The Empire of Dreams audiobook

It's official, after all this time, I still love Rae Carson's writing.Red was wonderful. I can't believe that she's the same little slave girl that we met in The Bitter Kingdom. She has really come into her own and developed into such a strong character.Rosario has also grown into his own. And newcomer Ivan was a great addition.I also really enjoyed the entire cast. All the boys were great. They each had such unique personalities and worked so well together.Also, Valentino is too good for this world. Too pure. I wanted more of him because he is easily the best, most honorable human.  He kind of reminds me of Hector.I don't know what I necessarily expected from this story but I was pleasantly surprised with what I got. The plot is filled with action and intrigue and really great characters.And the plot twists????I mean, I was able to figure them out about halfway through, but I still enjoyed them.Admittedly, I did sometimes feel odd about the plot. Like the dangers didn't feel as imminent and personal as they did with Elisa's story. Still, near the end, I was completely invested in all the action and deceptions that were happening. And yet, I still do wish that the climax of the story had been extended. It felt as though it was all resolved fairly quickly and easily.My other complaint is the lack of Elisa and Hector. And it's more than just me missing them as characters. It's the fact that sending them away is the only reason that much of the book takes place. They are removed from the story as a plot convenience and every time there was an obstacle, Red herself would point out that this wouldn't happen with Elisa and Hector around.But, I understand why they weren't in the story. It would be very difficult for Red to have her spotlight with the previous heroes constantly lingering in the background and saving the day.In the end, I really enjoyed this book. It's advertised as a stand-alone/ companion novel, but I don't know how I feel about that. While it can definitely be read by itself, there would be a lot of storytelling and worldbuilding missing without reading the other books in the series. That said, if you enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, I totally recommend this one!**I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**Follow Me Here Too: My Blog || Twitter || Bloglovin' || Instagram || Tumblr || Pinterest

This is an absolute jewel of a book, a twisty, treacherous story that will keep you turning pages until the end. Tamora Pierce fans--come runnin! You won't be disappointed.

Loved it.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart The Girl of Fire and Thorns series was originally a trilogy but the fans really wanted to know what became of Red Sparklestone and check in on Elisa and Hector to see how they are doing.  I know I also really wanted to know as well, since Hector is one of my favorite male love interests in YA and I think the entire series is underrated, meaning I was totally onboard for another story set in this world.Red, a former slave and half Invierne, has been an unofficial part of Hector and Elisa’s family for years now.  It was all about to become completely official when they adopted her.  However, someone or someones doesn’t want the adoption to happen and blocked it at the last minute.  There is still a lot of anger over the war with the Inviernos and many do not like the treaties and trade Elisa is trying to build with them.  After the adoption is blocked, Red must find a new path, maybe one that fits her even better.  She becomes the first female recruit in the Royal Guard.When Elisa and Hector leave the city to visit Alodia and Storm, it becomes clear that the 'someones' who blocked the adoption might have other plans as well and it is up to Red, Rosario and a few recruits to find out who is behind it and thwart their plans.  Since I’d read the initial series, I had a good idea of who was behind it but it was still great to read how things played out.I enjoyed making my way back through this world again.  Rosario has grown into a great and solid young man and seeing the life and family Elisa and Hector have made was so sweet.  Red is a fun character to follow and I really liked how she became part of the team and eventually figured out how to win over the rest of the recruits.Since Hector and Elisa had to leave to make this story possible, I missed seeing more of them but Red, Iván and Rosario did a great job carrying the story. “The list of things that were a better father to you than King Alejandro is very long. Like the plague, which at least shows up once in a while.”I round on Iván, ready to lay into him, but I hear Rosario chuckle.“And the list of things less traitorous than your father is equally long,” Rosario says. “Like a mosquito, which will stab you in the back only once.” I do wonder if The Empire of Dreams will be the final final book in the series or if we will get more time with Red and her new guard in the future.   I like all the new friends and frenemy that Red has made and would enjoy future stories involving them.  While this is the beginning of a new set of characters' story line, I think you need to have read all the prior books to really enjoy it properly. Narration: Kyla Garcia is a new narrator to this series.  Her voice fits the younger Red and Rosario well and I like how she presented the story.  I listened to this at my normal 1.5x speed.Listen to a clip:https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio_us...

Definitely more of a 3.5. I was so so excited when this book was announced because Girl of Fire and Thorns is one of my favorite YA trilogies from the earliest days of my blogging and I have a lot of nostalgia associated with it. But I did lose track of it among my numerous ARCs, other new releases and a reading slump, but I’m glad that I finally got around to it. I can’t tell you how happy I was to be back in this world. The author does mention in an interview that this can be read as a standalone but I truly can’t comment on that, because my experience is completely tied up in the knowledge I come with while starting the book. It’s been almost three years, but I immediately felt familiar and could recollect all the important things that had happened in the trilogy as well as the important characters, so that I dove head first into this new story. I thought the author did a great job showing us how much and how little the world/court has changed over the years, giving us a sense of what happens after a rebellion ends and the rulers take major decisions. Maybe because this is a standalone, I felt like it had lesser stakes (though it does get serious eventually) and that’s why it didn’t give me enough tension filled moments which I naturally expected. Most of the plot is the training of the Royal Guard which has some great scenes, but it felt very much like a slice of life story rather than a fantasy for a huge part of it. We also get two different timelines, with the past timeline recounting the history of the main character before we met her in The Bitter Kingdom, and while it was very helpful in giving us a better understanding of the character, I felt that it really created a disconnect and took attention away from the much more interesting present timeline. I only remember Red as the little girl Elisa saved in the finale, and it was exciting to see more of her story. She has a lot of trauma from her childhood and I appreciated knowing that the ptsd representation in the book is modeled after the author’s own personal experiences. Red’s startle reflex and her trust issues are a major part of her as a person and they are due to her past, but she is also protective of those she loves and is such a genuine human being who wants to do good. Even when she is competing with the other recruits for her position in the Guard, she treats everyone well despite getting pushback and even helps them all in their training because she believes in them. I really liked her as a character and I thought the author depicted the nuances of her having a certain amount of privilege while also being surrounded by people who are prejudiced against her, in a very interesting manner. I think the best part of the book are the various relationships Red has or forms with the various side characters. Though we get most amount of page time with Ivan, I also really loved the characters of Aldo, Pedrón, the Arturos, Itzal, Valentino and many of the other recruits. The trust they all develop between each other is beautiful to watch and its only because of them that the very easy and rushed climax even works, though not entirely convincingly. And it was such a joy to meet my favorite couple Elisa and Hector again along with the glimpses we get of Mara and Rosario. I felt that the themes the author dealt with in this book were very thoughtful. The main one is obviously about a woman trying to make it in an all male profession, and it comes with the usual comments about a beautiful woman being a distraction or not being strong enough to be a guard and complete the training. But through Red, we see how competence will be rewarded eventually but the author also ensures that Red stands her ground most of the times, and doesn’t let anyone get away with making misogynistic and sexist comments. The other main theme is trust - how much trust and respect plays a main role when a group of people have to work together, despite their class differences or other prejudices. But the one that really left an impression on me was about countries and treaties and people - how the leaders of enemy countries might come to a compromise for the sake of the betterment of their people, but it’s not easy to change the minds of the people whose minds are full of prejudice against each other. And that sometimes, the leaders just have to model inclusive behavior and keep at it, with the hope that people will realize the futility of being at odds in the long term. To conclude, I think this is a fun addition to the original trilogy but I definitely enjoyed it more because of my love for the world. It has good characters and great friendships and I’m actually happy that none turned into a romance. You should definitely check it out if you love Girl of Fire and Thorns like me, and if you haven’t read the trilogy, please pick it up immediately because it’s absolutely wonderful.

You can find this review on my blog Shades of Paper. The girl wanted to be a bird. She would spread her wings and fly far away. It would be effortless, so different from this icy trudging.” Okay, I admit I was so excited about this book. Despite having only read the first installment in her original series, I wanted to pick it up because I believed this book was a spin-off of said series and you didn’t need to read the OG Fire and Thorns trilogy, but after falling completely in love with this one I for sure will be continuing with that series.Something that I loved about this book was the world building. I think having read the first book of the original Fire and Thorns trilogy gave me a little bit of knowledge of what this world was about, but I still think she did an amazing job at describing this world for new readers. There were some things that I didn’t remember after many years of being apart from this world, and some new things that I discovered in this installment that made me fall in love with it. However, I think that if you aren’t familiar with the books, it might be a bit confusing when it came to the magic system, because it wasn’t really explained in this book (maybe it will be in the sequel), though it was an important focus of the story.But what really made this book shine were the characters. I think though it had an interesting plot and that it was pretty well done, what really stood out to me where the cast of characters. I feel this was more a character driven type of story, and the sequel will be more focused on the plot, but honestly I don’t really care because I for sure will be picking it up.Our protagonist was absolutely fantastic. She was so well written and had such an interesting and complex arc. The story was told from her POV but in two different timelines, so while you were reading about her present time in the academy, you also knew little snippets about her former life, and wow, it wasn’t it heartbreaking and sad! I admit I cried multiple times while reading this book, mostly because of everything done to her while being a child, but also I admired the person she became and her evolution. I guess I want my legacy to be more than a pile of ashen bones.” Another thing I really enjoyed was that it had actual functional family relationship. Though it wasn’t super explored, you could clearly see not only how much Red cared for her adoptive family, but also how much Elisa and Hector loved her, and that was something that made my heart warm and fuzzy.Not only that but I also really enjoyed the little friendships formed throughout the story. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no romance in this book (though I’m pretty sure there will be in the next installments), but I was pretty happy to see really complex and well written m/f friendships, which I don’t usually come across.However, I had a teeny tiny issue with Empire of Dreams, and that was the ending. It was a bit rushed and there were certain things that happened quite conveniently, and there were some revelations that were a bit predictable, and I would have loved to see them done differently.Overall, I adored Empire of Dreams, and totally fell in love with the story and the characters. Not only it had an interesting plot, but the cast of characters were so well written and complex, and I loved the relationships developed throughout the novel.I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This doesn’t change my opinion whatsoever. All thoughts are my own.Actual rating: 4.75 ★Thank you HarperCollins and Greenwillow Books for the ARC.Blog | Twitter | Instagram | BlogLovin’

Full review coming soon, but I LOVED it. (I got an e-galley from EpicReads Insiders)

It's was so wonderful to be back in this world! As much as I loved the romance between Elisa and Hector in the original series, it was refreshing to discover that Red, now 17-years old, wouldn't have any romantic entanglements in this standalone companion. Instead she had really solid, nuanced friendships with the men in the story, including Hector and Rosario, who long-time Carson fans will remember from the original series, and her fellow Royal Guard recruits. I can't wait to go back and reread the original trilogy!

Elisa's story holds a special place in my heart. That trilogy (and short stories) are among my favorite fantasies as they combined everything I love about fantasy into one series.So yes of course I was excited for this book. A revisit to characters of my heart? A broadening of a world I adore? Sign me up!What I didn't expect was a novel that while its a wonderful sequel to Elisa's adventures is almost perfect on its own.I won't deny that having some knowledge of the world didn't help me, nor that knowing some of the characters already didn't give me an idea of what to expect at times. Here's the thing - this is not Elisa's story. Nor Mara's or Hector's. This is squarely Red's with back up from Rosario.This is also not a "new generation same story" situation. Red's troubles, trials and tribulations are uniquely her own. Unlike Elisa who made and found friends fairly easily, Red is despised just by being in the same room. She's not sweet tempered or patient; she's rocky and brash, having to learn how to accept help from others.There's a mystery brewing throughout that is well sewn. Carson has always excelled at weaving necessary plot information in a genuine way. The "Then" chapters, detailing Red's life up to that fateful meeting with Elisa give us a good guide as to why she's acting as she does. Carson offers a short explanation about PTSD in her author's note as well.They did detract from the onward motion of the plot at times. Red relays some of her history in the story itself (as context) so occassionally it felt repetitive to have read it twice.All in all I'd love to see more of Red as she continued her journey, but I'm just happy to have this one.

I really, really liked, among other things, that the main character was an atheist. We don’t see that enough in YA. Surprisingly this doesn’t have any romance, but it’s a quick and entertaining read, reminding me somewhat of a (less clever) Megan Whalen Turner book. Plus: HECTOR.

I was so excited to jump back into the world of Rae Carson’s, “Girl of Fire and Thorns” world. This new standalone follows Red, no longer young orphan she used to be when we last left her. She has grown into her own and is done being told what her future will be. She decides to enlist in the Royal Guard where she believes she can make something of herself.Being a tomboy myself I really loved all the training and physical obstacles that Red had to tackle being the only woman in the first year guard. What she lacked in strength and size, she made up for in Intellect and skill. The camaraderie she built with the other male soldiers and their individual personalities made this book really special. There isn’t any romance in the book but honestly it was still entertaining and made me want to keep going and coming back!I would highly recommend reading the whole Fire and Thorns trilogy even if you can read this one alone. There are so many character mentions and a large political backdrop that you will miss if you don’t. I hope we get more story because this standalone leaves a lot open to be explored.An excellent book choice that I might have missed out on if not for my @litjoycrate book only subscription.

i loved books 1-3 and definitely enjoyed Red's story. for anyone who loves strong young women to find their way against rough odds and fantasy. good stuff.

This book is nothing that hasn't been done before in YA fantasy but I haven't had a good time reading something in a while and this hooked me in.