[Review: The Crown Of Embers by Rae Carson]

"The Crown of Embers"
Author: Rae Carson
Series: Fire and Thorns #2
Pages: 410
Genre: YA Fantasy
Date Published: September 18th, 2012
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Format Read: Hardback copy from library

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Summary:

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

-Goodreads 

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My Thoughts:

Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire and magic and stress!  If there is one thing I can say, it's that Carson doesn't hold back in her second installment of the Fire and Thorns series.  This book is a pretty wonderful and also as equally exhausting read.  She ups the action, she ups the death threats and she ups the feels.  The Crown of Embers is one of those second books that doesn't slow down and become a semi boring filler book.  Nope it's epic and fast paced and action packed and will leave you reeling in it's last moments!  This book, as well as the first has forced its way into my top series and that's saying a lot.

Carson brings us an interesting a complex plot once again.  She builds on the events of the first book (The Girl of Fire and Thorns) and doesn't look back.  The Crown of Embers keep propelling you forward into Elisa's story.  The intrigue  is building.  Who are the new Queen's friends and who are her foe?  Carson does a good job at hinting and also hiding bits of the truth from her readers.  Though I don't think she ever purposefully withholds info, her storytelling still leaves you with questions.

Elisa is still as awesome as ever.  She's got a whole lot more on her plate this time around, like keeping people calm and trying to stop wars and all that good stuff.  The fact is, once again she's kind of scared, but she also extremely brave in the way that makes her pushes through her fears.  We see some more of her personal doubts this time around, but she still doesn't ever really feel sorry for herself, even with all the new emotional baggage she has.  Needless to say, I'm still a fan.

The rest of the cast is awesome as well.  I loved getting to learn more about Mara and Belin.  Both are fierce warriors in their own way.  And both extend their friendship to the Queen in different ways.  Belin is trying to get on her good side and Mara is trying to become her friend.  

And HECTOR!!!  Let's talk about one of the best love interests that I've read in a really long time.  Can you say the feels?  Cause I can!  He doesn't baby Elisa like so many other people do and he thinks that she's the cat's pajamas.  It's pretty much one of the best slow burn romances that I've read in a long time!  I'll admit it, if I was Mary Murphy, Hector would definitely be on my hot tamale train.  (Yes, I just went there)

So, if you couldn't tell I loved The Crown of Embers, even more than I liked The Girl of Fire and Thorns!  Read these books.  Just read them!

Rating:

5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this one!