This reminds me of bands like Red, Skillet, Flyleaf or (early) Evanescence. Christian bands that have had crossover, mainstream hits, probably becauseThis reminds me of bands like Red, Skillet, Flyleaf or (early) Evanescence. Christian bands that have had crossover, mainstream hits, probably because their inspirational lyrics are watered down just enough to appeal to even the most religion-averse music lover. (I've got several songs from all of these bands on the trusty iPod.)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns reads like an inspirational (Christian) fantasy novel where the preachy aspects of the narrative have been watered down just enough to appeal to mainstream readers. Most mainstream readers.
Even though the religion is diluted, there's still too much of it for me.
First, let's look at the what I liked about The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Carson's writing is lovely, clear and engaging. The world building, though the standard pre-industrial fantasy setting, draws its influences from Spanish/Hispanic culture and does it well. In other words, the use of Hispanic culture feels authentic, and not simply an appropriation of a few Spanish words to give the story a faux Latin flavor.
When she's not whining about being fat, or praying, Elisa, the protagonist is often smart, brave and capable. Thanks to a fascination with a book, Belleza Guerra, which is basically The Art of War, she's got a good head for strategy. When...she's not whinging about fat/food or, ugh, praying. And praying. And praying.
As I noted above, although there's no mention of it in the description or blurbs, The Girl of Fire and Thorns has strong Christian (Catholic?) religious undertones. I'm not at all averse to reading about religious characters. What puts me off is when the the story has a religious message. Obviously, if Christian rock bands get play on my iPod, I can ignore or re-purpose the message to suit my own biases. I couldn't, however, do that with this novel.
Religion drives the plot. Elisa is the chosen bearer of the Godstone, a literal stone placed in her bellybutton at birth by her god almighty. (Seems like that would be a tad uncomfortable.) She is destined to someday do some great act of service (read: sacrifice) for her lord/people. Except, she's fat and feels unworthy of the "honor." (Meh. Some honor. Possible suffering and death, ahead. Yay?)
Like most readers, I appreciated the fact that she wasn't a willowy thin YA cliche. Unfortunately, she never gets to a place where she accepts herself for...herself. Instead, she loses weight along the literal journey and only then, as a thinner and now "acceptable" girl, steps up and accepts her destiny, blah-blah-blah.
But...the religion. Anyway, Elisa is the chosen one, and consequently very devout, spending most of her time reading and re-reading the Scriptura Sancta (aka The Bible). She often quotes from the Scriptura Sancta, and it's obvious, even to my heathen self, that what's she's quoting are slightly revised Biblical scriptures. As with Christianity, there are religious schisms (denominations) based on interpretation of their holy book. As with Christianity, their god doesn't do much except answer the occasional prayer and only if they pray really, really hard. And really, really, really have faith. For example, at one point, the Godstone is literally freezing Elisa and the only way she can get warm is to pray constantly. How do you do that, anyway? A constant, running mantra like, "Dear god, make me warm"? I pictured her making that squinched-up, constipated televangelist, praying-really-hard face.
Would the religion-driven plot have annoyed me if the characters worshiped dragons instead of a one god? Probably not. (I'd worship the hell out of a dragon god.) But the crux of the issue is that the story seemed to be pushing the standard message: "Trust in god; he will provide, etc., etc., etc." Even at the end, Elisa doesn't prevail over the antagonist with her own wits, but instead by...wait for it...praying really hard and quoting more scripture.
Maybe I could have ignored the spiritual aspects of the story if I cared about the characters, or Elisa's various romantic interests. Or if the antagonist was interesting. But, I didn't care. And so, I reached the 70-percent mark, skimmed a bit to the end, and said, "Screw it, my TBR pile is too tall. It's god's will that I DoNotFinish this sucker." ;P...more
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