By Rae Carson, 424 pages
Elisa has always lived in the shadow of her older sister. Plain, overweight, not talented or particularly interesting, she would be content to hide from the world if only it weren't for that pesky gemstone that was embedded in her navel that marks her as the chosen one. On her sixteenth birthday, life changes rapidly as she marries the king of a neighboring country and becomes queen in her own right. Sort of. Things are odd in her new home and not only does she struggle to figure out where she fits in, she starts feeling as though major things have been kept from her throughout her life. Dangerous things. But before she is able to make sense of the discomforting clues surrounding her, she is kidnapped and her life turns upside down. Now Elisa has to make her own choices and her own loyalties, the time for hiding is over.
I'm sorry to say it, but I really do not see what all the hype is about this book. I think it is an interesting idea, but I feel as though the story falls short. Some parts just make no sense to me, like how a child marked at birth as the chosen one receives no training from her royal family. Or how everyone around her can keep so much from her and then send her away without even attempting to explain things. The character development got me too, at the beginning it is extensive and I felt connected to Elisa, but as the story progressed I felt like less time was spent on that and more on just getting to the end. At one point, Elisa has a major life loss but the author only spends about half a page on her reaction, I had to go back and re-read thinking I had skipped several pages. I definitely think the story has potential, I just hope that more care is taken with the upcoming series.
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