contemplative
Elisa has been promised in marriage to a man she has not met. Her father is trying to form alliances that will save his kingdom from the threat of invasion from a neighboring region. Elisa is nervous about meeting Alejandro. Her discomfort is made deeper by the fact that he intends not to tell his subjects about the marriage. After a perilous journey from her home to Alejandro's kingdom, Elisa is ensconced in a room. She is treated with some deference due to her status as a princess. Should others at the court learn she is also the bearer of a Godstone, attitudes could change quickly. As a bearer, Elisa is destined for something. But what? As she searches for an answer to her purpose, Elisa suddenly finds herself kidnapped and placed square in the middle of a raging war that will affect not only her own country but her new kingdom as well. Can a pampered princess perform the heroics expected of her? <528>
THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson (Greenwillow 2011) has echoes of GRACELING, FIRE, and FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK and yet it is not in the least derivative of these excellent books. Instead, Elisa and her world, subtly but completely built by Carson, are unique and unforgettable. Romance, mystery, intrigue and espionage: there is much here for readers who enjoy action and adventure with a soupcon of religion and myth.