Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was fortunate to be able to preview this book via netgalley.com.

Elisa was born a princess and at her naming ceremony God saw fit to bestow the Godstone into her navel. The Godstone is only given once every 100 years and with it the knowledge that the bearer will be used in service to the greater good.

On her 16th birthday, Elisa becomes the secret wife of a handsome neighboring king whose country is in turmoil. Before Elisa is revealed as the future queen she is kidnapped by rebels who have discovered she is the bearer of the Godstone.

Could Elisa be the country’s savior? Can she be everything that everyone needs her to be?

I LOVED this story. Elisa starts out so young and soft, but she grows, matures, and unfortunately is forced to harden, so much over the course of the story, which I believe is less than a year. I love that she is more knowledgeable about the art of War than her husband, the King. For someone so young she seems so worldly, but she knows there is still so much to learn. She is thoughtful, observant, and isn’t afraid to ask questions.

The other female characters are incredibly smart and strong. Elisa is supported by her nurse Ximena, who is her guardian and will kill anyone to keep Elisa safe, but is also the mother figure in her life, since Elisa’s mother died in childbirth. Cosme, as one of the leaders of the rebels, is a force to be reckoned with, whip smart, strong, agile, and devious, my kind of gal! Such smart, skillful women made reading this story an absolute joy!

The ending of this story could have gone so terribly wrong, but I should have known the author would take care of us readers.

When I finished “The Girl of Fire and Thorns”, I was so hopeful that the author, Rae Carson, would be revisiting these characters again. I would so love to see how Elisa would raise Rosario. And I couldn’t help but think there may be some sexual tension going on between Elisa and Hector. Oh so many wonderful ways that this story could continue. GoodReads indicates that this is the first book of a series so now the waiting game starts…patience is a virtue I really wish I had more of!





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