Spoilers For the other book in the Fire and Thorns Trilogy
Summary from Goodreads
The champion must not fear.
The gate of darkness closes.
Elisa is a fugitive.
Her enemies have stolen the man she loves, and they await her at the gate of darkness. Her country is on the brink of civil war, with her own soldiers ordered to kill her on sight.
Her Royal Majesty, Queen Lucero-Elisa né Riqueza de Vega, bearer of the Godstone, will lead her three loyal companions deep into the enemy's kingdom, a land of ice and snow and brutal magic, to rescue Hector and win back her throne. Her power grows with every step, and the shocking secrets she will uncover on this, her final journey, could change the course of history.
But that is not all. She has a larger destiny. She must become the champion the world has been waiting for.
Even of those who hate her most.
4.5 Star Review
Firstly I have to mention (as with the rest of this series) the cover! It is beautiful and I love the gold lettering and the vibrant purple. We also get a MAP! I have a great love for maps and I was sad when I realised there wasn't a map in the first book in the series but am now so happy to have one. I think map are just great additions to High Fantasy books as they really help me to visualize where these characters are traveling/living.I am always a bit warily of the end of series as many of the ones I read feature kick-ass characters and are full of action. Therefore when the series ends 'happy ever after' I can't help but think what is [insert name of kick-ass characters] going to do now? Surely they can't be happy sat on their butts for the rest of their lives after they have done [insert kick-ass moment]. I mean sometimes I am ok with this happening when the character's personality has changed or they didn't enjoy/intend being kick-ass etc. However this book ended this trilogy very well, not only did we get a ending that I was happy with there were also some great romantic quotes in this book.
There was one part of the book which I didn't really understand. It was right at the start, for maybe the first 25 pages Elisa returned to being the clingy and scared. It was almost as though the end of the second book didn't happen, like she had shrunk back into her shell after her strong display of courage and control at the end of the second book. Elisa's confidence did grow back through part one but didn't like that we had this random character change.
I loved the way in which this book was divided into different parts. Each part was like it's own adventure to achieve something different. I liked that there was still things to learn about Elisa in this book, some of which took me by surprise.
A great trilogy full of diverse characters, magic, adventure and story which shows that there is a range of ways to fall in love. But most importantly it's about finding the yourself, your place in the world and the power we all have within.
