Overwrought, and for some strange reason marketed as a YA book. Many readers fail to realize that this book is not a novel, it is one long tiresome, glorified (by media & advertising) and not very good POEM. To be frank, the poem style/story didn't quite address me, as well as I hoped it would. Though the story is there, and it seems to be well thought through, the poems are not mature enough to be memorable. There are no lines I wish to whisper to my self in the quiet moments. They are entirely forgetable, straight forward, blunt, hammering at my brain. Dont expect Neruda here... In the end it doesn't quite come together for me. But then Im into old style high quality stuff and this author is still stretching her new wings, and so for a newbie it is quite a feat. Bit modern, unfinished, kind of rushed, and somewhat un-molded I would say that its good for people as a starter book into poetry.
As an artist and a woman, this book spoke to me very deeply about the injustices women have to suffer. Society and its rules are determined by men in the 1600's, and we are still fighting for equality today. Our heroine is raped, & then tortured, for telling the truth, & her rapist is given a slap on the wrist. She is the true artist in the household, but her father gets the credit. Perhaps I identified too closely with the heroine, but this book 'spoke' to me.