The Girl of Fire and Thorns by
Rae Carson My rating:
4 of 5 stars 3.75 stars. I saw a picture of an ARC cover on Goodreads, and I'm glad they scrapped it because it was a perfect example of white washing and thinning. It's a big deal to the protagonist that she's overweight, and she mentions her dark complexion several times. However, it wasn't quite an ugly duckling story, as the beauty she finds most important in herself by the end of the book is her strength of character. It walks a fine line along the edge of getting preachy on the subject, but I think it doesn't cross the line.
This is a book about a princess, but it is not a fairy tale. It starts on the day of her arranged marriage, and stays real from that point onwards. I was dismayed by some turns of events later in the book, but secretly pleased that the author was daring enough to go there. I was also absurdly pleased with the author's style when it came to details; there were enough to paint an accurate picture but not so many to drag down the pace of the plot. There's one point when Elisa is in hiding, and the author doesn't skip over the part where Elisa is discomforted by a need to relieve herself, which is a detail we don't always need to know about, but about which I am frequently curious whenever a tense scene is described with lots of waiting. It makes it feel real to me. The plot twisted sufficiently to keep it surprising without making me curse the real world for interrupting my reading. I felt it stood well enough on its own, but I'll certainly read more.
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