Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.
Most of the chosen do.
Thoughts:
2/5 stars.
Going into this book, I thought it would be a fast-paced novel, with a strong heroine, going to be compared to novels by one of my favorite authors, Kristen Cashore. Safe to say, i was sorely disappointed by the end.
The story begins with the main character, Princess Elisa, being fitted for her impending, arranged marriage. The dress doesn't fit. This is the beginning of the many comments of her fatitude, eating of pastries, and self pity. Even though she is a Princess, there is something else that allows her to stand out, to be fiercely protected: her Godstone. Pretty much what a Godstone is a pretty gem of some sorts that a heavenly light sticks in a chosen one's navel (honestly, I have no idea where the navel is located. I'm assuming near the stomach).
I had many problems with this novel, the leading influence in my bad rating being our heroine, Elisa. I'm not sure whether we were supposed to feel bad for her or look up to her, for she is supposed to be a godly woman, possessing a stone precious to many. But I just uninterested with her, for she just seemed so... helpless. Even when she underwent her "life-changing moment of becoming a strong black woman", she was still so useless! She wasn't annoying, just not very likable, you could say? Many characters were like this, not being hated, but not being well liked either. To me, a good rating mainly comes from me connecting with the character, and understanding their feelings, no matter how outlandish the plot is. As long as they have a heart of some sort, we as readers should be able to develop feelings and thoughts for these characters. But the job of creating that character is for the authors.
The writing completely bored me. I was skimming by the end of the book, my eyes just flitting through the words. There were many useless scenes. I'm pretty sure 75% of the book was her praying or doing something else Christian-ly. The other 25% was her going on and on about her weight, how fat she was, how full her mouth was with delicious foods, how skinny she had gotten, OR HOW SHE HAD STRECH MARKS ARGH I was just done by the end. Hooray for you, you were starved and *SPOILER kidnapped* now your skinny whoopdeedoo.
Maybe I didn't like this book because of it's religious aspect, which overtook most of the story. Or maybe there just wasn't enough action to satisfy my ninja-action-craving side. But a story that I felt was similar to this, but much better was Graceling by Kristen Cashore.
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