Book One in the Fire and Thorns Series
Rating: Four out of Five Stars
Oh my little lovely book. You’re just a gem of wonderful aren’t you? Yes, yes you are.
After reading a lot of the reviews of this one, it’s pretty hit or miss with folks. People either love it or hate it. And while the beginning was a bit slow, the personal growth that Elisa experiences is infatuating. Who’d a thunk that being kidnapped would end up with the fat little princess being a warrior queen? A MAGICAL WARRIOR QUEEN! GET SOME!
Ok, but for real. This book was good. The writing and the tone Carson uses is lyrical without being overwhelmingly flowery. I like when author’s really take the time to describe the scene and paint the picture in your head. But sometimes it can get to be so much that I get bored and I forget the dialogue that was happening before we walked into whatever area we are in. This book manages the balance well. It brings you into the world without smothering you with it. And the characters were really well done. They have personalities and quirks and aren’t the cookie cutter YA makeups.
Now I have to be honest here and say I struggled a bit at the beginning of this book. Typically YA princesses are young, thin and pretty. It’s super rare to find a chubby pro-tag in a high fantasy young adult book. So it took me some time to understand the character’s way of thinking about food and herself because quite honestly I couldn’t relate, I didn’t understand. But this different point of view is one of the reasons I really like this book and encourage girls to read it. That typical Barbie doll heroine that thinks she’s ugly because she’s self depreciating won’t be found here. This is a real young girl’s struggle with her weight. And no, the whole book is NOT about how big or skinny she is but it’s a theme that is always underlying the major pieces of this plot and it’s beautiful. It’s a unique perspective that I haven’t read in fantasy before and could really resonate with readers.
Elisa’s weight struggle isn’t the only reason why I like her. Although the fact she takes pride her in mental beauty more than her physical beauty is intriguing. I really enjoyed reading Elisa because she’s, well for lack of a better word, human. And she’s brilliant. She’s the type of person that grows wings when the fire starts. Her realistic adaptability and her desire to be good, do good, make good, is breathtaking to read. Elisa doesn’t go from dowdy second born to sorceress queen in one chapter, its a complete journey, confusing, full of rejection and hurt, and full of her passion to over come. Which she does, but not without sacrifice. And although she encounters a lot of pain, she’s resilient in the fact that she does not break. Elisa is the epitome of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. She’s inspiring.
BTWs – this series has some really good novellas. I encourage you to read them!
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