by Avah Broc ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
A well-intentioned fantasy novel that lacks spirit.
A humble woman goes from rags to riches in debut author Broc’s medieval tale of destiny and redemption.
Raja, a young peasant girl, is accustomed to the hard toil of fieldwork. Although her daily existence is filled with drudgery, she’s still spirited and curious about the world around her. When a wealthy young man gives her a job as a scullery maid, she’s grateful to leave her present circumstances and start a new life. But she soon makes a startling discovery about her past that turns her world upside down overnight: Proof has surfaced that she’s the rightful heir to the throne of Zurkia. She was abducted as a baby and forced into a life of servitude, and her true identity was kept a secret by people who wanted the throne for themselves. This revelation comes at a terrible price, however; news of Raja’s claim to the monarchy quickly spreads, and soon, there’s a price on her head that puts her life in danger. Who can she trust on her journey to the throne? As Raja evades assassination attempts and escapes kidnappers, she transforms into a formidable woman of strength, beauty, and valor. Broc’s descriptions of the medieval settings and atmosphere are detailed and colorful, and she also gets across the bleakness of life as a peasant in a feudal system: “It was fear that motivated them—fear of not producing enough for their lord, fear of the future for their family. Their lives were not their own.” However, the dialogue tends to fall flat most of the time. The characters’ conversations are often stiff, wooden, and less than lively: “ ‘Are you okay?’ asked the girl. ‘Yes,’ said Raja. ‘How about you?’ ‘Fine.’ ‘Do you want to put on a dry shawl?’ ‘Yes.’ ” Still, there are a few passionate outbursts that help to lessen the dry discourse.
A well-intentioned fantasy novel that lacks spirit.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5255-3245-0
Page Count: 287
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 3, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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