Review: Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen

Title: Stolen Songbird

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Series: The Malediction Trilogy #1

My Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Magic

Publication: April 1st 2014 by Strange Chemistry

Format Read: Paperback, purchased

Goodreads/Amazon/Book Depository

Description from Goodreads

For those who have loved Seraphina and Graceling comes another truly fabulous fantasy...

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 Review

I've been taking a break from fantasy books, and after reading Stolen Songbird I realized how much I miss the genre and why I love it so much! This book has been on my wish-list ever since it got published; I've read a lot of good reviews about it, and I'm so glad I finally decided to read it.

So, let's talk about Stolen Songbird. This novel is about Cecile, a girl who has been training to become a singer ever since she was a child. When she turned 17 she was ready to move to the city and finally sing on stage, but unfortunately that didn't happen; Cecile ended up being kidnapped by trolls and got trapped into a world full of wonders and magic.

I have never read anything about trolls before, and because of that I thought Stolen Songbird was very refreshing. The world building was solid and I was captivated by Trollus, the lost city of trolls; whenever I imagined it in my head, I couldn't help but see the Walls of Moria from The Lord of The Rings. And because I love LOTR, it's hard for me not to like Stolen Songbird. The trolls themselves were very interesting creatures, and I found myself engaged with their magic, politics and society.

I liked Cecile as the main character, even though she wasn't the kick-ass type of girl. It took her a while to accept that there was no escaping from Trollus, and as the story progressed we saw her act foolishly most of the times. But I didn't find her annoying at all, in fact I thought that all the feelings she went through were completely understandable. And I felt for her because she was just this fragile, little human among the deceitful and scary trolls who wanted to rule the world.

The romance was one of my favorite aspects of this book. Tristan was well, swoon *fans self*. He acted all cold and indifferent, but in the inside he was a kindhearted person, troll I mean.

I loved almost everything about this book. The only negative thing I have to point out is that I thought the author dragged the story out, but nevertheless I truly enjoyed reading Stolen Songbird. The writing was so beautiful, there is giddy romance and the world was just captivating. And the cliff-hanger at the end! I'm so keen for the sequel!