Blood and Tears, My Sacrifice...

Published: September 20th, 2011
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
By: Rae Carson
Greenwillow Books
ISBN-13: 9780062026484



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.

Review

   This book is all about Elisa's journey from a fat, lazy, self-loathing young princess to a brave and strong young woman.  At the beginning of the novel we meet Elisa on her sixteenth birthday - also to be her wedding day to a man she has never met, King Alejandro.  She is to replace the wife he lost in childbirth years before and give power to his kingdom against the Inviernos, a warring race that is attacking his kingdom through the Godstone in her navel.  Elisa was blessed as a baby to be the one person in her century who carries the godstone, who is destined to do great things.  Most of the carriers die very young with nothing accomplished.  As with fantasy novels, things do not go according to plan quite so smoothly.  Elisa is introduced as a guest and told to keep their marriage a 'secret' for now.  Their traveling party is attacked on the way into the kingdom, forcing she and her maidservant to each kill a man.  Political machinations and court intrigue surround her.  She feels completely out of her element.  Then she is kidnapped by people from a village in the desert of the kingdom who are desperate for the 'power and blessing' the godstone is said to bring.  Elisa must become a warrior of mind and body if she is to survive and save her people from the Inviernos and the evil Animagus sorcerers.  I loved this book in so many ways!  It reminded me greatly of Tamora Pierce, but I lived inside this book in a way I've never been able to in hers.  Probably because Elisa was flawed and deeply human, so very relatable it astonished me at times.  Sometimes the ungainliness of the religious rules/codes, names of the peoples/kingdoms were distracting, but when a whole new world and its mythology are being created, that is bound to happen at times.  This book ended with some resolution but also lingering questions.  I cannot wait to see what Rae Carson has in store for the readers in the next book of the series.  Elisa definitely has more adventures left in her!

VERDICT: 4/5  Stars

*No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*