Book Review: Precious Norman Honour by A.L Stumo

Publisher: Kathmirrid Press
Release Date: April 2011

Rating: 2 stars- okay

Source: Review copy from author (thank you)

Goodreads description:

Maud has always found that running errands and being helpful lets her go wherever the action is happening and wins the approval of her parents. But now that the castle is under siege by their own king, all that she knew is mixed up.


She cannot go run errands outside, she cannot even see outside, and her parents only want her to sit still and be safe. Maud longs to see the army outside and make this siege come to a happy end so that her life with her friends and family can return to normal. But can her life ever be normal again? Will she even be alive after this siege?Based on an actual siege in 12th century England, "Precious Norman Honor" is Maud's tale of conflicted loyalties, climbing attempts, and confinement.

Review:

The Medieval castle that eleven year old Maud lives in is under siege and instead of being able to run errands or play outside the castle, she must stay within the confinements of the castle walls to wait in safety. On the hill outside the castle, the King's army is gathering but Maud's father has been ordered by the Earl to keep the gates closed until he arrives with a larger army. The problem is that Maud wants to be in the centre of the action but she cannot even climb the watch tower to see the army that is trapping them because of fears of danger.......

Maud is the narrator throughout the book and it is through her eyes that the unfolding story is told as she begins to fear for her safety, question her father's judgement, despairs at being cooped up and longs to catch a glimpse of the King's army gathered outside. The author captured the thoughts of an eleven year old well and a middle grade audience will be able to relate to her character easily and see that despite Maud living in the 12th century she still has the same feelings and emotions as any child growing into a young women today.  The problem that I found with having Maud as the narrator is that because she is a girl she cannot see what is going on outside and is kept in a routine of helping with chores around the castle such as weaving, weeding and chopping vegetables in the kitchen. Whilst this is probably accurate of the life of a young girl at the time, it became dull and repetitive after a time. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if their had been a male leading role too such as a dual narration or a close friend of Maud's because a boy would know what was going on outside the castle and be able to see the King's army.

I was excited to hear that this book is based on a real 12th century siege in Bridgnorth because I hadn't read a book about a siege before so I was looking forward to finding out more about what happened in them. The history included in the story bought life in a Medieval castle to life and I found the laws of a siege and the loyalties between different people fascinating.

The anxious and frantic emotions of the inhabitants of the castle was expressed well in the writing and there was some clever imagery used in the book but I would have liked to have seen more description so I could imagine the castle and main characters in my head better.

Whilst the history was interesting and the premise very promising, halfway through the book I found myself gradually losing interest in the story because there wasn't enough action in the plot to satisfy me. I wished for a devastating and heart pounding battle that would really grip me and turn the page to find out what happens next page. Instead the main plot drive was Maud and her best friend Rowena's constant attempts to climb the castle watch tower's ladder in order to see the King's army. The first ladder climbing antics of the girls were amusing but after a while they became boring and annoying when nothing else significant was happening. The things that kept me reading was the threat of the castle running out of food and clean water, fears of sickness and wanting to find out how the siege would end.

Verdict: Precious Norman Honor captures the thoughts and feelings of a nine girl old girl trapped in a besieged castle fantastically and life in a Medieval castle was painted well through the main character's eyes but the rather bland plot let the book down. I think middle grade readers who like history will enjoy this book the most but if you are looking for an action packed story then this isn't the book for you.

If you're interested in reading Precious Norman Honor then make sure you check out the book's website here, where you can find out more information on the characters, setting and read an extract. You can also enter a Goodreads giveaway for the book here.



Book Review: Bumped by Megan Mcafferty

Goodreads Description

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.


When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.



My review

Having read several dystopian books I’ve really liked this year and enjoying interviewing the author, I was really hoping that I’d love Bumped . There has been a lot of controversy around the blogosphere about Bumped with a divide between people who loved it and people who thought the book wasn’t for them. Unfortunately, I fell into the latter category.

I had a really hard time getting into Bumped because of the unfamiliar slang of the dystopian world Megan Mcafferty created. Instead of building up the atmosphere bringing the world to life, the words like ‘rilly,’ 'reproaesthetic' and ‘neggy' just confused me and ended up sounding forced. So rather than adding to my reading experience they became an unwelcome frustration because the talk was hard to follow. I think this could have been helped by a glossary at the back for the made up vocabulary because even having finished the book I'm not sure I could completely explain all the terms.

Melony and Harmony made a nice contrast to each other because of their vastly different personalities and backgrounds, which meant I was able to see their world from different points of view. This was helped by the story being told from both their points of view in alternating chapters. I liked the idea of Harmony being bought up in a religious community because it balanced out against the rest of the materialistic society but I did find the way she wanted to share her religion all the time with everyone she met rather annoying at times and it showed religion in a bad light. Melody's relationship with Zen was a high point in the book because it was the only one that seemed to have true depth and the banter between them added a lot of humour to the story.
The twins did develop throughout the course of the book but I just didn't feel a connection with them and this particularly affected my enjoyment. I think this could be because I just wasn't able to picture them in my head and they almost didn't feel like real people.

The topic of young teenage girls getting pregnant for profit was always bound to be controversial and the book did succeed in making me uncomfortable but also slightly curious about the dystopian world. It was very thought provoking because it made me think about some of the issues with teen pregnancy we face now. Despite this and the interesting premise, I found the extremely casual sexual talk and  drug references a little too much considering my age and this put me off so I'd only recommend it to the upper end of the YA market. I think I'd have enjoyed the plot more if these issues had been dealt with in a more serious way instead of making it fun spirited because it would have hit my emotions harder.

However, I must say that the idea was a very original one and I applaud Megan Mcafferty on daring to take a risk . The society presented in Bumped is different from other dystopians I've read because it didn't have a controlling government and I think this gave it a lot of scope for the characters because they had more of a grip on their future. I also found that this made the society seem scarily believable to me because it's closer to what I know and could imagine happening, which was what gave the book an almost creepy atmosphere. To get the bigger picture of the society as a whole, I would have liked to have seen more adult interaction within the book (even though I know it's a teen centred society) and have known more about the infertility virus that hit the world.

Verdict/ Quick Read: Unfortunately Bumped didn't live up to its exciting premise for me because I couldn't connect with the characters well and the teen speak bogged the story down. Despite this, I was impressed at the originality and the thoughts it provoked so I won't forget it easily. It wasn't the book for me and I don't think I'll be reading the sequel but I would still encourage you to try it if the premise appeals and you like dystopians because I know so many people who have loved it!

Rating: 2 stars

Thank you to Harper Teen for providing me a review copy via NetGalley

Book Review: The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff

Goodreads summary:

On the morning of her wedding, Pell Ridley creeps out of bed in the dark, kisses her sisters goodbye and flees — determined to escape a future that offers nothing but hard work and sorrow. She takes the only thing that truly belongs to her: Jack, a white horse, and small mute Bean who refuses to be left behind.

The road ahead is rich with longing, silence and secrets, and each encounter leads her closer to the untold story of her past. Then Pell meets a hunter, infuriating, mysterious and cold. Will he help her to find what she seeks?
With all the hallmarks of Meg Rosoff’s extraordinary writing, The Bride’s Farewell also breaks new ground for this author, in a nineteenth-century, Hardyesque setting. This is a moving story of love and lost things, with a core of deep, beautiful romance.

My thoughts and review


I was really hoping that I was going to love this because I haven't read any other of Meg Rosoff's books but I've heard good things about them and thought it must be great in order to get onto the Carnegie Medal Award shortlist 2011. It turned out that I really liked the author's writing because it was descriptive and colourful but it was the plot that let me down. This was because it had all the right ingredients to make a beautiful fairy tale like historical story: a likable and determined heroine, a idyllic countryside setting, a hint of romance and well crafted writing. I enjoyed the first chapters so I was disappointed to find not much seemed to happen after that. I just wasn't gripped by it at all and it didn't capture my imagination.

Nevertheless, the MC Pell Ridley is an independent and strong young girl who is determined to avoid the fate of her mother with endless toil and a house full of hungry little mouths. I admired her courage as she left everything she had ever known and loved on the morning of her wedding to seek a new life for herself in the city with only her magnificent white horse Jack and her mute adopted brother Bean. Pell has a admirable talent in working with horses and is hired at the Salisbury Fair to help a man pick out the best horses to buy. When he makes off without paying her and she loses both Bean and Jack, leaving her to travel cold and hungry on the open rural road. This is where the rest of the story is built on, with Pell wondering the countryside trying to restore what is hers and find shelter to survive. Soon her old feisty nature seemed to dwindle and she wears a disheartened attitude on her journey. I didn't like this sudden change in her character and gradually felt more and more disconnected and tired with her as she became rather dull.

The supposed romance with Pell and a man she meets along her journey fell completely flat for me because it seemed almost as if the romance hinted just seemed to have been put in for the sake of it because there wasn't really any and no proper development of it. I also didn't know enough about the man and what his personality was like to make a decision about whether I wanted Pell to find happiness with him.

I thought that the historical setting worked nicely but for a long way into the story it was hard to tell whether it was set in the Tudor or Victorian era (it was set in the 1850's) because there weren't many differentiating descriptions. I would have liked to have seen this further developed and made use of.

New paperback cover

I've heard The Bride's Farewell being compared to Thomas Hardy's Tess Of The D'Urbivilles which I read last month and I can see a few of the similarities that could be seen between Pell and Tess but Tess was a much more rounded and developed character. There are also similarities in the countryside setting and of the theme of a an impoverished Victorian girl finding her place in the world.

Verdict: The Bride's Farewell had a brilliant premise and could have been a book I loved but instead the story was slow moving, the plot wasn't memorable and my interest lagged towards the end. However the writing was finely crafted and and overall this book was just okay. I don't think it deserves to win the Carnegie Medal Award this year.

I struggled over what rating to give this book because I liked it more than another recent book I gave it a 2.5 but I felt that was more creative and added something fresh to its genre.

Rating: 2

I found my favourite quote of the book to show what I liked about Meg Rosoff's writing:

"For those poor souls who can only think of the terrible fear and danger of a runaway horse, think of this: a speed like water flowing over stone, a skimming sensation that hovers and dips while the world spins around and the wind drags your skin taut across your bones. You can close your eyes and lose yourself in the rhythm, because nothing you do or shout or wish for will happen until the running makes up its mind to stop. So you hold steady, balancing yourself in the wake, and unhook your mind from the everyday while you wait at the silent center of it all and hope that the feeling won't stop till you're good and ready for life to be ordinary once more.The problem being that she never was."