Stolen Songbird by Danielle Jensen

Kidnapped by trolls, Cecily must unravel a series of secrets about her captors while planning an escape. But falling in love might change all her plans…

Title: Stolen Songbird 
Author: Danielle L. Jensen 
Series: The Malediction Trilogy
Publish Date: April 1, 2014
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Genre: YA High fantasy
Source: Purchased.

Publisher’s Description: For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realises that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time…

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for…

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Kat Mandu says…

Hello readers! We’re catching up on some reviews from our high-fantasy read-along. In Stolen Songbird, Cecily is taken by a man named Luc, who’s only interested in trading her to the trolls for some gold and other treasures. Thrown into the the dark world of Trollus, Cecily discovers that her kidnapping was no mere coincidence as she finds herself betrothed to the prince of the trolls and “bonded” through magical means. In a mix of terror, luck, and curiosity, Cecily slowly unravels the details of her captivity, the politics of Trollus, and even her strange attraction to Prince Tristan. As Trollus becomes dangerous in all sorts of ways – even for her – she knows her only hope at survival is to escape forever. But leaving Tristan, the “monster” she steadily falls for, may be harder than ever.

This has an interesting premise – for one, not many YAs have trolls. Especially good looking and intelligent ones (not that they’re “trolls” per se, a secret you read farther on in the book). I love the political games that the king, the queen, other key players, and even Tristan play and that Cecily doesn’t really have a say in any of it, though she quickly learns her role in them. She’s the one prophesied to break the witch’s curse that holds all the trolls beneath the mountain. So with a little magic, adventure, and romance mixed in, it makes for a great read.

I love that this series doesn’t have a love triangle. For me, it didn’t really even have romance at all until much later in the book when Cecily and Tristan learn they both have need of each other’s company. I mean, at the beginning, they hated each other. They were forced to marry just to fulfill the prophecy. Of course, when that doesn’t work, she becomes a prisoner. I like that Tristan realizes that she’s there against her will and wants to protect her (after all, he didn’t particularly love the arrangement either), but that doesn’t mean he insta-loves her. Hell, they spend the majority of the book pretending to hate each other (and actually doing so at times).

Cecily isn’t the bravest or strongest, but she knows how to manipulate and she does what she can to learn how to get around Trollus. She makes frenimies along the way and it’s interesting to see that after all she’s been through, she can still learn to care for the people who have about as little control as she does over her life.

I’m fascinated by the plot and eager to see where this magical story line takes Cecily and Tristan in the next book, Hidden Huntress. Until then, four stars from me! 

Other recommendations…

…you might try  Strange, Sweet Song by Adi Rule, Gates of Thread & Stone by Lori M. Lee, and ….