Review : Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy #1)
Author : Danielle L. Jensen
Publication Date : April 1st 2014
Publisher : Strange Chemistry
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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.

Personal Thoughts

Stolen Songbird was a wonderfully written tale with a complex world and fabulous characters that I grew a bond with throughout the book. It's YA fantasy at its finest and Danielle L. Jensen is a force to be reckoned in the genre.

Cecile, a human girl, is kidnapped and taken to a hidden troll city, where she learns that she has been brought to marry the troll prince in order to break a curse. Cecile was a delightful main character who immediately caught my attention. She is sassy, brave and not afraid to fight whatever the trolls have in store for her. While she could be reckless at times, she also felt genuine to me and there's no doubt that she's going to be one of my all-time favorite characters. Her relationship with Tristan, the troll prince, was most probably the highlight of the book for me. They disliked each other quite strongly since their first meeting, so you get plenty of hilarious banter between the two of them which is of course, filled with sexual tension and I think everyone knows how much I enjoy those kinds of relationships. However, as much as I loved the romance, I did think the declarations of love came a little too fast for my liking. Tristan was a little hard to figure out at first. Sure he was an arrogant ass, but he also cloaked himself in so many secrets and wasn't the most extroverted guy. He preferred to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself which made it hard for me to gauge him, but throughout the book, we get chapters from his POV and he slowly begins to open to the readers. There's still a lot to learn about his character and I'm looking forward to having more reading time with him in the next book of the series.

Stolen Songbird also has an impressive cast of secondary characters. The main villain of the story, Tristan's father and the troll King, was evil incarnate. I thought he was a pretty interesting villain without being over the top or cliched. What makes Stolen Songbird a strong YA fantasy book though has to be the gorgeous and almost enchanting world-building. I loved learning about the lives of the trolls and the dark caves setting was highly atmospheric. You've got trolls, magic, witches and spells, so of course the book was entertaining. My only complaint when it comes to Stolen Songbird will have to be the length of the novel. I do feel like a huge chunk in the middle of the book could have been condensed because for a while, the plot does lose its momentum, but it eventually does pick up with full speed. Plus, Danielle Jensen's writing was absolutely gorgeous, so it was hard to hold a grudge against the book for it's rather slow middle. Also, there's a bit of a cliffhanger which could be considered painful, but I think the wait for the next book is going to be worth the while.

YA fantasy fans, don't miss out on this gem  of a book. It's engaging, entertaining and all sorts of wonderful.

Rating
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5