Stolen Songbird

By: Danielle L. Jensen

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 stars

Summary:

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

My Thoughts

I needed a full 24 hours after reading this book before I could pick up another one. I needed a cathartic relief because I was enthralled by Trollus and wanted to be there. I wanted to live in this world, I wanted this to happen to me. And when I think about it all I want to do is to read it all over again. It is a mix between two of my favorite fantasy novels Crown Duel and The Hollow Kingdom (review to come shortly) and I loved every moment of it. I can say that it is perhaps the best modern fantasy that I have yet read. Jensen's world building was wonderfully done and she did it all without getting bogged down into the details as she introduced us into this new world. I could gush for a really long time...

I love Cecile. She is smart, strong and a wonderful heroine. She can be funny, and while thrown into a world roiling with dangerous politics she can hold her own. And Tristan...I love him. I just want them to communicate more. But, well communication is everyone's problem and it furthered the plot well. I loved the other Troll characters - the twins Vincent and Victoria and Merc, the first troll you meat. I love their distinct and fully formed personalities. I love the politics and the secrets and the schemings.

Even the villains are well thought out nd developed so that they have decent motivations and we as the readers can know them. One thing that I wish I could have seen more of was (Spoiler highlight to see) the use of the bonding magic. In the world when two trolls are bonded they can feel what the other is feeling, and so Cecile and Tristan can feel each others emotions - including things like pain and hunger - I just wish that she had used more of this wonderfully amazing idea. (Spoiler done)

The biggest drawback is that the next one doesn't come out until June 2nd...I will be counting the days.