Book Review: The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doue

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Title: The Firethorn Crown

Author: Lea Doue

Series: Firethorn Chronicles #1

Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Retelling

Audience: Young Adult

ABOUT THE BOOK

Princess Lily, the eldest of twelve sisters and heir to a mighty kingdom, desperately seeks a break from her mother's matchmaking. Tradition forbids marriage with the man Lily loves, so she would rather rule alone than marry someone who only wants the crown.

Fleeing an overzealous suitor, Lily stumbles into a secret underground kingdom where she and her sisters encounter a mysterious sorcerer-prince and become entangled in a curse that threatens the safety of her family and her people. Lily can free them, but the price for freedom may be more than she's willing to pay.

The Firethorn Crown, a re-imagining of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," is the first in the Firethorn Chronicles, a series of stand-alone novels inspired by fairy tales and other stories. Follow the sisters on their adventures in a land where sorcery is feared, women can rule, and dragons fly.

~ MY REVIEW ~

**5 stars**

Eeeeeee! I loved it! SO MUCH!

You all know how much I love retellings of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, right? Well, I realized I've read eight retellings of this classic fairy tale, and The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doue definitely ranks as one of my favorites. (It actually reminded me somewhat of Entwined by Heather Dixon, which is my favorite The Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling fairy tale of all time!)

Lily is the crown princess of Ituria, a land filled with dragons (big and small), overeager suitors, eleven younger sisters, and sometimes, unfortunately, ... sorcery. In hopes of evading a particularly annoying admirer, Lily and her sisters stumble into a dark trap that not only threatens their entire kingdom, but also further ensures that Lily cannot marry the secret love of her heart.

Fantasy mixed with fairy tale is perfection. Dragons and princesses? Excitement, action, and tender romance? Yes, please! ^_^ I loved the fantastical kingdom of Ituria and the twelve endearing sisters! Lily was sweet and brave and lovely ... trying to do the right thing amidst brutal circumstances. She does her best to be strong, and also realizes that oftentimes we need our family and friends to stand alongside us. All the younger sisters were interesting and humorous and cute. I just adore tales like this! One of the reasons I love The Twelve Dancing Princesses so much must be because of all those sisters! (I'm an eldest sister myself ... have four younger sisters.) So yes, I just related to Lily in some ways and loved her character!

In fact, all the characters in The Firethorn Crown were delightful! Excepting the villain and some of the overeager admirers, that is. Three young men in particular, (you'll know who they are) were completely lovable and perfect and endearing and sweet and strong and protective! *all the heart eyes* I love these big brotherly characters who care so tenderly for the twelve sisters! It simply delights my heart.

Yes, yes. Can't say enough for these lovely fictional peoples. Fantastic job, Lea Doue, in your character-creating and world building! I was swept away ... kept on the edge of my seat ... intrigued and breathless ... muchly concerned for my dear characters ... and finally, satisfied and happy! ^_^ And, I had to chuckle many a time! *grins*

There was no Christian allegory/symbolism to speak of, but Lea Doue is a Christian and I felt there weren't any elements to be concerned about in her book. Besides some edgy gowns that the sisters are forced to wear, and sorcery being wielded by the villain (who also gets a little too close to Lily—but no kissing), I have no other cautions. I would recommend to middle to older teens and adults who enjoy this type of book.

I am utterly intrigued by this tale, and can't wait to continue the FIRETHORN CHRONICLES with The Midsummer Captives!

Lea Doue, you offically have another fan! Thank you for writing such amazing fairy tale stories!

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2

 

My Review (4 stars):

     As you may know, I loved How to Train Your Dragon (2013). It had just the right amount of humor, sweetness, action, and poignant lessons to make it delightfully fun, and also touching. However, How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) was a little different. Or a lot. It had a much darker theme. There was a tragic incident. A shocking revelation. An army of dragons. A brutal beast. It was definitely a big step up from the first movie, making me caution younger children who may have been fine watching How to Train Your Dragon (2013). The second one has much more violent/scary scenes and happenings.

     Another thing, is the... hmmm, hypnotic stuff that goes on. I was a little bit leery of that. It was just creepy. But since it was dragon to dragon, no people involved, it wasn't too terribly bad. It was hard to watch a sweet dragon go wild though! You'll know what I mean when you watch it, or if you have watched it already.

     Yeah, and one of the twins, the girl, has quite changed. I could have done without her boy-craziness.

     And sad, it was so sad!! Still reeling over the tragic-ness in this tale, *sniff*!!

     On the flip side, I really liked the older Hiccup, and how he was finally a man, and how he was pursuing Astrid, instead of seemingly the other way around. Their relationship was just too cute, :) Not to mention, the other relationship in this movie was so, so sweet. Truly probably the best romance I've seen in an animated movie! :) That's why its so sad... well, never mind.

     So How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) still had its humorous moments, its sweet parts, but overall, it was much darker, and for a bit more mature audience than the first. There was some really good lessons too, a cool storyline. I enjoyed it, but not as much as How to Train Your Dragon (2013).