Review ~ The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns #2)
by Rae Carson
YA Fantasy
Published: September 18th 2012
Goodreads Link

Blurb: 

In the sequel to the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, a seventeen-year-old princess turned war queen faces sorcery, adventure, untold power, and romance as she fulfills her epic destiny.

Elisa is the hero of her country. She led her people to victory against a terrifying enemy, and now she is their queen. But she is only seventeen years old. Her rivals may have simply retreated, choosing stealth over battle. And no one within her court trusts her-except Hector, the commander of the royal guard, and her companions. As the country begins to crumble beneath her and her enemies emerge from the shadows, Elisa will take another journey. With a one-eyed warrior, a loyal friend, an enemy defector, and the man she is falling in love with, Elisa crosses the ocean in search of the perilous, uncharted, and mythical source of the Godstone's power. That is not all she finds. A breathtaking, romantic, and dangerous second volume in the Fire and Thorns trilogy.

My Review: 

**4.5 Stars**

Oh boy, oh boy. What a great continuation. It is filled with just as much adventure as  The Girl of Fire and Thorns was. Elisa goes through even more in this book, and once again becomes stronger for it. She is now tasked with ruling the country of her former husband, the King. The council around her isn't making this task easy and you want her to just kill them all. To quote Sweeney Todd... "They all deserve to die."

Yes! Sorry, I will try not to give anything away, but what Elisa says to Ximena... AWESOME and FINALLY!!!! I know you always saw her as a friend, but come on. How much does she have to keep from you before you snap? I am also happy that the author broached the topic of birth control. Many books leave you wondering why no one gets pregnant when they don't mention BC. I always assumed it was a plant, but Rae Carson actually does a good job of creating it in her book. Oh... don't worry, still teen friendly - nothing graphic, or really anything at all.

Oh Hector and Elisa... you both need to Open. Your. Eyes! It is so obvious that they love each other, yet they keep hiding it. STOP!

I finished the book and immediately reached for the next one. It leaves readers with such a big cliff hanger that I am glad I had the last book ready and waiting for when I finished this one.