[Review: Walk On Earth A Stranger by Rae Carson]

"Walk on Earth a Stranger"
Author: Rae Carson
Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy #1
Pages: 432
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Paranormal
Date Published: September 22nd, 2015
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary:

Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Leee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might muder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift. 

-Goodreads
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Walk On Earth A Stranger,

Hmmmmmmm? You and I didn't connect, which is a real bummer. You're good, don't get me wrong, but there was a divide between us that I just couldn't cross. Your story was awesome. I liked your characters. The flow was good. But still I couldn't get into you until the last 20% or so. I'm going to have to finish the rest of your series, cause now I'm hooked, so hopefully I'll gel with those stories a bit better. 

-The White Unicorn 

I can't believe that I'm not singing the praises of this book. I should be, as I'm a HUGE fan of Carson's Fire and Thorns series, so it would only seem natural. But for some reason I didn't gel with this book, and that makes me sad. 

Carson is a fantastic world builder, but I felt like that was lacking in Walk on Earth a Stranger. There were moments when I was sucked into Lee's story, and other times where I felt like I was an outsider looking in. The world felt sparse. Maybe it was because this book is based on actual events, and things that really happened when people made their way out to California during the gold rush? Maybe it was just my connection to the story? It could have also been the fact that I thought the book's pacing felt rushed, and slow all at once. There was a lot of hurry up and wait happening. 

That being said, I adored the characters that Carson used in her story. Lee (Leah) is wonderful. She's conflicted, strong, brave, intelligent, and cursed. I liked that she hid out as a boy, and in doing so learned so much about herself. I also dug the fact that she can witch for gold the way some people can witch for water. It adds a magical element to the story that was a fun addition. 

Carson also didn't avoid addressing a lot of social issues in this book. It was refreshing to see so many strong women and men come together. The book addresses things like human rites, the woman's place in the home, prejudice, and a slew of other things. It makes for some character driven reading, I just wish that the rest of the plot went as smooth as the characters.

That being said the plot was actually quite genius. I liked it a lot, even though I didn't connect with the execution of it. Carson knows how to throw curve balls at her readers, and that was still evident in this book.

So, in the end, this book is good, even if I'm not as excited about it as I'd like it be. If you dig the gold rush, magical powers, slow burn romances, and a lot of social issues being tackled in one book, read this!

Rating:

3 Unicorns = I liked it, but it had it's issues!  

[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

----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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!

[Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson]

"The Girl of Fire and Thorns"
Author: Rae Carson
Series: Fire and Thorns #1
Pages: 423
Genre: YA Fantasy
Date Published: September 20th, 2011
Publisher: Greenwillow Press
Format Read: Hardback copy from the library

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary:

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.

-Goodreads 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Thoughts:

I have no idea why it's taken me so long to read this book, but I wish that I hadn't waited till two years after it was first published!  "The Girl of Fire and Thorns" is just my type of fantasy/high adventure story that I love!  Carson has a way of weaving humor into the bleakest moments and writing a story that feels as if it rings almost too true.  She doesn't make things so crazy and odd that you can't see yourself in the characters that she's created and yet she still reminds you that this story isn't real by throwing in a dash of magic.  Brutal, strange magic.  

Carson also tells her tale with a heavy dose of religion.  The battle of God and the barer of the Godstone against this brutal magic is an interesting one.  It doesn't really get fully fleshed out as this is the first book in Carson's series, but I like where she's taking it all.  She's created an interesting faith and used it well in her story telling.  Giving Elisa someone to lean on even in her darkest moments and also buildings Elisa's faith in herself at the same time.  There is an almost Spanish touch to the world building as well and all of these things together give us a fully fleshed world that you can get lost in.

I really loved Elisa.  She's this girl who gets thrown into things that she's never really wanted, but instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for herself she does what she needs to do to survive.  So often a protagonist dealing with Elisa's hardships, being the less pretty princess, being more than a little overweight and being totally out of their element find a way to sit and wallow.  Elisa does just the opposite.  Does this mean that she's perfect, no it doesn't.  She faces her fear face on but also allows herself to feel it.  Every single bit of it.  She's the protagonist who when life gives her lemons, she chucks them at her enemies.  Who doesn't love a girl like that?

Carson uses Elisa and all the other characters in the novel to tell her intricate story.  There is political intrigue, kidnappings, marriage, war, social unrest and just about everything else.  The tale is layered in a way that makes even the simplest things hold extreme importance to the plot.  Plus, there are even moments that are fairly swoon worthy.  Though I'm interested to see what happens next in the romance department (for reasons that will remind undisclosed).  The pacing is fast, though at times it slows down just enough to allow you to breath! 

To put a cherry on top of the "this is an epic book" cake, Carson also knows her away around being brutal to her characters.  No one is safe.  No one is sacred.  If she's written you into the pages, she can just as easily write you out of them, without even blinking.  It's a talent that not everyone can pull off and Carson does it as well as the best of them!

Without a question I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a really strong, yet equally flawed heroine, detailed worlds and gut wrenching moments.  This book has it all!

Rating:

      5 Unicorns = Get your hands on this now!