For those who have loved Seraphina and Graceling comes another truly fabulous fantasy...
For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.
Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.
But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.
As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.
***
"This all seems like a dream now, but like every dream, eventually you must wake."
God, why didn't I read this sooner?! That should be a blasphemy, me not reading this in 2014. This is definitely one of the better books I've read since I started reading YA novels. The book is like a crescendo - it keeps getting better and better until it ends in a note that makes you crave for more. I'm craving for the sequel now like I'm craving air - when I shouldn't be, because I'm preparing for an exam! It's just one brilliant piece.
One of the many reasons why I love it is because it makes me laugh quite a lot - and trust me, I'm usually not in the mood of laughing, especially at times like this. Cecile has got some really good wits - quick to her cleverness. Her subtle humor makes me smile every time. The sort-of wit/snark battles between Tristan and Cecile are exceptionally refreshing. The mood is surprisingly light when the situation is considerably dire. I guess I scared my mom when I laughed out of nowhere. The first sign of a really good book.
It also almost make me cry. Nope, it still doesn't have the capacity to make me shed a tear. But it's close enough. There are quite a lot of overwhelming situations where you can't help but dwell on it. There is joy and anguish and anger and hmm... jealousy. The word jealousy actually makes me laugh a little. As much as it is messed-up and I don't want to be bombarded by emotional terrorism at times like this, I can't help but enjoy some of those scenes. Rest assure the whole jealousy thing has nothing to do with love triangles (or love angles), which can be good, but also annoying at times. Anyway, I think I have a good share of emotional waves reading this book alone. I'm pretty happy, but also a little regretful because I'm probably going to fail calculus tomorrow. AGAIN.
To be honest, I had my doubts regarding the plot of the story at first. I've read a lot of books like Stolen Songbird and I'm not sure how this will be any different from the others (not that the others aren't good, but I'm expecting at least a twist). I'm satisfied that the plot develops steadily over time and gets to the level of awesomeness. I just love books containing a lot of deception and riddles. The suspense is exhilarating. This book has provided a fair share of it, and I'm very glad of it. I also like that the plot gets tenser and tenser steadily, instead of the usual "the first three-fourth of the story is boring as hell and goes ka-boom towards the end of the book" theme. The usual theme is rather good, but is also typical, and I'm starting to get a little tired of it. This kind of plot development is very refreshing. A steady crescendo.
I'm so glad I read it. I think I have found another gem in my possession of favorite books.
Rating: 8.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment