For fans of: Snow Like Ashes - Sara Raasch, Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers
Publication: 2011
ISBN: 006202650X
Pages: 423
Goodreads
Blurb: Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. Elisa is the chosen one. But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can't see how she ever will. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn't die young. Most of the chosen do.
Opinion
Cover: There is just too much going on here. The colours go well together, but there's all this greenery, the stone and - since it's a YA-novel - it has to have a face on it. Of course.
I've seen the old cover and it has a white-washed, skinny girl on it. Ew! So yeah, this book definitely needs a new cover!
Content: I found the idea with the Godstone a little weird. Different, but weird. I mean, it sits in the main characters navel and she doesn't really know what being the bearer of it really means. No one actually does.
I also don't like this chosen-one-trope, but it surprisingly didn't bother me that much here.
At first, Elisa annoyed me so much. I thought, noooooo not yet another stupid first person-narrator. During the first third of the book I was so close to quitting. Elisa was the dictionary definition of a wallflower: insecure, lacking self-esteem and hating her own body, because she is a little chubby. Believe me, there is a lot of fat-shaming going on. Another reason why I almost dumped it.
But then I remembered how many people liked this book and the rest of the series. So I thought, there had to be at least one good thing about it. Surprisingly, it really got better. Elisa underwent a lot of character developement. She learned to love her body as it is, became less naive and a lot stronger. This is why this book isn't a complete mess.
The characters are unfortunately quite flat though, even Elisa. I sometimes had a hard time imagining them. They were once intruduced and discribed and that was it. Not very memorable.
And I didn't really care about them. The death of that one person I won't name because of spoilers, didn't touch me at all.
I was surprised by Cosmé though. I didn't expect her to become friends with Elisa at all!
Then there's the king, ugh. First he didn't want to tell anyone that they're married and then he also has a mistress. He's like that douchbag boyfriend that I would tell every girl to run from.
Religion played a much larger role in this novel than I'm used to in this genre. Elisa is a very faithful person, she prays a lot, but she also has her doubts. In fact, there is quite a lot of praying going on here and it gets just annoying after a while.
Writing Style: The writing was quite okay, but the plot was messy. There is a lot going on: kidnappings, fights, desert storms, intrigues, dramatic reveals and so on. You get the whole package in just a bit more than 400 pages. You don't have to read the book to know that this is simply too much. A little less drama and the whole story would have been better. In fact, it sometimes felt as if it hasn't been plotted very thoroughly.
The magic system could have been better, more detailed. This way it only seems very lazy. So much is just explained by being God's will or that he knows everything. Well, even the characters in the book don't seem to know much about how the magic works. Except for the villains, who are - how could it be any different - those sort of villains that are only evil because they are evil. Not very original.
My conclusion: I heard the other two books in this trilogy are way better, so I'll give it another shot.
My rating: 3/5 Buttons
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