow a trial of long-forgotten—and forbidden—clues, from the deep, hidden catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her go a one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man whom—despite everything—she is falling in love with.

If she's lucky, she will return from this journey. But there will be a cost.

  *****

 My Thoughts:

After Elisa's recent victories and defeating her powerful enemies, Elisa thinks all is over and done, her prophecy fulfilled, and that she can rule her kingdom peacefully as queen. But that is not the case. Enemies come at her constantly and while Elisa fights to protect her kingdom and loved ones, she still has yet to fulfill her destiny so she must embark on a new journey to figure it all out....again!

Like in the last book, I really liked Elisa's personality and wit. She's very clever and intelligent, and I enjoyed reading about her journeys in this book. I am also always surprised with the new interesting characters we meet in each book.... this series is also always handy with the plot twists. :)

I liked how the story continued from where the last book left off and how easy it was to pick the story back up after having read the last book over 8 months ago. It is still hard to believe that Elisa's character is only 16 years old because of her maturity I tend to see her as a couple years older easily. I like that she is continuing to grow into her character and evolve into a great leader and queen for her kingdom.

The journeys and adventures in this book are always so interesting and mysterious to read about. You never know what to expect next and that is what makes these books so fun and enjoyable to read. I like the relationships and friendships with the characters the most. I disliked how nothing really ever gets resolved until the very end of these novels. I mean... maybe that's the point to not know everything until the end but.... I like my relationships of any kind to be built from close to the beginnings of books (as opposed to 3/4 through) that way I can see the relationship evolve and grow (for both friendships and love interests). Just a personal opinion though.

My favorite scenes were any scenes with Mara and Elisa. I love their closeness and friendship. I also find the scenes with Elisa with any of her enemies to be favorites as well; I just feel that she handles each situation well for her age in the books. I can admit though that it took me a few days to get through this one since in most of the middle it was a little slow, but for the majority of the rest of the book the pacing was good.

The ending was good. It could have been better and done in a more suspenseful way, but nonetheless it was done nicely and sets up the final book well.
Cover: 5/10
Rating: 4/5
I would recommend to those looking for a good young adult fantasy trilogy with fantastic magic and adventure!

Book 1: The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Check Out My Review Here!)
Book 3: The Bitter Kingdom

If you have read this book, let me know your thoughts below!!

*****

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)

 

 Author: Rae Carson
Series: Fire and Thorns, #1
Pages: 423
Challenge: Goodreads Challenge 2014, 2014 Book Bingo Challenge
Genre: Fantasy
Acquired: Library
Rating: ★★★★

*****

Goodreads Summary:

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 Thoughts:

Elisa's fate was chosen the moment they found out she was the chosen one. She is soon secretly wed to a king, whose country is heading towards great destruction. With Elisa being the chosen one, she is the only one who can save the people.

At first I found Elisa INCREDIBLY annoying! She constantly put herself down and thought less of herself and wished that she wasn't the chosen one. It was like a never ending whining party!.... I just wanted to forcefully shake her and tell her to have some self-respect and accept her situation. She fortunately gets off of her rain cloud...hallelujah!... and actually realizes her worth and impotance during the remainder of the book.

I absolutely loved the plot, for me it was new and different and I really needed that from the YA that I was reading. This novel explored so many elements and topics like deceit, relationships, self-worth and self-esteem, loyalty, suspense and more. I also found the supporting characters intriguing and necessary to the plot's twists and its progression.  

My favorite scene was the ending fight scene and its intensity. I loved just about any scene with Humberto in it, he was such an sweet character to read about. So as far as what I liked and disliked.... I liked Humberto as well as Elisa and her captors' journeys. Throughout the story their journeys made the plot that much more interesting and worth the read. It was definitely a major part of the story as well as the effect of Elisa being the chosen one.

Now as I have already mentioned... Elisa's problems with accepting herself ruffled me as well as the actual descriptions of Elisa's character in the novel. She was described as being overweight and loving to eat, and she didn't feel that she was as pretty as her older sister who was thinner. I didn't like that she seemed to dwell on the fact that she wasn't like her sister, who seemed to be their family's golden child. I feel that the author may have tried to incorporate real life issues into this fantasy plot to better connect with the readers, but honesty I felt that it was unnecessary within this plot. I felt Elisa used it as more of a handicap and excuse to some of the things that she did or went through. Maybe in a different novel or plot, this concept could have had a real meaningful impact but within this story I felt that it was just too much.

Okay lol.... done with my mini rant....

Now as far as other problems with the story I found the pacing to be a bit off. So hopefully this makes sense and you see what I mean....For some events that happened, they were brushed off and briefly mentioned or explained when at some times they could have been developed and further elaborated on to avoid ambiguity within the storyline. Vice versa, some events were explained to thoroughly and dragged out, when I felt that they could have been explained concisely and briefly since their relevance wasn't as significant as say some of the other plot events.

The ending was very interesting, it ended in a way that made me want to know what happened afterwards. I do really want to know how the story will progress in the other novels in the trilogy. Although there could have been better character development, I did really enjoy this book. It took me a minute to read this... like a week... but that could be in part due to the pacing issues I mentioned, if I got bored with an event or the chapter I was reading I would often put it down and come back about a day or so later. Overall I gave it 4/5 stars and I would recommend to those who like to read fantasy or those who are looking for a new and interesting plot.

If you have read this book, let me know your thoughts below!!

*****