Guest Review #1

Hey there bloggers, so here's the first review in our new Guest Reviews. We'll try to get in a few of these as often as we can just to cover the books we haven't gotten a chance to read. And it's always nice to hear from a new person, even though you hardly hear from us. *cough*rose*cough*... She really needs to put those textbooks down and pick up some YA. Anyways here is the review for Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale by Ashton! <3

Author: Donna Jo Napoli
Title: Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale

GoodReads Summary:

Melkorka is a princess, the first daughter of a magnificent kingdom in mediæval Ireland -- but all of this is lost the day she is kidnapped and taken aboard a marauding slave ship. Thrown into a world that she has never known, alongside people that her former country's laws regarded as less than human, Melkorka is forced to learn quickly how to survive.
Taking a vow of silence, however, she finds herself an object of fascination to her captors and masters, and soon realizes that any power, no matter how little, can make a difference.

Based on an ancient Icelandic saga, award-winning author Donna Jo Napoli has crafted a heartbreaking story of a young girl who must learn to forget all that she knows and carve out a place for herself in a new world -- all without speaking a word.

Ashton's thoughts:

During the summer, I was looking through a top 100 list of YA books. I nearly fell off of my chair when I saw the title Hush: an Irish Princess’ Tale. Recently, I've really been interested in the Irish culture, so I figured this would be great for me.  (Besides, what girl doesn't like a good story about princesses?) Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get it until early October. But when I started reading it, I got through the first few chapters, and then didn't pick it up again for a week. This kept happening too. It ended up taking me a month to get through the entire book.  It wasn't one of those books where you’re dying to flip to the next page, or where you let your eyes scroll down to the next paragraph just to see what happens in the next few sentences. In fact, it was far from it.

                Hush: an Irish Princess’ Tale takes place in the 900’s. Fifteen year old, Princess Melkorka is the oldest daughter to the wealthy king and queen of Downpatrick. Melkorka’s younger brother is injured by a Norse man. Her father goes to seek revenge by raiding the Norse, Melkorka and her very clever little sister Bridgid have to hide just in case. While they are traveling, they get kidnapped by slave traders. Bridgid eventually escapes and Melkorka is left to her own devices. Oh, I probably should mention: Melkorka takes a vow of silence once she is kidnapped and doesn't speak one word to a single soul.  I really hope that didn't give too much away. The rest of the book tells of Melkorka’s experiences. I also found out that this book is actually based on a true story, so that’s interesting.

                This book is 306 pages, and it took me a little over a month to read. (And this is the girl who read the entire Twilight Saga in two weeks.) So, here are some of the reasons why I wasn't so eager to finish it:

1.)                         I didn't feel like I connected with any of the characters, even Melkorka and it’s in her POV for crying out loud. You read everything she thinks, feels, and goes through, yet I didn't feel like I really understood her at all. I didn't feel like any of the other characters were well developed either. They were just there, like props. She never took the time to fully explain each one like most books do.

2.)                         I don’t know exactly what it was. I couldn't tell if it was the pace, or how it jumped around a little bit, or how time passed in the book. (And I’m used to all of that.) But after reading certain parts, I couldn't believe I just read 50 pages…of what exactly? I couldn't tell you. I don’t know how Donna Jo Napoli was able to fill the pages with words, when there was just nothing happening. That actually brings me to my next point.

3.)                         No action! There was just nothing going on for long periods of time. It took me four weeks to get through the first two sections, so about 200 pages. But it only took me two days to read the last 106 pages. It’s hard to explain. Like things were happening in the first two parts, but the way Melkorka described them didn't seem important. Like there were no outstanding details or symbols that were carried throughout the course of the book.

4.)                         I felt like Donna Jo Napoli put too much effort into making things historically accurate, rather than putting emphasis on the characters, action, and detail. In some ways, it made me feel like I was in 8^th grade again reading book for history class.

5.)                         Everything was basically predictable. There wasn't a moment where I really felt surprised, or stunned, or even moved. I felt for Melkorka during some parts, but I never I really understood her, so it made it hard to sympathize with her. Maybe it was the way she described things, with no real emotion.

So, I know it sounds like I totally hate this book right now. But I will give it some praise. It did tell an interesting story, and it definitely seems like Donna Jo Napoli did her research. I wish I had more nice things to say, but unfortunately I don’t. I wanted so much to love this book but I can’t say that I did. I give it a 2: Had potential but didn't impress.