Monday, September 2, 2013

The Girl of Fire and Thorns: Review

Synopsis:

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 is about a princess being the chosen one, and her allies and country is on the brink of utter destruction. For some reason it kind of reminds me of Throne of Glass, though the two stories are different in every which way I can imagine. The background of the story is quite intriguing. It's about God, the bearers of the Godstone, and sorcery and war. Legends can be born from this kind of background so it's a good choice to write about a girl being caught in the middle of that storm.

Start with Elisa. Who always thinks that she's a failure of a princess and unsure of herself. She doesn't know if she truly holds the power to save the world even though she know she's chosen. Throughout the book I watch her grow, becoming more sure of herself, and realizing she's smarter and braver than she gave herself credit for. Her unexpected journey takes her toll on her and she's stronger. She's a likable character, and her journey is quite special as well. But she's a typical heroine, and I expected something more special and intriguing from her.

The prioritizing and some of the characters' arrangement are pretty weird though. First is the prioritizing part. The writers uses a lot of paper to tell about the life in the palace before the life-changing journey begins. I'm mostly down with that part. Except when I look back, I think that part is too detailed and thus slows down the pace. The characters' arrangement are also quite strange. I mean (HUGE SPOILER! DON'T READ THIS PART IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED), what the hell is with the whole developing characters to the point where we start to like that character or at least feel attached to it and then just kill that character at the end of the book or of the part? And this happened TWICE for crying out loud! (End of Spoiler) And it seems like only a few characters will make it to the second book, which is pretty infuriating.

Overall I think this is a good book that you will enjoy if you like reading books like Throne of Glass or Shadow and Bone. But this book lacks something that actually captivates me. I'd really to read The Crown of Embers and I hope it will be better than The Girl of Fire and Thorns.

Rating: 6.5/10

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