Rae Carson

Going into the book (which I read an e-ARC version from NetGalley) I had completely forgotten what it was about. It was on my list of 'Must Read Immediately Upon Getting' books and I had made a notation about 'fantasy' next to it, but otherwise I had forgotten. Something pushed at me to pick it though and thus did I spend an entire Friday night (after my show) reading this glorious, wonderful and otherwise fantastic novel.

It would honestly be hard for me to categorize this as a 'young show more adult'. If this had been written in the 90's then it may very well have been shelved with the mainstream fantasy books despite the narrator, Elisa's, age of 16. Carson questions the nature of love (familial, first love and enduring love), religion (faith, doubt, belief) and duty (to one's self, to one's country) without holding anything back. Elisa learns some very hard lessons in a relatively short amount of time and realizes some hard truths.

Elisa, in short, is my hero. Not because she saves the day. Not because she's clever and quick-witted and brave. Not just because of those things at least. Elisa is my hero, and would have been my role model for life as a teen, because she doesn't judge herself. She doubts why she was Chosen. She looks back at the way she was in her home kingdom with horror, but she doesn't ever say 'I'm a useless person'. Whenever she uses the words 'useless' and 'fat' she is repeating what others have said behind her back (or in at least one case, to her face).

She is self-conscious, she envies other women for their slim forms or graceful bearing, but she doesn't deride herself for not being that way. She is strong, just as many of the characters say she is, but she shows that strength in subtle ways. Standing up and remaining firm with the young Prince, keeping her calm when faced with a duplicitous lady of the court, keeping her wits when confronted with a terrifying enemy. Elisa's development is spurned onwards at first by her need to be useful to her husband, but it doesn't take her long to realize that she should change to be better for herself.

I admit I didn't like her husband, I didn't trust him or his motivations. I didn't think he was a bad man, but the way he was using Elisa just made me frown. I felt bad for Elisa though, wanted more for her, but at the same time I wanted to scream that not everything has to be about him.



Carson gives us quite a cast of characters to be entertained by. I was quite fond of some of them, though I suppose I didn't quite trust any of them? Even her old Nurse, who obviously wants to protect Elisa from everything and everyone, made me wary. Elisa was the pawn in a very powerful game, several powerful games in fact, and until she realizes her own power it was disheartening how easily she was manipulated or misled. How eager she was to believe certain fallacies because she was so desperately lonely and unfulfilled.

There are several times when Carson tempers the cleverness that Elisa shows with hard truths. Consequences for her decisions and actions, especially as we grew closer to the end, proved themselves to Elisa and I applauded her for being able to...move past them and regroup quickly. Even before she came into herself Elisa didn't just wallow, not when there was something else she could be doing. She had her moments, but then she was is still young, thrust into a terrible War that no one cared to explain to her.

While the ending lends itself well to being self-contained, there are two more books and the acknowledgement that more adventures await Elisa in the closing. An important plot focal point remains unanswered and to be truthful I want to see what the new Elisa can do with her strength and new found purpose. show less

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!

OMG. Very rarely - maybe once a year - I happen upon one of those books I have to read again immediately upon finishing. For 2013, THIS IS THAT BOOK!! No, that's not right... this book turned the entire series into THAT SERIES. I need to re-read this entire series again from the beginning and how grateful am I that there are Novellas!! I can't walk away from Elisa - not her, her man, her kingdom, her family, her friendships, her prodigy... none of 'em. I can't. I've show more unwittingly turned into a fan-stalker-dreamer, whatchamaycallit.

If this book had not been broken down into four separate climaxes, I might not have slept or fed the family until I'd finished. I'm grateful for those moments of... "Phew! Got that done!" even while I was simultaneously delighted to see how much remained yet to be read. Everything that I've come to enjoy in this series is present. Each character deepens even further. The pace remains fast as each one arrives at conclusions and moves on to face new challenges.

I highlighted a few (not-telling-where-they're-from) lines on my Nook just to showcase how Rae's writing style is so vivid:
The icy air feels like tiny knife blades as I draw it into my lungs.
We lock gazes. The rest of the world fades away, and without saying a word, we say good-bye.
I felt it... the more I read, the more intensely I felt it until I found myself fully committed to Elisa. She's become one of my favorite heroes in lit. Ever. She's so... down-to-earth REAL. She always sees herself as the overweight trying-too-hard person she begins the series as. Her humility is beautiful. When it looks like low self-esteem, it's endearing.

I can't reveal any more details of how awesome this book is without spoiling it, and that just isn't an option. I can share one more thing... Rae responded to my fanatical email (very daring of her) with this wonderful snippet:
Here's a factoid that few people know: My not-serious, working title for the first book was ELISA'S BELLY. Which is ridick, but it helped me to keep in mind that I was subverting genre tropes (ie. the amulet of power) and ought to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. :)
Wonderful and purposeful!! Even in the most serious of situations there is this uncanny rawness, this sense of reality-is-awkward. The mention of "belly" in particular just cracks me up in a way that feels real. I mean, every time I try to be serious and deep - those are the moments I trip over my shoelaces or run into a pole. For me, this series grasped reality in a new way while being entirely fantastical.

I love it!

My Rating: 5.5 - All-time fav. A series for my library!! I really want to keep this treasure of a series to myself. I love it on such a personal level. I'm kind of shy to admit how much I love it. Lol. show less

It's been almost a year since I read "Walk on Earth a Stranger", the first book in Rae Carson's Gold Seer series, and I was worried I would have some trouble remembering characters or events that happened in that book. However, Carson does a good job with subtly reminding the reader of the people and things that came before, so I was able to jump right into "Like a River Glorious" (side note: I love the titles she's chosen for her books). Leah Westfall and her ragtag group of friends (the show more ones who survived the dangerous wagon train journey out west, anyway) have set up claims in Glory, California and formed the beginning on their own little town. Thanks to Leah's "gold sense" (she's able to detect and summon gold, a very handy power to have during the Gold Rush), she and her friends become quite prosperous. But of course, good things can't last, and eventually Leah's murderous, douchebag uncle finds her and keeps her and a couple of her friends captive at his mining operation. What follows is a desperate plan to learn what horrors are being committed there in the name of gold, and how Leah and her gang can can stop them from happening. Rae Carson does not shy away from depicting the atrocities that were done against Native Americans and Chinese immigrants, which I think is a good thing (historical fiction, even when tinged with fantasy and magic, should not skirt around the shameful aspects of U.S. history).

I really enjoy this series, and I'm eager to get to the final book! show less

As you might remember, Rae Carson’s The Girl of Fire and Thorns was a perfect fantasy read for me. I screamed, I squeed, I cried, I fangirled…I was pretty much the physical embodiment of exclamation points over it. Yes, it WAS that good and The Crown of Embers immediately became one of my most anticipated titles of 2012. Friends and I tried to track it down at BEA, I missed it at ALA by a day, and then, when I actually got the book in my hands on release day, work and real life got in show more the way so I didn’t get the chance to read it until recently, TWO WEEKS later. Agony, let me tell you! Anyway, enough personal anecdotes, The Crown of Embers was astonishing and, hello, yes, much gushing ahead!

First off, Rae Carson’s pacing was so energetic and intense. A LOT happens in The Crown of Embers, and it was easy to see that the stakes were much higher from the first chapter. From there on out, it was a complete adventure with Elisa, Hector, and everyone else and, HOLY CRAP, things got crazy! There were twists and turns, political drama, and so much danger. I was glued to the pages and only stepped away from the book when absolutely forced to. Needless to say, The Crown of Embers had my heart racing with every page turn.

Next is Elisa. MY QUEEN. I am so, so proud of her growth. She has so much weight on her shoulders, and it would be so easy for her to crumble under it, but instead she grows and matures. She demonstrated so much determination and courage, both in standing up for herself and her kingdom, and I continue to look forward to cheering her on. Trust me, Elisa is a character to admire.

And then, of course, there’s the romance. I won’t say a lot about it, but excuse this outburst here and now: OHMYGODOHMYGOD, SUCH PERFECTION. No, really, Rae Carson knows how to build a relationship based on mutual respect and admiration and I was completely crazy over it. I held my breath during their scenes because their chemistry was so palpable and, gah, more of this in my reads, por favor.

Basically, The Crown of Embers is such a quality read and I wish I could put this series into the hands of everyone I know. If you haven’t read it yet, please do so that I can have more people to gush with. Filled with great writing, adventure, romance, and a fierce heroine, this is one fantasy series that I cannot recommend enough. show less