Book Review: Crown of Embers

Goodreads 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.

My review:

I adored The Girl of Fire and Thorns, so I was really hoping that Crown of Embers would live up to the first.  It's every bit as good as I'd hoped!  Also, just so ya'll know, there are some mild spoilers in my review, but nothing big.

Elisa is an amazing heroine.  She's faced with incredibly hard decisions as queen and constantly struggles to do what's right for her country.  She is definitely a wonderful role model - her character is unforgettable.  You can't help rooting for her.  And OH, I love Hector.  I thought I loved Humberto in the first book, but Hector is ten times better.  He respects Elisa and her position as queen, he goes out of his way to help her, he'd die for her...basically, he's completely perfect.

I loved the romance so much.  It was beautifully done.  It takes a while for Elisa and Hector to finally admit their love for each other, but I liked that it wasn't love at first sight.  And it's heartbreaking at the same time because Elisa is queen and everyone expects her to marry a prince or king.  I felt so bad for her and Hector, and I was involved in the love story in a way that I rarely feel.  Amazing!

The plot was great!  This book isn't as action-packed as the first one (at least, as far as I can remember; I read GOFAT last April.  Gotta love that acronym.  Just saying), but there's lots of political conflict and it's all really intense.  There's so much at stake and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!

And, oh yeah, it ends with a cliffhanger and I was practically sobbing because of what happens to a certain character who, as I mentioned above, is really sweet and totally swoon-worthy... *sigh* Why, Rae Carson?  Why couldn't we have a happy ending?  There had better be a happy ending in the final book, The Bitter Kingdom.  Which sadly doesn't come out until fall 2013. -_-

So, if you enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, then this sequel is so worth reading!  I promise that once you start, you will not put it down!

My rating:  10 out of 10

~ The Bookworm