Review: Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

ISBN: 9780062026514
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Series: Fire and Thorns #2
Page Count: 410 pages
Find it on Goodreads
My reviews in this series

     GOODREADS.COM SYNOPSIS

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.

     REVIEW:
WHAT I LIKED:

• The plot was so much more interesting and well-paced than the last book. Also, Rae Carson's writing style was a lot better! In the first book, it was hard to get into the rhythm of her writing style and at times it was awkward. In this second installment, I had a few issues, but the writing was smoother and very easy to find a rhythm with as a whole. The plot, pacing and writing together won me over and I'm definitely a fan of this series!
• Elisa is a much stronger character than she was in the first book, less annoying and constantly growing. I loved her development in both books, but this one especially.
• Rae Carson is apparently one of those authors who likes to do the exact opposite of what you want to happen, then rip your heart out and stomp on it. I found myself feeling every emotion I could think of throughout this book, extreme sadness, anger/frustration, fear - but at the same time I laughed and cheered the characters on at certain times too! I admire Carson for that :)
• Hector <3. and Storm. My two favorite characters in the series. I want Hector for myself. Storm had to grow on me a bit because he was so full of disdain for the main character, but his unswerving loyalty to Queen Elisa won me over in the end.
• Elisa, the MC, started to develop a true sense of humor in this book, and sometimes made me laugh out loud. Her sarcasm, something the character Storm hates about her and her people, made me love her even more.
• I'm becoming more and more intrigued by the antagonists as a whole, the Inviernos. This book hinted toward some major revelations that may be coming in book three and I'm dyyyying to find out what it is. So kudos to Carson for making it unbearable to go on without this knowledge because I picked up the third and final book shortly after reading this one.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

• There wasn't as much "grinning" and "gasping" from every character as there was in the last book; however, it's still there and still annoys me. People don't grin in near death situations! Its just not realistic!
• Some random scenes, two in particular (but I won't spoil), just felt out of place or unrealistic. The nonchalant reaction of the main character to certain events just kind of threw me off.
• The ending was kind of boring and also unrealistic. Elisa's reaction once again just doesnt jive with the way things happened. Also, it seemed like Carson intended this to be a bit of cliffhanger, taking away the one thing we have to be happy about - but it wasnt. It was anticlimactic in a sense, but hey, I still wanted to read the next book immediately, so I guess she did her job, right?

     RATING: ★★★★

When I read the first book in this series, it kind of fell flat for me, but I'd become fond enough of the characters that I wanted to read the next one. The next one, as it happens, was much more interesting than the first, more action packed with an awesome developing romance, and the pacing and writing was so much better. I enjoyed this one so much and by the this time, I've already read the final installment, The Bitter Kingdom, almost immediately after reading this one (review to come on that one). All in all, while this sequel wasn't perfect, I've fallen even more in love with the characters and am desperate to know more about the world.

Have any of you read this book/series? What did you think? Agree or disagree? Love hearing from you guys!

A.

Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

ISBN: 9780062026484
Release Date: September, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Fire and Thorns, #1
Page count: 432 pages

     GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

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.

     REVIEW:

WHAT I LIKED:

• The Spanish-influenced culture in the story is fascinating. I am Hispanic, so its nice to see something other than regular old America or a European country. I'm interested to do some research on where she got it all from - the language, etc., since I was able to understand most of it.
• Elisa wasn't perfect. OK, I think she talked about eating just a little too much in the story, but I liked that she was a big girl and I liked that even when she lost weight, she wasn't suddenly skinny or hot nor did she stop wanting food, she was like an average large teenager.
• Elisa developed a lot from a childish scared girl to a confident, powerful young woman. You go girl!
• Elisa's king wasn't perfect either. I actually kind of disliked him a little but that was more realistic for me. Not every girl gets married off to a handsome, loving king.

WHAT I DIDNT LIKE:

• A lot of the plot twists came from no where in a way that some of it didn't make sense or was something that never was alluded to at all  before. At least give me SOMETHING to go on.
• I wish the world-building was a little more in-depth. I want more history about the Godstone, about the history of the kingdoms, about Elisa's life. I just felt like there was some stuff missing and I wanted more.
• I was super interested at first but it slowed down in the middle for me while Elisa was in the castle and I was just a little bored. Maybe this is attributed to me reading more than one book at a time and all of my attention wasn't focused on this but I enjoyed this one, just didn't love it.
• Some of the time was skipped over and characters developed feelings for others and I just couldn't see the connection, because it felt like they came from no where. I wish these formations of some relationships were explored more rather than just say "so and so likes so and so now because they were in such and such place for a month".
• Bad things happened to Elisa or characters close to her and the reactions of the characters didn't seem to match the bad things. ***spoiler***Basically, how can you like your kidnappers and instantly become friends with them and want to help them?***end spoiler***
• I hated how the characters gasped and grinned at everything at inappropriate times. I don't think people grin or gasp that much. Maybe that's just me though.

RATING: ★★★

I enjoyed this book, but surprisingly it didn't move enough for me. I know Elisa went all over the place and didn't stay anywhere, but I felt like this was a set-up book, for all the crazy stuff that might happen in the second and third. It set Elisa up as a queen, as a more mature young woman, giving us a story as to how it all happened, rather than having to imagine it. I'll admit the book wasn't as awesome and exciting as I wanted it to be, but I think I will enjoy the next two books even more. Im looking forward to reading them soon and finding out how Elisa completes her service as the Bearer.

Have any of you read this book? What did you think? Do you agree or disagree with what I thought about this book?

A.