January 12th, 2021
After reading four or so of Jody Hedlund's books, I began to notice patterns in them. You meet the girl. You meet the guy. They begin to fall in love, but romance interferes with their goals. The guy gets captured. There's a battle. They care about each other more than themselves. Though Ms. Hedlund didn't, and doesn't, use these in every one of her books, they pop up frequently. I kept reading her stories, but I began to grow tired of these plot points.
In this book, hower, Ms. Hedlund doesn't avoid these entirely but does explore some new ideas. For example, she introduces a new type of main female character. While most female protagonists of hers are either sweet, kind, patient, and gentle or angry-appearing but truly thoughtful and witty, this character, Pearl, has sass and spunk at a level you've never seen! She means business when it comes to fighting and is not a dainty flower. I immediately liked her.
Then, while most romances briefly cover loving someone because of who he or she is on the inside, not outside, it is one of this book's main messages. Interestingly, Pearl is the envied and wanted daughter of the queen and is hiding on the Isle of the Outcasts, where those with peculiar looks, such as ugly scars, live; however, she has none. She wears a veil to make it look like she, too, has something hideous to hide but is truly hiding her identity of being the princess. This goes on for some time, and I was delighted by what it meant in the plot and the message Ms. Hedlund delivered.
In the end, the book thrilled me. Though not everything was original, it seems that Ms. Hedlund is going down some new paths. She had me rooting for the good guys and despising the bad ones as she inspired me to work on my own novel. I cannot wait to read the next in the series!
After reading four or so of Jody Hedlund's books, I began to notice patterns in them. You meet the girl. You meet the guy. They begin to fall in love, but romance interferes with their goals. The guy gets captured. There's a battle. They care about each other more than themselves. Though Ms. Hedlund didn't, and doesn't, use these in every one of her books, they pop up frequently. I kept reading her stories, but I began to grow tired of these plot points.
In this book, hower, Ms. Hedlund doesn't avoid these entirely but does explore some new ideas. For example, she introduces a new type of main female character. While most female protagonists of hers are either sweet, kind, patient, and gentle or angry-appearing but truly thoughtful and witty, this character, Pearl, has sass and spunk at a level you've never seen! She means business when it comes to fighting and is not a dainty flower. I immediately liked her.
Then, while most romances briefly cover loving someone because of who he or she is on the inside, not outside, it is one of this book's main messages. Interestingly, Pearl is the envied and wanted daughter of the queen and is hiding on the Isle of the Outcasts, where those with peculiar looks, such as ugly scars, live; however, she has none. She wears a veil to make it look like she, too, has something hideous to hide but is truly hiding her identity of being the princess. This goes on for some time, and I was delighted by what it meant in the plot and the message Ms. Hedlund delivered.
In the end, the book thrilled me. Though not everything was original, it seems that Ms. Hedlund is going down some new paths. She had me rooting for the good guys and despising the bad ones as she inspired me to work on my own novel. I cannot wait to read the next in the series!
