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sistermagpie 's review for:
The Girl of Fire and Thorns
by Rae Carson
I was surprised at how this book drew me in. It has a lot of the standard elements of YA fantasy: girl who defines herself as not pretty and is very insecure but has many hot dudes fall in love with her, girl with a special destiny and powers she doesn't understand. But I got involved in Elisa's development. I've scanned some reviews that found it offensive that Elisa became heroic after she became 'thin' but that didn't seem to be what was going on to me. It seemed more like Elisa was never and would never be thin by Hollywood standards, but that of course didn't keep her body from changing to suit a more active lifestyle (active meaning endless treks through the desert). The author was kind of trapped in that sense in that the character clearly did enjoy eating, but also sometimes ate out of self-loathing or hopelessness. So she went from someone who enjoyed eating but overindulged and didn't exercise to someone who enjoyed eating but had other things more important to her as well and got a lot more exercise.
Another thing I appreciated in this book compared to others I've read was that I actually bought the hostility-turned-friendship with another girl. It seems like I've read other stories where the main character meets a mean girl who hates her and then they become friends just because, while I'm left thinking that I would never consider this other person anything but a bully and an enemy. But here, the pov of the frenemy made sense to me and was less personal, and the friendship remained a bit guarded, which helped.
So in short, the book definitely sucked me in and kept me reading--though I'm not sure how eager I am to read a sequel. I'm not dying to know what happened next or anything.
Another thing I appreciated in this book compared to others I've read was that I actually bought the hostility-turned-friendship with another girl. It seems like I've read other stories where the main character meets a mean girl who hates her and then they become friends just because, while I'm left thinking that I would never consider this other person anything but a bully and an enemy. But here, the pov of the frenemy made sense to me and was less personal, and the friendship remained a bit guarded, which helped.
So in short, the book definitely sucked me in and kept me reading--though I'm not sure how eager I am to read a sequel. I'm not dying to know what happened next or anything.