The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

From GoodReads:

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.

I read this directly on the heels of Obsidian which made it difficult not to compare the two. Both are YA novels with female protagonists and some elements of the supernatural. However, while Obsidian was much like a shallow play pool, The Girl of Fire and Thorns is more like a great lake complete with character growth, strong female characters and depth of plot.

Elisa, the heroine, goes from a soft, naive princess to a queenly, confident leader of her country. And she does it by saving herself and others time and again, not by relying on the arm of a flawless love interest to save her. There ARE love interests, of course (3 of them!) but they are imperfect, human and more of a side note to Elisa's story rather than the focus of it. I realized halfway through that I didn't particularly care who she does or doesn't end up with. I'm just on Team Elisa and that's what matters.

Also, I appreciated that this book didn't end on a cliffhanger. Series authors so often feel the need to leave readers hanging on the edge of their seats by their fingernails but this one wrapped up nicely so that you could easily read just the one and feel happy with the story. If, however, you fell in love with the characters and the world that Rae Carson created, you may continue onward.

I'm third in line at the library for Book 2. READ FASTER PEOPLE.