Stolen Songbird Review

I think this qualifies as a guilty pleasure.  I say this because, while reading, I had this little voice in the back of my head saying, That's pretty lurid! That's sort of cheesy. That's just indulgent! — but I DIDN'T CARE! I ate it all up! And it was delicious.

That's pretty lurid!

Our heroine, Cecile, is kidnapped and dragged off to become the bride of the Prince of the Trolls!  There might or might not be hair-dragging involved.  I mean, come on.  This plot device is, to be nice, "classic."  To be not nice, "cliche." But, it's well-used for a reason!  I was on the edge of my seat!

Behind this abduction is the King of the Trolls — a spine-chillingly evil character who plots and connives and has a truly unusual wife.  He was a top-tier villain.

That's sort of cheesy.

Of course, Cecile's husband-to-be winds up being a dreamboat! But wait, you ask. Are not trolls supposed to be grotesque?  Exactly, reader.  Exactly.  Don't worry.  Jensen has an answer for this question. (Slowly revealed and epic in scope.)

Her new husband, Tristan, is a romantic hero, like his name suggests. He's moody and mysterious, and has a whole hoard of secrets that he keeps close to the chest.  When he first meets Cecile, they fight like cats and dogs, which is hugely entertaining.  But there is a reason for his coldness, oh yes, there is a reason.

That's just indulgent!

Despite their best efforts not to, the two kids fall in love. (Duh.) And Cecile becomes tangled up in the court intrigue that Tristan is embroiled in.  See, the trolls have interbred with humans, and the diluted offspring are essentially the troll's slaves.  The trolls and their children-turned-servants all live crammed together under the earth, simmering, because a witch's curse has made it impossible for them to leave! But could Cecile be the key to the trolls' escape???

but I DIDN'T CARE!

This story is lurid and cheesy and indulgent in the same manner that The Princess Bride is lurid and cheesy and indulgent.  It is a fantasy and delights in being so.  I mean, we have a goatee-stroking villain, an abducted maiden, a dashing prince, a terrible curse, white-hot magic, possible rebellion, and true love! Now that is a recipe for awes

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was — to put it simply — magical.  I give it 5 north stars.