The Crown of Embers (Girl of Fire and Thorns, #2)

by Rae Carson

"Hero. Foreigner. Queen. Elisa, at the age of seventeen, is all three. And all three draw enemies. Faced with assassins, court politics, and the threat of civil war, Elisa despairs of being the ruler her people need. Her only hope is the Godstone. She must master its power once and for all. She finds clues hidden in a long forgotten--and forbidden--scripture. Accompanied by a one-eyed warrior, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa takes a leap of faith and crosses an ocean in search of the ultimate source of the Godstone's power. But her faith has always had a price, and doing the right thing might mean giving up the power she desperately needs. And it might mean giving up the man she desperately loves. Rae Carson continues the epic story begun in The Girl of Fire and Thorns with a novel that is remarkable, adventurous, and even more romantic than the first"--

• ISBN10: 0062026518
• ISBN13: 9780062026514
• Publish Date: 18 September 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelsenator]

For more reviews make sure to visit my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf!

First, I need to mention how awesome the cover is. I’m borrowing the Hardcover from the library, and the jewel is raised out of the book and it’s all very shiny and pretty. I loved the look of the first book too, but this one is even better with the colours.

The characters are awesome, I love how strong and determined Elisa is even though she sometimes is really scared or unsure and in need of someone to lean on. As the Queen, she now has to deal more with decisions than before that can have good or bad repercussions, and putting her personal wants aside. In this they urge her to find a husband, not long after her previous one died. She starts to fall for Hector (and who doesn’t love knights in armour) but there are so many doubts about feelings and she still has much to do in regards to the Godstone and what her destiny is.

This book is of course filled with adventure, cunning and devious plots. One Conde wants to overthrow her and it doesn’t help that the people are still afraid and riled up from the last attacks on the city. The only way to save everything is for her to embark on a dangerous journey to find a place of power. The journey was pretty awesome and I loved how much she learns through this whole book, and how much space is still left for her to grow even more in the next one.

If you love fantasy I definitely suggest you give this series a try, and start with the first book if you haven’t already!

[ladygrey]

I didn't love this one quite as much as the first. It's good, the plot unfolding in an interesting manner and progressing in a reasonable way from the last novel. The characters are good enough and well developed.

There's nothing bad to say about this story, but there's also nothing amazing to say about it. There wasn't a heart piercing turn of phrase and I didn't fall in love with any of the characters. There writing style wasn't beautiful and the plot wasn't engrossing. But it was all very good and very well executed. I feel weird saying all that, like I'm trying to find things to not like. It's just [a:Rae Carson|4074051|Rae Carson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1284052029p2/4074051.jpg] is a very talented writer and there's a lot to like, and I'm having to explain, to myself more than anything else, why I didn't give it 4 stars because there was just nothing I loved.

Except maybe the last five pages which I read a couple times. And possibly Hector's tormented perspective of power which was very interesting. And maybe Elisa's character development. I liked who she was in the last 5 pages a lot and think it bodes well for the next book.