I decided to finally read The Girl of Fire and Thorns (There was no good reason I had not read it already, it just had not made it to the top of any piles yet.) because it was recommended on a blog celebrating The Queen's Thief Week, in celebration of the series by Megan Whalen Turner. This is a series I also came to late in the game, and LOVED and want to read again! (In my defense, there are a lot of good books in the world and despite my best efforts, I cannot read them all. And I do not want to limit myself to one genre in order to be a completist in that area. )
Yes, after having read The Girl of Fire and Thorns I can understand why The Thief fans would recommend it. There is a lot of the same kind of political intrigue and machinations in both books. The main characters, while female and male respectively are also similar. The are not however tediously similar. The Girl is original with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Elisa is the current bearer, only one is chosen every century, with a Godstone in her naval. Despite knowing some of the history of other bearers, Elisa does not know what her great work will be. Once she marries her path becomes more clear.
Elisa is a fully formed character with flaws, foibles, and strengths. Despite the fantasy elements of the book, all the characters are believable and engaging. The story moves quickly and does not feel like the first of a trilogy. Though I am glad we will have more of Elisa in the next two books, I am satisfied with the completeness of the first.
