The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns, #2) in Sophomore Reading Challenge

Jan 01, 2013 Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday) added it

Shelves: sophomore-challenge-2012, series-i-ve-finished

I'm not a big fantasy reader, so I always open fantasy books feeling a little bit grumbly. Crown of Embers starts with a dramatic bang, then I had to remember what had been going on in book one -- there isn't much recap, and it took me a few chapters to orient myself.

But then, WOW -- I was hooked. Suddenly, all the reasons I loved Girl of Fire and Thorns came rushing back to me, and I read through breakfast and forgot to take a shower.

One of my favorite things about Girl of Fire and Thorns was i ...more

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Aug 15, 2011 tarawrawr rated it it was amazing

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2012/09/the-cro...

HI THE CROWN OF EMBERS BY RAE CARSON IS AMAZING.

And if you haven’t read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, A, you totally should and B, you probably shouldn’t continue reading because I can’t be held accountable for how much my fangirling will spoil book 1.

Okay, now that I have that taken care of.

THE CROWN OF EMBERS IS AMAZING. I legit loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns and I was absolutely heartbroken through certain terrible Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2012/09/the-cro...

HI THE CROWN OF EMBERS BY RAE CARSON IS AMAZING.

And if you haven’t read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, A, you totally should and B, you probably shouldn’t continue reading because I can’t be held accountable for how much my fangirling will spoil book 1.

Okay, now that I have that taken care of.

THE CROWN OF EMBERS IS AMAZING. I legit loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns and I was absolutely heartbroken through certain terrible events of that book but freaking Elisa was such an amazing protagonist and I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Crown of Embers.

And The Crown of Embers ended up being a BILLION times better. I could literally see her character growth through all the stuff Elisa went through in The Girl of Fire and Thorns and she goes through even more in The Crown of Embers but it all helped to grow to be this amazing, brave, courageous and confident protagonist and a Queen and just, gah. I feel like Elisa is one of the best examples of character growth and progression in books. Rae Carson does an amazing job of showing how Elisa is toughening up and becoming a better and stronger person, yet still the same protagonist we were introduced to at the beginning.

Okay, the romance in The Crown of Embers KILLED ME. When Rae Carson killed off both love interests in The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Oh, Humberto!), I was super impressed at the ballsyness of it, but also really concerned because hello, I need swoon in my fantasy. But then Rae Carson throws Hector at us and I am all, hello Hector, personal guard, yes please! Because as much as I loved Humberto, and as good as he was for Elisa, I just can’t even with Hector. Top YA love interests for sure. The SWOON, you guys. THE SWOON.

And the freaking plot. There is assassination attempts and stable burning and hurricanes and rowing and learning how to fight and lots of revealing stuff about Elisa’s Godstone and death and love and SO MUCH happens in The Crown of Embers.

The ending of The Crown of Embers is absolutely brilliant. It’s cliffhangery enough for me to be dying for book three, but I still closed it on sort of a happy, giddy, satisfied note.

I was going to try to be eloquent in my review of The Crown of Embers, but I just can’t fangirl enough. The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson is a brilliant follow-up to The Girl of Fire and Thorns. The character progression is stunning and the plot is so engaging, I literally could not put it down. And the romance is oh-so-swoonworthy. If you’re looking for a fantastic fantasy series that’ll keep you on your toes and shouting “BEST BOOK EVER” at the topic of your lungs, this is the series for you. ...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Princess Bookie rated it really liked it

Shelves: read2012

My Thoughts: Another intense novel by Carson. If you remember, I really enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns even though I usually do not like historical.

The Crown Of Embers is another adventure in Queen Elisa’s journey. She’s more confident than ever and is finally starting to believe in herself. She’s just learning the risks of being Queen and that everything has its power and price.

Someone is out to kill Elisa and she’s not sure why or who. She can barely walk alone or eat with being a little ...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Sarah (YA Love) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-release, september-release, audiobook, ncte-alan12, young-adult-lit, fantasy, series

Review originally posted at YA Love

Audiobook Review: I read The Girl of Fire and Thorns traditionally and absolutely loved it. Besides enjoying the narrator, the main reason I decided to listen to The Crown of Embers is because I don’t always like reading books in the middle of a series during the school year; most times I’d rather read a stand alone or the beginning of a series. I often save series continuations or endings for the summer when I feel like I have more freedom to read what I want, Review originally posted at YA Love

Audiobook Review: I read The Girl of Fire and Thorns traditionally and absolutely loved it. Besides enjoying the narrator, the main reason I decided to listen to The Crown of Embers is because I don’t always like reading books in the middle of a series during the school year; most times I’d rather read a stand alone or the beginning of a series. I often save series continuations or endings for the summer when I feel like I have more freedom to read what I want, when I want. Anyway, I very much enjoyed Jennifer Ikeda as a narrator for this story. I honestly don’t know if I’ll read the third book traditionally or as an audio now that I’ve experienced both. What I liked most about listening to The Crown of Embers is being able to hear the correct pronunciations of names and places. I never knew how to pronounce Ximena while I was reading the first book, and of course, I was pronouncing it wrong. Jennifer Ikeda does a nice job bringing a different voice to each character and really bringing Elisa’s character to life.

Book Review: I love this series. Rae Carson is such a talented fantasy author. I can’t wait to read book three, but I’m even more excited to see what other worlds and stories she’ll write in the future. I love her use of imagery and pacing. Picturing the setting comes easily as does imagining the characters.

I can’t write this review without bringing up the relationship between Elisa and Hector. It’s such a strong friendship in the beginning and now it’s blossoming into something more. Even when Elisa was in love with Humberto, I was hoping she would recognize Hector as more than a guard. Their relationship might be a new favorite YA romance for me. Hector is so honorable and strong and Elisa is finally beginning to gain some self-confidence and strength. They’re a great match.

The Crown of Embers is a bit slower than The Girl of Fire and Thorns, but I think that’s because so much more of the story is building. Elisa is maturing and really finding herself as a carrier of the Godstone and also as a queen. We’re also learning more about the Godstone and we’re learning more about the realm. I’m excited to see where all of this build-up is going to take us in book three, especially with an ending like we have in this book! The ending is bittersweet, but it also left me feeling proud of Elisa.

Overall, I can’t recommend this series enough. I included The Girl of Fire and Thorns as a fantasy option in my YA II class and the majority of my students who chose it loved it. Many of them went on to read The Crown of Embers because they loved Elisa and her story so much. ...more

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