Title: The Girl of Fire and Thorns
Author: Rae Carson
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 432
Read Time: Did not finish (stopped on page 150)
Tag Words: Debut Author 2011, Fantasy land, arranged marriage, adventure, coming of age, rising to expectations
Summary:
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 needs 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.
My Review:
In the first 50 pages we are introduced to a unique heroine, with a unique gift, who is in the classic position of marrying a man she has never met. From there, we bid farewell to "home," family and loved ones, we travel, we are attacked, we fight, and we witness death.
And though "we" may be reading, I am snoozing, because even though all of that happened, in the first 50 pages, no less, I felt nothing. I was bored. My eyes were glazing over, just skimming the words and flipping the page.
I felt some kind of desire to keep reading, because even if it wasn't evoking positive feelings, it wasn't evoking negative feelings, either. I just wasn't feeling, and I continued to not feel for another 100 pages.
During the time I was trying to enjoy The Girl of Fire and Thorns my professor gave a lecture, and he said, "It doesn't matter if the last page is better than anything else ever written, if you haven't captivated an audience on all the pages before it, you have done nothing."
I won't say Carson has done nothing. I think her heroine is unique, I think her lands have potential, and no, the fact that 'God' is involved with the book doesn't bother me. However, Carson did nothing for me. All her elements, her moments, her characters, could have been everything, but it just all fell flat. Even if that last page is fantastic, and I'm going to miss it, I don't much care.
As always, I wish I did. I always wish I liked the book I don't. I want all books to be my favorite, but they can't.
Notes on the Names:
The names had a Spanish feel, and that really colored how I was seeing the world of Fire and Thorns, and the look of the characters. Is that how you saw things?
Thoughts on the Cover:
I read an ARC, and the model looks nothing like our curvy main character, so I'm glad they changed it, but I'm not thrilled by what they changed it to. Maybe it would look prettier up close and in person.
Parental Book Review *spoilers*
A la, Reading Teen (who did finish this book.) Thanks, Amy!
A la, Reading Teen (who did finish this book.) Thanks, Amy!
Sexual:
Elisa imagines her husbands hand on her body ( just thoughts, NO details)
Mentions a boy thinking about getting into bed with a Princess ( No details)
Profanity:
Violence:
3 comments:
Great blog and review!! I actually won this book and i cant wait till i get it! this is @froggyfay from twitter btw :P
-Farah
this is something I've been wondering for awhile so I figure I might as well ask it- is there anyway for you to hide your parental spoilers so the reader can click to view them if they want to which is what Reading Teen does? The fact is I avoiding leaving comments etc because it involves scrolling past them and it is impossible not to catch a glimpse which is disappointing when you want to be surprised by a novel. I totally understand their value, but there are definitely adult readers like myself who visit your blog for other reasons and are disappointed every time they accidentally view them.
I just finished this book and I know what you mean by it being a snore. But by the end I actually liked it, it turned out to be good just good that's it. I don't know if it this is to be a series or a stand alone since she kind of went J.K. Rowling on some of the characters in the book if you know what I mean.
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