The allure of reading a just released debut author’s book, with a shiny new awesome cover is powerful. That’s why Christina Lee organized a day for us to promote some of our favorite authors of 2011.

I won the arc for THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson. The title captured the imagination. The cover made it seem mysterious.

Honestly? I had no idea what to expect from this high fantasy, which I don’t often read.

I loved it!

Here’s the blurb from the back cover:

Chosen for an extraordinary and fearsome destiny, a sixteen-year-old princess becomes the heart of a revolution. Her journey from untried teen to young woman of fierce love and untold power is, simply put, epic. Lush, adventurous, and wrenching, this is the first in a trilogy for fans of Kristin Cashmore’s GRACELING and Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books.

What I loved about it.

But this story was more than a fantasy, more than a princess tale, more than a revolution. Yes, all of those things added to it. But at its core what made me love this book was the main character, Elisa, and her internal struggle with her self image, with an addiction to food, and learning to stand up for herself.

Why yes.  This was a story of a fat girl. And it totally took me off guard because Rae Carson never came out and told us that Elisa was over weight. But just a little bit into her story, through great showing, I realized it. The description of her problem and her love of food was incredible. And that’s not even half of the problems Elisa had to deal with! Imprisonment. A hidden prophecy. Love. Evil enemies.

If you love contemporary stories, I think you’ll really enjoy this high fantasy because it was really just the story of a girl.

The entire list of participants is at Christina Lee’s blog.

And here’s the link to buy THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS.

What’s been your favorite read this year?