Book Review: Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)

Author| Rae Carson
Edition| kindle eBook
Genre| YA-Epic Fantasy
Publisher| Greenwillow
Rating| 4.5 Stars

This book, guys, this book!  It was such a refresher, and I mean that in every sense of the word.  I've heard good things about this one but I've always put off reading it... for no reason, really.  But then, after Seeker, I wasn't in the mood for anything in particular.  So I randomly chose a book on my kindle, and voila! this masterpiece happens to be that book.

I have never related to a character so well.  Elisa was everything to me.  She's overweight, insecure, hoping for romance, smart, and stubborn.  She loves to eat and she loves her religion.  The second I started reading through her eyes I felt so comfortable.  It's rare for me to find the main character as my favorite, but Elisa is not even being challenged for this title.

I'm getting ahead of myself though: let me tell you what this book is about.  Elisa was chosen by God to be the bearer of a Godstone, meaning she's meant to perform an incredible act of goodness.  When she turns sixteen, she is married to the widowed king of the neighboring kingdom.  She's not sure if she loves him or if he loves her or what her role is even supposed to be... until she's kidnapped in the middle of the night and brought to the edge of her country to help fight a war.

Has it caught your attention yet?  Good, because it's everything it promises and more.  This book, in addition to having a remarkable main character, features a fantasy setting I haven't read before.  It's somewhere between Latina and Middle Eastern and very rich in colors and words.  The prince-charming aspect that I expected coming in was broken down, too.  I won't tell you how or when, but it's very surprising to say the least.

The big thing that really bothered me, though, was that the side characters didn't seem as real in comparison to Elisa.  They were pretty much all fully fleshed out, given intriguing back-stories, and diverse.  However, they weren't amazing.  I don't know what the best word would be, but it's something like lackluster.  Perhaps they just paled in comparison to Elisa.  I couldn't actually tell you.  But that brings this book, sadly, down from five stars.

I recommend this book for fantasy fans of all ages.  It's one of those pieces that could appeal to anyone.  And contemporary readers, too.  It may not seem it on the surface, but it really does have an underlying tone that contemporaries seem to have as well.  Enjoy!