Monday, March 3, 2014

Book Review: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Pages: 410
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pub. Date: September 18, 2012
Source: Personal Copy
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Elisa is a hero. She led her people to victory over a terrifying, sorcerous army. Her place as the country's ruler should be secure. But it isn't. Her enemies come at her like ghosts in a dream, from foreign realms and even from within her own court. And her destiny as the chosen one has not yet been fulfilled. To conquer the power she bears, once and for all, Elisa must follow a trial of long-forgotten—and forbidden—clues, from the deep, hidden catacombs of her own city to the treacherous seas. With her go a one-eyed spy, a traitor, and the man whom—despite everything—she is falling in love with. If she's lucky, she will return from this journey. But there will be a cost."
A few months have past since The Girl of Fire and Thorns ended.  Elisa is still learning to harness the power of her Godstone and she is now the queen of Joya d'Arena.  But things aren't peaceful in her kingdom.  The Inviernos still want her for her Godstone; plus, there's a lot of turmoil amongst her own people.  There has even been an assassination attempt. According to her advisors, one way to ensure that her role as queen becomes more stable is to remarry.  Elisa also has found out important information about her Godstone; information that would also secure her power as queen. She ends up going on a quest to get the answers that she needs.  To complicate matters even more, she starts to have feelings for Hector, her personal guard, but she knows that she needs to marry someone of noble birth.  Rae Carson's second novel, The Crown of Embers, in the Fire and Thorns series is a fantastic high fantasy. There is absolutely no sophomore slump in this series; Carson hits it out of the ballpark with this novel.

I prefer Elisa so much more in The Crown of Embers as opposed to The Girl of Fire and Thorns. She is so much more sure of herself and trying to become a real leader for her people. She's determined, loyal, and someone that you can't help but root for. As she goes on her quest, her true strength shows more and more. Needless to say, Elisa is a character that I adored.

Oh, Hector. I really enjoyed him in the first book, so I obviously was a huge fan of him in The Crown of Embers. I mean can we say swoon?  Readers find so much more information out about him, his backstory, and how he got to where he is today. The more I learned about him, the more I became invested in the story.

Carson includes a ton of adventure and action in The Crown of Embers. There are attempts on Elisa's life, spies, catacombs, action packed escapes, seafaring adventures, and a life changing journey.  I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout the novel and Carson does a brilliant job keeping readers engaged and interested.

The ending of this book had me freaking out. I need to get my hands on a copy of the last book in the trilogy, The Bitter Kingdom. Even though I am dying to see how it will end for Elisa, I may take my time to read this book, because it will no doubt be bittersweet. Simply put, I don't want this series to end! 


4 comments:

  1. *swoons over Hector* I adore him so much :D

    I completely agree about Elisa - it's much easier to love her character in this book. So glad you loved this one, too! Hope you also love THE BITTER KINGDOM!

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    1. Me too! I am so glad you recommended this series to me. It's fantastic and I can't wait to read Bitter Kingdom. Thanks for visiting, Lea!

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  2. I love love love high fantasy, and though I haven't read past the first book in the series yet, I must say you have me sorely tempted to make it jump my review queue! Lovely review, Christina! :)

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    1. Ohh…then you must check out this series. You'd definitely like it. Thanks for visiting, Melissa!

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