Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen

Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
Series: The Malediction Trilogy #1
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Publication Date: April 1st 2014
Source: Netgalley [Publisher]

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.

First of all, I just have to say that Stolen Songbird is one of the best (and quite possibly the best) fantasy novel that I've ever read. Ever since I heard about this one last year, I've been looking forward to it. So when I came across it on Netgalley one day I just had to request it and I'd just like to say a massive thank you to Strange Chemistry for accepting my request.

Stolen Songbird is one of the most unique fantasy novels I've ever read, mostly because it's about Trolls. Now, trolls aren't something I've read a lot about (in fact, other than this book, I've only read one other troll series) but this was by far the best. It had all the things I love in fantasy books: magic, mythology and amazing world building. But, hands down, my favourite element of this book was the trolls. The trolls that Danielle L. Jensen created in her book are the complete opposite of the image you get in your head when you think of trolls. They weren't huge, ugly, smelly or stupid, in fact, most of them were pretty beautiful, intelligent and nothing like I was expecting.

Cécile has been captured by the trolls to fulfill a prophecy and break the curse that trapped the trolls. She's to marry and bond with the Troll prince, Tristan. Cécile only has one thing on her mind - finding a way to escape. But while Cécile is waiting for her opportunity, she finds herself falling for Tristan. 

Right from the start I was hooked. Cécile is captured and taken to Trollus within the first few chapters and the rest of the book plays out in Trollus. I really loved that because it meant I got a lot more time to discover Trollus and find out the story behind the city and how the trolls were trapped. 

I absolutely loved Cécile. Right from the word go she came across as a strong and feisty character. She definitely didn't take things lying down and always fought for herself. I knew there was something more going on with Cécile's character after something that happened near the start of the book, so I really enjoyed uncovering that. She's such a determined character. To start with, Cécile is always looking for a way to escape, but as the book went on and Cécile uncovered more and gained friends, she became determined to help the half-bloods and the city of Trollus.

Oh, Tristan. How I wanted to punch you the first time I met you, and then I very quickly wanted to take that back. Tristan may come across as a spoiled, un-appreciative jerkface, but he totally isn't. Tristan has his reasons for acting like this, and it's really to protect people. Tristan grew on me extremely quickly. He's actually a very sweet, caring and determined character. Tristan will do anything to protect his people, but he also has ulterior motives.

Tristan and Cécile's relationship is one of my favourites. They started of hating each other because Cécile had been kidnapped and Tristan didn't want to bond with her. But, gradually, they start to become friends and then allies. Tristan and Cécile are working together to help the half-bloods in Trollus, and their relationship eventually progresses to romance. Oh how this romance caused me severe amounts of PAIN and gave me so many feels.

Discovering the city of Trollus was one of my favourite parts of this book. Every description of the city that Danielle L. Jensen gave us allowed me to completely picture the world in my head. The world building is also some of the best world building I've ever read. I adored hearing the back story of Trollus; How Trollus came to be and what caused the trolls to become trapped underground. Discovering more about Cécile and finding out what Tristan was really up to was the other thing I really loved about this book.

The ending. OH, THE ENDING. Oh, what a horrible and amazing cliffhanger. I'm extremely curious to see what's going to happen next and whether Cécile will keep her promise (she better keep her promise!). Also, maybe we'll get to meet Cécile's mother in the next book? I have questions and a few suspicions about her.

Overall, Stolen Songbird was such a fantastic debut novel. Danielle L. Jensen has such an engaging and beautiful writing style and it completely hooked me. Stolen Songbird is such an amazing fantasy novel. It's full of magic, mythology, resistance, plotting and so many twists that tugged at my heart strings and completely knocked me sideways. I've already got my copy of Stolen Songbird pre-ordered because I have to have a physical copy of this book. It's definitely going to be one that I'll be recommending a lot this year.