The Girl Who Came Down The Mountain...

Expected Publication: August 21st, 2012
Palace of Stone (Princess Acadmey #2)
By: Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA
ISBN-13: 9781599908731


Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city seems a thrill beyond imagining. When Miri and her friends from Mount Eskel set off to help the future princess Britta prepare for her royal wedding, she is happy about her chance to attend school in the capital city. There, Miri befriends students who seem so sophisticated and exciting . . . until she learns that they have some frightening plans. They think that Miri will help them, that she should help them. Soon Miri finds herself torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends’ ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city.

Picking up where Princess Academy left off, this incredible stand-alone story celebrates the joys of friendship, the delight of romance, and the fate of a beloved fairy tale kingdom.

Review

   Miri is excited to go to the castle and help Britta prepare for her wedding to Prince Steffan.  But when she and the other girls arrive in Asland, the capital city of Danland, nothing is exactly like she thought it would be.  Peder, who came to the capital with them to apprentice a stonecarver, never has time to spend with her.  Her friends from home are diverging from each other and finding new interests.  Miri herself finds comfort in her education at the much lauded Queen's College.  But there is a revolution brewing due to the unfair treatment of the city's common people.  Miri will have to decide whether or not to stand with her new friends against the royal family and everything they stand for, or stay loyal to Britta and the mountain she comes from.  Can Miri sort out the confusion in her heart as well, and decide between Peder and the city boy who intrigues her?  This book was an interesting follow-up to a cute, if somewhat bland predecessor.  I did like the original book, but it didn't have enough action or intrigue for my personal tastes.  I loved the whole idea of Danland's citizens trying to mount a revolution against the King.  It was very realistically portrayed.  Not everything was solved by the end and wrapped up in a tidy bow.  There were still problems and all of the characters were very human.  The main complaint on my part for the book was how selfishly Britta is portrayed to be, after being so normal and down to Earth in the first book.  Also, Steffan came across as a prig and Miri's college friends for the most part, seemed truly idiotic in matters of common sense.  Other than minor annoyances, I loved Miri's parts of the story and the ending made me smile.  To me this novel was better than the one before it.  Recommended for fans of the original novel for sure.


VERDICT:  4/5  Stars


*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is August 21, 2012.*

If I Can Learn To Do It

Published: July 6th, 2005
Princess Academy
By: Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA
ISBN-13: 9781599900735

Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king's priests have divined her small village the home of the future princess. In a year's time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king's ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess.

Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates.

Review

   Miri lives on Mount Eskel, where her family quarries the linder stone that is within the mountain and lives off the land.  Except for Miri, who isn't allowed to quarry with the others.  She thinks it's because her Papa thinks she's not big or strong enough to help out.  Things change in the villagers' routine when it's announced that the future Princess will come from Mount Eskel.  An academy is established to prepare all of the eligible girls for the Prince's visit in one year's time.  Miri is forced to attend the academy and at first she is miserable.  But then she decides that she will learn as much as she possibly can, trying to best the other girls for the title of Academy Princess.  Along the way Miri makes a discovery about the real worth of the linder stone and changes the trading practices of the villagers.  But when a real threat to the girls arises, will Miri's wisdom and wit be able to save them from a disastrous fate?  And who will the Prince choose to become his wife?  Miri is strong, determined and very intelligent.  Not to mention extremely stubborn!  But she's also insecure about her place in the village and in her Father's heart.  Miri is friends with Peder, a mountain boy, and she's begun to have other feelings for him as well.  The Princess Academy is her chance to prove herself, but it also drives a bit of a wedge between her and Peder.  Also Miri finally learns the truth about her friend Britta's mysterious past.  I loved the idea of quarry-speech.  The thing this book really brought to the forefront was finding your personal identity and how important it is.  I enjoyed the story, but it was so very plain at times that I almost wanted a dragon to eat someone or an evil wizard to come to the village.  I honestly don't really classify this book as fantasy.  It was basically just historical fiction, of a made-up place.  At times it was boring and I felt like I wanted to stop reading.  I also felt like the situation with the bandits was so contived that it was laughable.  Yet, this book still has something charming about it.  I would recommend it more for middle school aged girls. 

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*

Midnight In The Past

Published: January 31st, 2012
Midnight In Austenland
By: Shannon Hale
Bloomsbury USA
ISBN-13: 9781608196258


When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen's world. How could it not turn out right in the end?

Review

   Charlotte is still reeling from a divorce that left her shocked and alone.  Then she decides to do something just for her - go on vacation at Austenland, a private and exclusive retreat for women who want to live an Austen-esque experience.....including the romance!  Leaving her children with her ex-husband for a few weeks, Charlotte makes her way to England ready to enjoy herself.  She is expecting a Pride and Prejudice experience but things turn out a lot more like Northanger Abbey, with mystery around every corner and a murder to solve (the killer could be one of her housemates).  Plus Charlotte finds love in a place she least expected it.  But will she live to see another day?  This book was pretty good.  It started out well and I did like Charlotte.  She was completely average like Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey, which was a tip off to the plot but made things fun.  It may have been harder for me to relate to her than the heroine of the original Austenland novel, because of our fairly large age gap.  Also, I felt like Hale seriously dragged out the murder AND romance plots.  At a certain point I began to really become bored and wish for a more speedy resolution.  I liked the romance, but it felt like the pop-star in disguise subplot was unneccessary and got in the way of the main story.  Overall it was a fun book, but I won't be revisiting it anytime soon if at all. 

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published January 31st, 2012.*