The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

I think it will suffice to say that this is the continuation of The Girl of Fire and Thorns and is a significant improvement. I almost feel like I was too harsh in my review of the first book. But, I believe I have found the source of my discontent with the first book! It's simply a flawed decoy (and when I say 'flawed' I just mean that it could use some improvement). It seems to me that Rae Carson had everything planned out from the beginning but needed certain bits to have the story make sense. For example, the king. She couldn't exactly kill him off in the beginning--it just wouldn't work. But she truly intended for Elisa to be queen all along. Her love interest was also a decoy (unfortunately making her feelings come across as totally fake). Splendidly, it turns out that Carson does not, in fact, have difficulty portraying true emotions (at least, she doesn't seem to). So! This is a must read. But, be warned: there is a horrible cliff hanger and the next book doesn't come out until some time in 2013. Which could be December for all I know. (How do I get myself into these situations?).