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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
Crown of Embers is just as good as the first book, if not better. A truly wonderful sequel, full of drama, angst, surprises, magic, war, and of course tension. We can’t forget about all that romantic tension.
Elisa and Hector were killing me. The banter between the two of them was perfect and always had me grinning, and when their romantic connection started showing I was so damn eager for them to end up together. The tension was literally insane, it was done so well that I almost couldn’t handle it. Not to float my own boat either, but I shipped them since book one, so I guess I know my shit. I’m basically the next YA matchmaker. And don’t even talk to me about the ending, I’m remaining positive that things will work out for my lovebirds, and you can’t tell me otherwise!!!
Elisa has grown so much since book one, and at a believable pace as well. She truly is stepping into herself, and her views and opinions are becoming stronger. Her political awareness really blossoms in this sequel, and damn is she strong as hell. I was praying for her to just catch a damn break, but at the same time, everything she went through served such a great purpose towards her badass-ness. I won’t ever stop rooting for her.
I also loved that we had the opportunity to read more about female friendships. I loved the relationship between Elisa and Mara. Their friendship was genuine, fun, and sweet. Something Elisa truly deserves after all she’s been through, and Amara deserves as well. They make a wonderful duo and I can’t wait to explore their friendship more in Bitter Kingdom.
All in all, this was an amazing read. It took everything from the first book and flourished into an amazing sequel. Also, little Rosario has my heart and I wish he was my little brother so I could smother him in hugs and kisses - even though he’d pretend to hate it.
Plus, the end bit with Ximena had me screaming with glee because quite honestly, she really got on my nerves. Elisa is really out here being the best damn fierce queen she can be!!!
This one draaaaged to then end up having a big reveal at the end which wasn't really cause it was repeated over and over throught the this and the first book but somehow everyone was too dumb or too oblivious to realize.
I don't think I read enough YA to tell if the trope of the MC:"I'm too fucking innocent (in denial) to see and process this information that's right in front of me" is still a thing or if that just apply to books from 10 years ago, because I'm tired of it.
Yes it's 5 stars, how is that a question? Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to go read this immediately?
“But none of it will be real. None of them will want me. My throne, yes. Prestige. A conquest. But not me."
I was OK with the first book but this just blew my mind. The rating is definitely 5. It was just plain awesome. I could reread it again and again but sadly it’s a library book and must be returned. And even sadder the third book doesn’t come out in a few months. This is surely going to kill me.
After reading the first book I wanted to know what happened next and surely I would choose the worst time to do it. On the night before my AP Language and Composition exam was the night I decided I should start this book. Not a good idea, I could not put it down, it was just that amazingly awesome. I LOVED EVERTHING about it. EVERYTHING!!!
First, the plot. I loved how it took a bit of a turn and brought in new characters and a new setting but also had the old characters and a bit of the old setting and all that. I also love to see how Elisa grows through the book and you can tell she really has changed from the first book. I really just loved it. No other words can describe it.
Now the good part, the characters. I have officially added Hector to my boyfriend list. He is such a swoon worthy guy, whenever he was in a scene I just wanted to kiss him. LOVED HIM!!! He’s one of the few guys in YA books who really do deserve to be swooned over and that really do love the girl. No, insta-love, no ‘unexplainable attraction’, none of that randomness we seem to get a lot of in YA. Just pure awesome!! Even in the end he loved her and would die for her!!! LOVE!!!
Now Elisa. She was pretty awesome too. She’s one of my favorite YA heroines. She’s smart, very smart, and clever and strong and hardworking and caring and kind and whole lot of other adjectives. She was just great. She fought for her people and she fought for her friends. She truly is someone who is loyal to the end.
The other characters were good too. Ximena though is starting to piss me off, a lot. Mara though is making me love her a little bit more with every page I read. She’s kind and sweet and acts more like a best friend than anything else. I love how unlike Ximena she actually listens to Elisa and how they become such close friends. Belen was also good. I never really liked him but now that he’s back I totally trust him. Then there is Storm. He was just full of little surprises. He was unapologetically honest and I love that about him. He will never deceive you and never lie, he will tell it to you like it is and not care how you feel about it. I can’t wait for more Storm and how this is going to end now that we know who he really is. Though I’ve already got an idea.
In the end the plot and story for this one was like 150 times better than in [b:The Girl of Fire and Thorns|10429092|The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)|Rae Carson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323448113s/10429092.jpg|13282366]. The only thing that got me mad is that some of their troubles could have been avoided if they had just seen the simple solution right before their eyes. In the end, literally the last ten pages, is when Elisa finally realizes what she must do, while I realized it from the first part of the book. But what’s a YA book without some easily resolved drama?