The Girl of Fire and Thorns Stories - Rae Carson

Title: The Girl of Fire and Thorns Stories
Author: Rae Carson
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins), 2014
Length: 253 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy
Started: November 15, 2014
Finished: November 17, 2014

Summary:
From the back of the book:

Get swept away in the world of Rae Carson's acclaimed, epic, New York Times best-selling Girl of Fire and Thorns series with these three novellas. Before Hector was Commander of the Royal Guard and Elisa's true love, he was a young new recruit. In The King's Guard, watch him prove himself - and uncover a secret that he must keep forever. In The Shadow Cats, discover how Elisa's rivalry with her older sister looks from Alodia's point of view, and why Alodia agrees to marry her sister off to King Alejandro. And in The Shattered Mountain, learn how Mara survived her village's destruction before she became Elisa's best friend and handmaiden.

A must-have for every fan of Rae Carson's stunning fantasy trilogy!

Review:
After falling in love with The Girl of Fire and Thorns, The Crown of Embers, and The Bitter Kingdom, I was positively giddy when I found out there were prequel side-stories. Granted, these novellas were released in between the three books strictly for e-readers (and I hate my stupid e-reader so until I spring for an iPad I'm not touching e-books), so I never got to read them until now when they were bundled in printed format.

There are three stories in this collection. One story focuses on Alodia (with Elisa as a secondary character), another on Hector as a teenager, and the other on Mara. I'll admit, the only reason I wanted to read this was because of Hector's story, he's my favourite character after Elisa. And I was not disappointed. I can't give away much for fear of spoilers, but if you're a fan of the trilogy you'll want to pick this up for the extra insight into the characters.

Recommendation:
If you're a fan of the original trilogy, give this a read (if only for Hector's story, it's a good one).

Thoughts on the cover:
I like the continuity from the trilogy's covers with the Godstone against the background.