Book Review: Stolen Songbird; Danielle L. Jensen.

Oh my goodness. I knew I would get this book finished because frankly, I could not put it down! I have been itching to turn the last page and get to write down some of these excited thoughts I've had spinning through my head on this book, because it really was that good. As well as that, it was in fact one of my challenge entries. I'll be using it for the 'Jumble Your Genres' challenge, as this month's Genre is High Fantasy. The button for that is at the bottom of this review.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Stolen Songbird
AUTHOR: Danielle L. Jensen
SERIES: The Malediction Trilogy (#1)
PUBLISHER: Strange Chemistry
PAGES: 321
GENRE: Young Adult, High Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

RATING: 5/5 Stars

Blurb:

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.

What I Liked:

• Now where on Earth do I begin with this book? I liked so much! Let's go with Jensen's take on Trolls. I have only seen two common interpretations of Trolls in the past: the huge great, stupid beasts you find in 'The Lord Of The Rings' or 'Harry Potter', or the cuddly ones found in the newest Disney film, 'Frozen'. Jensen's thoughts on trolls are very different. They're clever, powerful and some of them are even handsome. I liked that they were very other-worldly in their thoughts, and yet retained some recognisable human-like qualities that made them complex and well-written creatures. In fact, the entire Political System that Jensen built within her book was both original and relateable in all the ways that I liked.
• Next, the characters! I came onto this book thinking that I might not like Cécile, but I found that I really did! She was a strong Main Character, independent and not to be told what to do. On the other side of the coin, she was caring, fiercely loyal, and not heartless as can be found when Authors try to hard to create strong women, and end up making them heartless. She acted believably, I don't think I found any signs of reckless character decisions from this lady! The characters that supported her were memorable and I grew a great affection for them all. I'm the kind of reader that gets attached to characters, and here I really did. I can't believe I'm going to have to wait so long to see them all again!
• The romance was fantastic. It is so hard to find books with a well-written love story. I've often found that the two romantic leads will either fall in love as soon as they clap eyes on each other and become ridiculous, or the romance will be so slow-burning that I'll get easily bored of them. Here though, I found the pacing of the relationship to be hilarious. Their utter loathing of each other and their situation to begin with is hilarious. Seriously, these two have some great moments, particularly Tristan, whose sarcastic sense of humour is a riot to read. But I loved watching their romance develop as well as it did, and the changes they both undergo as a result.

What I Disliked:

• What I disliked? That's pretty tough to answer. However, I suppose I would have to say the ending! I can't believe Jensen has left me on such a cruel and heart-wrenching cliffhanger. I had such a tantrum! I have to wait so long for the next one to come out. In all seriousness though, my one tiny nit-pick is the ending felt the teeniest bit rushed in comparison to the rest of the book, which was paced perfectly. That is me clutching at straws to find something though.

Overall Conclusion:

I think I've made it pretty clear what I'm going to write here. This book is so amazing. I love the cover, love the world-building, the characters, the romance, everything! I eagerly await the next one so I can find out what happens because I am absolutely desperate to know and I think I'm going to be waiting a very long time. If you haven't already, read it.