The Girl of Fire and Thorns

Today’s post is on “The Girl of Fire and Thorns" by Rae Carson. It is the first in a trilogy and is published by Greenwillow Books. It is 423 pages longs. The cover is very pretty with dark plants reaching towards a circle in the bottom half of the book and that is the godstone that the main character has in her naval. There is no language or sex in this novel but there is violence and some of it happens in front of the main character. Nothing too intense but something to be aware of. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- 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 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- This book is told from the first person point of view of Elisa. This book has an interesting Spanish favor with Spanish names for people and places; that was something fun about it. This is book unusual and I cannot tell you why. Not because it will give some great plot point away but because I just cannot put my finger on why. It is well written but I do not know if I am going to read the next one. Carson leaves the ending in a good place, by that I mean, it does not have a cliff hanger ending. This book was a finalist for the William C. Morris Award for debut novels and Carson is a good writer but I just cannot say what about it just does not hook me. The only thing that I can think of is that the characters just did not get me to care about them. I really do not care if they live or die and that is something nice for this book has a pretty high death toll. Two of the other main characters die in front of Elisa and it is not pretty either time. One thing I do like is the lack of romance. That is something that most YA novels are pushing at this time but not this one. Elisa is married but she does not love or even know her husband. The rebel who kidnaps her, I think was to be her love interest, but I was never interested in their interactions and then he is murdered in front of her by one of the villains. So I read this as more of an action story than anything else.

I give this one Three out Five Stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.