Rae Carson Deserves the Crown of Embers

The Crown of Embers
By: Rae Carson
Reported by: Julianna Helms 
Source: ARC via ALA
Release Date: Already released! Go grab your copies now! :D

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns (my review here!), 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.

-Summary from Goodreads || Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's

Man I love Rae Carson.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns was the first ARC I've ever received, and I can't say how amazing it was to meet Rae Carson during ALA. What would be really cool is if I received an ARC for the third book, The Bitter Kingdom. Probably not happening, but that'd make this whole thing come full circle. Also, oh yeah, I kind of NEED the third book to survive. No, seriously. You think I'm joking, but I really am not. This series does this to me:

That's my beloved Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Also know as the best TV series ever. (*waits for Whovians and Browncoats to go all Avatar State on me in the comments*)

So yes. I feel a lot of angst. Largely due to Rae and The Crown of Embers.



Now, note: I read this book last year. I just figured it's time to review it since, yanno, I haven't actually been reviewing any books I read this year except for Seraphina so far. (That's because I'm scheduling all the January posts on January 1st, LOL.) Gotta keep up the tradition.

Alright, so, this book was amazing. Oh, did I say that already? Because it deserves the compliment twice. No, heck, thrice. The Crown of Embers was impossibly better than The Girl of Fire and Thorns. The love interest makes me want to go run into a wall due to insane amounts of swoooooon-factorization, and also the fact that this series has some of the most exotic and immersive settings doesn't halt my need to jump into the story one bit. In fact, if it weren't for the heart-attack-granting assassination attempts, or the incredibly tensile court intrigue, or the insanely brilliant plot twists, or the mindblowing characterization, I might actually consider myself worthy enough to trek through deserts and paradises with Elisa and her gang.

Also, I am not worthy enough here to be writing a review, because I have largely forgotten the details in this book. I only remember the overarching amazingness and also most of the scenes. And since I'm pretty much useless to you now, let me just sum this whole ifherioagijrnajigjaergkaegkgijoajh-ness up with one big ole GIF to show Rae some love:

It says "Let me love you", for those of you with an internet slower than a slug.

Oh, last thing. I was totally going to give this a starred review, but then that ending made me so distraught that I can't handle it just yet. So yeah. Sorry, Rae, but also, I love you, Rae. Even if you made me feel like-

Tony Stark says "I literally almost just died". It's Tony Stark. I feel like I should quote this after one of my exams.