Carson, R. (2011). The girl
of fire and thorns. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0062026488. 437
pages.
Summary:
On her
sixteenth birthday, a scared princess marries the King from a neighboring
country in order to secure her father’s participation in an upcoming war. The new queen is young, intelligent, well
read, and also plump and longs for someone to really want her. What looms within her navel is what everybody
really wants. A Godstone, placed by God
to mark her as the chosen one of the century.
What comes to her involves kidnapping, escape, war, death, friendship,
and love. She will have to learn to be
brave and faithful in order to fulfill her destiny.
Analysis:
A fantasy
novel, worthy of providing an escape for readers and a good-will-prevail kind
of message, The Girl of Fire and Thorns takes
readers on a journey of war and worth.
The story exhibits many of the qualities that a young adult novel should
possess making it easy to see why reading it is so enjoyable. Traits worthy of noting are the viewpoint, significance,
optimistic plot and theme.
The
main character, Elisa, provides the reader her viewpoint as she tells her
story. She is a sixteen-year-old girl
whose mother has died and her father has offered her up for marriage to make a
deal. Her new husband, the King, tends
to matters that do not concern her, leaving her alone to make decisions on her
own. The viewpoint leads right into the
significance of this story to readers of a young-adult age. Readers will not only relate to her age, but
also her circumstances. Elisa is called
“fat” throughout the book, enjoys eating, dresses beautifully, and has maids
who do everything for her. Maybe not
always relatable, but wouldn’t all readers like maids to do everything? I know I would! Before her marriage, Elisa’s big decision of
the day was what pastry to eat or what book to study in the monastery. Having a Godstone within her, Elisa knew that
her destiny could be much more but often doubted it. Like all readers, deep within she wanted to
be more than just ordinary.
As
the plot thickens, Elisa’s Godstone becomes the primary target of a war between
countries and different cultures. Her
life is threatened but Elisa does not run.
Instead, she has to rely on her “gift” and use it to save her people. While death and war have their place in this
novel, the plot is immersed in optimistic and Godly themes. Readers experience the transformation of
Elisa from a young and uncourageous girl to a woman of heroic choices, faith,
and brilliance. Though many bearers of
the Godstone do not seemingly fulfill their calling, readers will read on,
knowing that the pieces will come together for Elisa.
Though
the story includes things that are not real; Godstones and sorcery, the message
within is very real. Just like in real
life, Elisa is a child of God, given a gift just as we are all given gifts or
talents. And while many of us dwell on
our circumstances of not being pretty enough, thin enough, smart enough or rich
enough, we must be like Elisa. We must
put our inadequacies aside in order to let God show us his will and then use
the gifts he has given us. In the end,
we probably will not experience a journey like Elisa’s or fire and flame sending
our enemy to dust, but we will fulfill our destiny just the same if we listen
to God as she listened to her Godstone.
With
any book, there are weaknesses but this story made it hard for me to find
one. Reviews from individual blogs and
review sites tend to note the author’s hang-up on Elisa’s oversized shape and
the way she slims as the story continues (Kirkus, 2011) (Paige, 2012) (Saecker,
2011). My thoughts are different on this
issue. Elisa desperately wanted someone
to notice her and love her for her. She
found this in Humberto, a character that kidnaps her but loves her from the
beginning while she is still round. As
her highness’ plate changes from porkchops and pastries to rabbit soup and
dried fruit, it would be only normal that her pounds would drop away. Even still, she makes mention that she still
is not the beautiful slim shape of her sister Alodia (p. 174). With the journey; walking, running, climbing,
and trekking, Elisa also builds strength and endurance to do these things
without running out of breath (p. 174).
I guess for some readers, this may hit close to home, but all humans
should strive to be fit and better their selves. Wouldn’t we want that out of our heroin? And if it does bother the reader, she assures
her guard that her figure will return when the war is over and she starts
eating pastries again and he reminds her she will still be a beautiful queen
(p. 378-379). For me, this is just
quality characterization; relating her to the audience and also exposing
weakness allowing God to use her and his own strength to complete his will.
Reference List
Kirkus Reviews. (2011). The girl of fire and thorns. Retrieved
July 8 2012 from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/rae-carson/girl-fire-and-thorns/#review
Paige, A. (2012) The girl of fire and thorns by rae carson.
Retrieved July 8, 2012 from http://thescreamingnitpicker.blogspot.com/2012/02/girl-of-fire-and-thorns-by-rae-carson.html
Saecker, T. (2011). Review: The girl of fire and thorns.
Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://wakingbraincells.com/2011/12/29/review-the-girl-of-fire-and-thorns-by-rae-carson/
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