"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, and 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 her to be 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’ssavior, 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."
Now, based on this introduction it is likely that you are thinking (as I did) that this must be a terribly predictable and cheesy book. I am happily able to say that it is not, in fact, as terribly cheesy and predictable as I thought it was going to be. Yes, she is still this unoriginal-sounding 'chosen one', but at least there's the option of failure (unlike with most of these 'chosen one' stories) based on the numerous failings of her predecessors. I can also happily say that Elisa is not beautiful. Well, rather the commonly held image of feminine beauty. To be more specific, she is very, very overweight. Which, although admirably feminist of the author, is unfortunately not entirely logical. Personally, if my daughter were the 'chosen one', most of whom are doomed to terribly ugly deaths, I would at least make sure that she were able walk around and preferably be able to run. It strikes me as a glaring error. Additionally, I was bothered by her lack of reaction to one of the deaths that takes place in the book. You can say as many times as you like that a character is in mourning, but if you don't reflect that in their actions then it's entirely impossible to believe. I also had a problem with her husband. I just could not figure him out. He comes off as this extremely kind, noble gentleman but some of the things he does don't match up at ALL. I found him incredibly irritating and could not stand Elisa's reactions to him. I have absolutely no idea what kind of a person he was supposed to be; a jerk or a misguided victim? Am I supposed to hate him or feel bad for him? It drove me crazy! In fact, I think this might be the only book I've read in which a character just doesn't make sense. Usually the problem is unoriginality, not contradictions! I'm just at a loss. Anyway, moving on.
I'm probably making this sound like a horrible book, but it's really not. I really did enjoy the book and appreciated that it wasn't COMPLETELY predictable--though that might just be due to how predictable Hero's Song was... I might end up reading the next book, but it all really depends on the first few chapters. We shall see.
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