Review: Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy #1) by Danielle Jensen

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’m not going to lie. The first thing that drew me in to Stolen Songbird by Danielle Jensen was its beautiful cover, but once I read the synopsis I immediately added this to my TBR list.

Let me tell you, this book was better than I could have ever imagined. I completely fell in love with this world and the only thing I regret (and the reason why I didn’t give it 5 Kisses) is that I should have waited to read this book when the trilogy was over. I really hate waiting for the next book to see what happens next and cliffhangers are the worst! *le sigh*

In Stolen Songbird, we meet Cecile. She works hard at her father’s farm, dreaming of the day when her mother – a famous singer – will come and take her to the big city to sing with her. Cecile is practicing and shows some promise, something that made her mother tell her that when she comes of age, she’ll fetch for her.

The time finally draws near and as Cecile readies herself to embark on her new life, fate intervenes. She is kidnapped by someone close to her and is taken to a mysterious mountain all humans are warned never to approach.

Trolls are rumored to inhabit the mountains, and though no one has ever seen one, it’s enough to keep everyone away. Cecile is taken underground and narrowly survives the perilous journey to the Troll city. She quickly discovers the rumors are true. Trolls do exist and she’s to marry the prince of the Trolls: Tristan. To her surprise, he’s not hideous or deformed – like some of the trolls she’s met. He’s very handsome.

Cecile learns there is a prophesy in place and she and Tristan could break it, thus freeing the Trolls who are trapped underground by a fearsome curse. But in a twist Cecile doesn’t imagine, her new husband doesn’t want to break the curse and free the trolls onto humankind. Tristan knows that if the Trolls went up to the surface, the Trolls would wield their magic and wage war to take over the human world.

Instead, Tristan wants to fix things back at home. The Troll society is severely divided into two factions: full-blooded Trolls and half human ones. The half human ones are slaves, forced to mine the earth and serve the full-blooded Trolls. Tristan wants to put an end to this injustice and works in secret to bring about change in his world.

Tristan’s also struggling in dealing with his brother, Roland, a crazed Troll hell-bent on destruction and death. Roland has to be restrained, but there’s always a risk of him getting loose and wreaking havoc. There’s also the threat the King looms above Tristan’s head, telling him that the kingdom only has need of one heir, not two.

This makes Tristan’s dealings even more dangerous. If he is ever to be caught, he would lose everything. And now that he has Cecile, he stands to lose so much more than he ever imagined.

Cecile is caught in the middle. Every action or word she utters could potentially be used against her as Tristan’s father, the King, doesn’t believe in the prophesy and wants nothing more than to keep everything the way it is. The King is cruel and he looks for any excuse to rid himself of any threat to his rule – even if it’s his own son. Cecile is constantly walking on eggshells and every day brings a new fire to put out.

Anaïs, Tristan’s loyal friend, doesn’t make things easier for Cecile at all. Anaïs has been in love with Tristan since she can remember and she’s not going to let a human come in between what she’s worked so hard to get. But she’s racing against the clock as she realizes that as each day goes by, Tristan’s feelings for Cecile grow. She’s got to act fast to separate these two.

But even though Cecile at first only dreams of escaping, it’s not long before she realizes where she truly belongs. Cecile and Tristan develop feelings for each other, though they don’t know if what they feel is real or if it’s due to them being magically bonded together. Can Tristan and Cecile ever truly express and give into the love they both feel? Or do Tristan’s political ambitions carry too much of an obligation that will tear them apart?

Stolen Songbird is a great read filled with magic, romance, intrigue, and suspense. I just hope I don’t forget everything that happens in this book before book two comes out sometime next year. *le sigh*

Stolen Songbird features:

• paranormal romance
• kissing
• no sexual content
• Trolls
• magic
• kidnapping
• suspense
• intrigue
• mystery
• cliffhanger ending

Rating: 4.5 Kisses