Book review: The Hero & The Crown

I've debated for awhile on adding book reviews to my blog and figured...well why not?  Books have been my means for sanity at many points in my life, and they are old friends to be cherished.  Going to start my very first book review with a favorite from childhood ;-)


The Hero & The Crown from Goodreads

I was in sixth grade the first time I read this book. My English teacher had a copy of it on her bookshelf of lending...I must have read it at least four times that year. I read it again when I was working on my undergraduate degree, and now ten years or so later am writing my first review on it. Did I mention I named my daughter after the main character? Yes, it really is that good.

Some of the following may be considered spoilery, so proceed with warning...

I love the worlds Robin McKinley creates. This time around I read The Blue Sword first The Blue Sword and got that taste of Damar. That book was also rated 4 stars, but while I liked Harry, I genuinely love Aerin. Aerin is that girl that you always know who was teased because she was awkward, different, and unrepentant for being so. I see so much of myself in her from my youth, and now that I've read the book again I was able to see her from a completely different perspective. As a youth I could never understand how she was able to leave Luthe and go back to Damar. As an adult, I cherish the way she and Luthe handled their relationship....because it never really ended. And I see so many parallels between this book and The Last Unicorn that I never would have seen as a youth. There is love, loss, heroism, and true greatness in the characters of both The Last Unicorn and The Hero and the Crown. I really can't describe how glad I am to have found a copy of this book in the sixth grade as it truly made an impact on my life.