Unraveling Words: Unraveling: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Unraveling: The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

Title: The Crown of Embers

Series: Fire and Thorns Book Two

Publication Date: September 18, 2012

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.

***

My Thoughts

I can't believe I waited so long to finally read this book. It's not like I didn't like the first one, cause I did. I'm so glad this one held up to the first one and I'm fervently hoping that Bitter Kingdom holds up it's predecessors.

I'm going to start off by mentioning the things that annoyed me with this book. Get the slightly negative stuff out of the way first. First off is Elisa's insecurities with her body/image...still...This was a sore point in the first one and after Elisa having gone through the ordeals she did and ended up getting skinny, I thought it would have boosted her self esteem enough that it wouldn't be a problem. It still was, but not to the degree of the first book. I usually don't mind this kind of stuff, but it was just the way it's done that rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't just simply dismiss it this time.

Next up was how much I didn't like how Elisa let the Conde and the General maneuver her like that and just stomp all over her without some kind of lashing back. I mean we are talking about Elisa here! She is supposed to be super smart, and she is, but that beginning was not doing her any favors, but then again, I guess that was the point of this book. She needed to realize that she could rule without having to have the full power of the Godstone with her. She just needed herself.

I think that's pretty much it with things I didn't like/annoyed me. There really weren't many. I liked how Belén is back and in Elisa's good graces. How we got to see some of Father Alentín, even if he wasn't really able to really join the adventure in this book. But most of all I liked Storm actually. Yes, the Invierno guy. Who would have thought xD I just loved how he was always so straight up with everything and yet at the same time very sneaky and still keeping his cards close to his chest. He is a complex character and I was SOO glad for what happened at the end. But really, the best part of the whole book was when (view spoiler)

And of course there is the romance between Elisa and Hector...Ah...Hector...He is so noble and just good, but still very much a guy.

"I told you I wouldn't let it interfere with my work. But every time you smile at me, and especially when you look at me the way you're looking at me right now, everything disappears." His thumb sweeps across my bottom lip, down my chin. His voice is low and dark as he says, "When it happens, I'm not guarding you anymore. Your enemy could come up behind me, and I would never know, because all I'm thinking about is how badly I want you."

I wanted to strangle Elisa in the beginning for being so utterly clueless, but she got a clue quickly enough, thank god xD And that scene with them at the beach was beautiful!!