The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
Series: Damar #2
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
I love Tamora Pierce but this is my joy and my life and I don’t know how to describe the feeling I still get when finishing this book. Aerin is everything a YA heroine should be. She is imperfect but likeable, oblivious in an endearing sort of way. I suppose I should summarize… Aerin with her orange hair does not look like her father’s dark skinned, dark haired people; she looks like her mother and so is a constant reminder of the witch woman. Her cousin Tor has been her best friend since she was a baby slung on his back while he jumped hurdles on his mare. After an illness she spends some time in the library and finds a recipe for a fireproofing balm in the back of a book about dragons and thus she begins on a journey that will bring out the strength that was in her all along. I feel like that is sounds so corny. I think Aerin holds much more depth of character than Harry or Beauty and I think she grows much more over the course of the book. Things are not as simple in Aerin’s world. Love is a complicated thing. (Maybe McKinley can take credit for why I’ve never liked boys my age.) The wonderfully tactile descriptions are still there and all the appropriate ties are made to The Blue Sword though reading her blog makes me wonder about the people in Aerin’s visions. There is so much power in the writing (unlike my current inability to stay focused even on a blog post) like the pain I feel every time the burning happens. I can still remember being a young thing that didn’t quite get why she would leave wonderful Luthe for Tor, though later I was on Team Tor and then eventually I got it. Talat will always be the greatest horse ever and I still want a yerig and folstza of my own. I’ve convinced the love of my life to give this a try so I look forward to seeing what happens. So side note we were looking at review blogs in class and someone teased we should have looked at mine and I said I am definitely a biased blog. Sometimes I think about trying to do an actual review blog, professional development and all that, but I truly enjoy just having a place to put my thoughts and throw them out into the world and to keep track of my adventures in other worlds. I sure hope it doesn’t bother anybody.
Newbery Winner 1985
