The Crown of Embers: Review

Synopsis:

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

***

It's a must to say The Crown of Embers is much, much better than The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Although there are still some flaws left in this book, others have been improved and some scenes are really awesome. I can finally get soaked into this book and actually enjoy the story instead of feeling like a bystander watching the whole thing in a detached way.

The biggest flaw is still the whole slow-paced at the first half of the book. Yep, it takes a lot of time for the author to build up the situation for the great journey and I think it's too slow. But besides this there's nearly nothing to actually criticize on. In fact there are some serious twists that I really like. An unexpected person allying with Elisa, a journey searching for a place that no one knows if they can actually enter, and a whole new relationship with a character that we only briefly met in The Girl of Fire and Thorns. All are quite stunning and it's easy to get soaked into the story.

Oh and Elisa grew a lot in this book. She always had this brave edge in her and yet she refuses to acknowledge it. Now she's ready to embrace her power as the bearer, she finds herself more capable to do the impossible than she gave herself credit for. The author has also done a good job in keep one's emotions well-hidden so it takes more to figure out how one is truly feeling. Sometimes emotions just lay bare at the very start and it's hardly any fun knowing all. Mystery is good.

Can't say this book is perfect, but it has improved in every which way I can imagine and it's way easier to get sucked into the book.

Rating: 7.5/10