Review: ‘Girl of Fire and Thorns’ by Rae Carson

Elisa is chosen by God, marked for an act of service for His people. But she’s also the youngest of two princesses, overweight, and has never done anything remarkable. She’s sure she never will. And now, on her sixteenth birthday, she’s becoming the secret wife of the king from a neighbouring country– which is on the verge of war with a terrifying enemy. Elisa’s act of service could be to be the saviour of two countries. If she’s up to the task. If she can keep going. If she doesn’t die young, which most of the chosen do. All the metaphors I can think of to talk about the tone of this book are about determination. Pedal to the metal. Dogged. Never say die. Rolling with the punches. This is a fierce book, a story about facing an overwhelming future which may contain horrible things, and not letting it daunt you. Our main characters and side characters have life bash them in the face, and they spit blood and teeth back at life and keep fighting. And I love them for it. I love so many of the characters– even those who don’t make it– because of their refusal to give up. And yes, some of them don’t make it. See above, terrifying enemy. There is a tendency in modern literature to portray determination as something that happens when you’re ignorant. When the characters understand the full magnitude of the danger they are in, of course they’ll break and run. This book takes a different tact, expecting everyone to be as clever as possible in the face of peril. And then a little more clever. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense. It’s about a girl taking her place as a member of a court full of political intrigues– in a time of war. Denseness is not traditionally encouraged in that setting. So the first action we see Elisa getting to do on her own references the fact that she has read and absorbed her world’s version of The Art of War. The fact that this makes sense for the character is something that I love. But it’s not just Elisa who is expected to be well-read and smart about it. There are spies, and bandit leaders, and traitors, and captains of the guard and priests, and in no case is anyone’s ignorance rewarded. And yes, a world where people fight against ignorance and get there also includes faith. Another genre convention overturned! The religion in this book is a very large factor, but despite traditional character development, it does not use devotion as a sign post by which you can tell all the evil people, and neither is the character’s crisis of faith one of “how can I believe in a god– isn’t that all imaginary?” Elisa’s crisis is wondering if a) she can ever be worthy of being chosen, and b) how come everyone else seems to know the will of God so much clearer than...