She does not know what awaits her at the enemy’s gate.

The Crown of Embers is the sequel to the amazing The Girl of Fire and Thorns, which I’ve reviewed previously. This review will contain spoilers for the first book, so if you haven’t read it yet, please do. The first book is amazing. And if you’re wondering if the sequel lives up to its potential… yes. It does.

Once again, we follow Elisa, now the queen of Joya d’Arena. She still has low self-esteem issues (it’s hinted that, while she’s no longer obese, she’s still chubby) but she’s still this incredibly smart, strong character we’ve grown to love.

Right off the bat, as Elisa travels across the city in a celebratory parade, there’s an attack, a sign that the Invierno threat is still not gone, despite what many had thought. In order to know how she can destroy her enemies once and for all, Elisa will go in a dangerous journey, where her Godstone and her faith are her only guides. Throughout the book she grows, becoming even stronger and more determined than she was before.

Slowly, we watch Elisa fall in love with someone new, and it’s a mix between amusement and frustration—the good kind, though. I’m not going to lie, I had seen this romance coming from almost the beginning of the first book. It made sense. You’re reading about it and you already know Elisa is in love, and that the man is in love with her as well, but the characters don’t. And then Rae Carson teases you with these touches, these kisses, these scenes, and you’ll be slightly angry that nothing really happens but at the same time you’ll be glad because she’s keeping her characters true to themselves. And when Elisa finally admits her love, it’s in a dire situation and you’ll adore her even more for it.

The romance in this book was, in my opinion, far better than the one in The Girl of Fire and Thorns, and while it was a great part of the book, it was not my favourite. Elisa alone still takes the cake (pun intended, since she loves those) for being the most amazing, smart, resourceful, stubborn heroine ever. Main characters in Young Adult are becoming clichés, and she’s a breath of fresh air in that trend.

But what I admire the most about Elisa is her balance between recklessness and calculated risk. She enlists the help of unconventional allies—one of them an Invierno himself. She navigates a world of treachery and manipulation with surprising grace. And when the time comes to choose between ultimate power and her humanity, her choice will surprise you. Again, Rae Carson is true to her characters no matter what, and Elisa’s choice is a reflection of herself. I didn’t get why she did it at first, but then I realized it would have been even more outrageous if things had been different.

The writing is, like in the first book, nearly flawless. The pictures of Elisa’s surroundings are clear and the characterization is absolutely top-notch. Really, you’ll have trouble finding a Young Adult book whose writing is as clear and as intricate as this one.

The Crown of Embers is a worthy successor of its predecessor, a book I absolutely could not put down. You’ll fall even more in love with Elisa (really, I can’t stress it enough: I adore her) and, in the end, you’ll be crushed that the last book is not out yet.

Yes, it’s that good.

The Crown of Embers

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1 edition (September 18, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062026518
• ISBN-13: 978-0062026514

Princess Elisa is a disappointment to her people. Although she bears the Godstone in her navel, a sign that she has been chosen for an act of heroism, they see her as lazy and useless and fat.

Yes, you read that right. Fat. I read an enormous amount of books. The amount of overweight heroes and chubby heroines is astoundingly small. Some authors believe that describing the main character as fat will make him or her less appealing to the reader. Often, in Young Adult books, everyone tends to be beautiful and thin.

Rae Carson threw all of those preconceptions away and created Elisa, who is, in my opinion a superb heroine even though she loves to stuff herself with pastries. Even in the beginning of the book you see that what Elisa lacks in stereotypical attractiveness she make up for it with intelligence. She is smart. She is surprisingly wise for her age. And she bears the Godstone.

When the book starts, Eliza is married to King Alessandro of Joya d’Arena. She does not know her husband and neither does he know her. Immediately after, Elisa journeys with her new husband and his men to Alessandro’s country and they are attacked by Perditos. Even though she’s not fit, Elisa still manages to save her husband’s life. She is taken to the palace and is demotivated when Alessandro doesn’t publicly announce that he’s married to her. But it’s not until she is kidnapped by desert people that the story really starts to unfold.

I don’t want to spoil the intricate plot, but I’ll tell you this: The Girl of Fire and Thorns is magnificently thought out and its execution is even more stellar. Elisa’s adventures take her from her royal life to the desert, and we start to know more about what it means to be God’s chosen. Elisa’s mind begins to sharpen as she strategizes against the enemy that’s about to invade her husband’s country.

Moreover, Rae Carson (and in this she reminds me of Scott Westerfeld in a particular part of Specials) has the guts to do what some authors can’t: kill off certain characters that have wormed their way into your heart. You won’t see it coming, and when it does, I can almost guarantee you you will be floored.

Carson also does a great job in the writing department. Her prose is fluid, elaborate without being complicated and, most of all, captivating. She crafted a fantasy universe that’s different from the norm. The names she chose for her characters have a more… Latin feel than in usual fantasy worlds.

But the most important part of the book—its heart, as you will—is Elisa. I cannot stress it enough on how she’s an amazing, compassionate, real character. How you connect with her, how she grows within you, how she reacts and plots, how compassionate she is to other people without being weak… She’s a fantastic character.

So, in short: The Girl of Fire and Thorns is a great, surprising book, a breath of fresh air in fantasy settings. And it also has one of the best characters I’ve seen in a long time. If you choose to read it—and I hope you do!—you will almost certainly be satisfied that you did. As for me… The sequel, The Crown of Embers is on the mail and I absolutely can’t wait for it to arrive so I can sit down with it and devour the continuation of Elisa’s journey.

Paperback: 448 pages

Publisher: Greenwillow Books (21 Aug 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 006202650X

ISBN-13: 978-0062026507