Tagged: carolyn meyer
Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of Beauty and the Armageddon.)
25 April 1914—Livadia
Papa took us on another long walk. Mama and Alexei joined us later for a picnic, although Mama was feeling weak and needed her wheelchair. An odd thing happened. My sisters and I were picking wildflowers in a meadow, and Alexei was lying on a blanket nearby staring up at the clear blue sky, when suddenly he said, “I wonder what’s going to happen to us?”
We asked him what he meant, and he couldn’t explain it—just that he had a strange feeling something was going to happen, and that next year we wouldn’t be here.
“Nonsense,” Mama said, but I wasn’t at all sure that he was speaking nonsense. Alexei has a way of sensing things.
There are very few books in The Royal Diaries series that I hate, but this is one of them. That is surprising because this one was written by Carolyn Meyer, a normally very good writer of young adult/tweens historical fiction.
What was my main reason for hating Anastasia:The Last Grand Duchess? Anastasia. Sure, I can tolerate some whining when a situation is truly bad, but oh my word does this girl ever whine! Life is horrible: her sisters are terrible, she never gets to do anything, her father is always gone, etc. I’m sure the real Grand Duchess Anastasia was spoiled to a certain extent, but the whining of Carolyn Meyer’s Anastasia could not compare to even the most spoiled princess. Yes, this is obviously aimed at a younger audience than myself, but even at that age I would have liked to reach into the book and slap Anastasia.
Part of my problem with The Last Grand Duchess is that Carolyn Meyer tried to cover too long a period in too short a book. She covers the time from 1914 until 1917, when the Romanovs are placed under house arrest in Siberia. That’s a lot of time to cover in less than 200 pages and it makes Anastasia’s diary really jumpy, meaning there are no entries for months at a time and Carolyn Meyer does a lot of telling rather than showing to help readers catch up.
However, my main gripe with the book was Anastasia herself and in diary format, if you hate the writer, you’re going to hate the rest of the book. Everything is told in the writer’s perspective, so if that writer is a whiny, angsty preteen, things are going to go very badly. And they certainly did in this book.
I give this book 1/5 stars.
*Only available as used.
The Best and Worst of June
Well, it’s that time of month again. The time for the recap of my 5 best and 5 worst posts of June. The statistics are wildly different than they were when I did my May recap, as you’ll notice. So here are the five best articles, not counting my homepage or site announcements.
1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
3. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
4. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
5. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
It’s hard to believe The Giver is right up there because school’s been out in America for a month, which is where most of my traffic comes from. But what’s really surprising is that The White Queen cracked the list while The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome article fell to third place. Now, here are the surprising five worst articles of June:
1. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
2. YA Release Dates to Look Forward To
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
5. Isabel: Jewel of Castilla by Carolyn Meyer
What’s surprising about the five worst articles and book reviews is that not one of them appeared on my May list, which means that the worst articles are at least rotating every month. However, I’m surprised none of the Pauline Gedge books appear on the list because she’s not exactly a well-known author outside of historical fiction circles. C’est la vie.
Isabel: Jewel of Castilla by Carolyn Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of The Flying Librarian’s Hideout.)
Segovia—12th of April 1466
After Mass this morning, I climbed the narrow, winding stone steps to a window high in one of the castle turrets. I often come up here to see what lies beyond my prison. Segovia is surrounded by four thick walls, each with a heavy wooden gate. The aqueduct built by the Romans more than a thousand years ago stretches to the horizon.
Far below the castle, the Eresma River rushes through a narrow gorge. Across the river, flocks of sheep seem to flow like a river themselves. The sheep bleat, their bells tinkle—I know this, even if I cannot hear them. In the fields beyond the walls, little green shoots of wheat are pushing up. How I yearn to be there instead of here.
Queen Isabel of Spain was both a woman to be admired and a woman to be hated. On one hand, she was an incredibly strong female leader for her time who actually chose who she got to marry. On the other hand, she was the very woman that started the horrible, bloody Inquisition that killed thousands of innocents and forced thousands more to flee their homes. Here in Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Carolyn Meyer has attempted to explain both her strong side as well as her ruthless side that came from a combination of her deep faith and her hellfire-and-brimstone-preaching confessor, who later runs the Inquisition. She certainly succeeds in creating an interesting explanation for Isabel’s brutality in her later life.
Since the story is told from Isabel when she is young, readers aged 10-12 will be able to enjoy this book. It talks of her impending marriage and the civil war currently going on, but never actually touches on much sexuality or violence. I wouldn’t call this a fast-paced novel, but at least it is an interesting one. The dynamics between the characters (Isabel and her brother or Isabel and Queen Juana) are definitely realistic and very believable since the book is supposed to be Isabel writing her innermost thoughts about the people in her lonely life.
I never really knew much about Medieval Spain until I read this novel and I can assure you, I learned quite a lot. Isabel certainly was a complicated woman, but Carolyn Meyer has made her much more accessible to modern readers. Anyone who reads this will be entertained and learn a lot of history at the same time.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Kristina: The Girl King by Carolyn Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads. Although when I try to link to the exact location I get an error message.)
August 3, 1638
Papa Matthiae arrived last evening, accompanied by Jacob Henrik Elbfas, the court painter. I feared this meant I should have to pose for another official portrait. They dress you in wretchedly uncomfortable gowns and make you stand perfectly still for hours, holding something in your hand—a large feather, or a glove, or some symbolic object. When you think you cannot bear it for another minute, the thing is finished, and you are expected to say how splendid it is!
In truth if I am not with Papa Matthiae and studying a serious subject, I prefer to be outside and on horseback, if possible. Or with a fencing sword.
Even though in her historical note Carolyn Meyer says Kristina of Sweden is one of the most talked about female monarchs in history, even more popular than Cleopatra, I highly doubt this. There is no doubt in my mind Cleopatra—to name one example—is more popular than Kristina will ever be. I had never heard of Kristina until I read this book (which actually belongs to my little sister), which is kind of sad because she really is a woman worthy of admiration.
In a world dominated by men and when only males could inherit the throne, Kristina is proclaimed heir to the throne of Sweden by her father. Kristina: The Girl King follows Kristina’s young years as she is trained like a prince, not a princess. She eschews romance, rides horses, practices archery, fences, learns battle strategies and studies classical Greek and Roman literature. Queen Elizabeth I has nothing on Kristina!
Kristina has a very powerful voice that readers will love, especially tomboys like myself. She is very sympathetic and three dimensional, as are all of the characters, even though we only glimpse them through her writing. Readers will love her and remember her for years to come, which is a good thing because the plot is not exactly fast-paced. However, it is an enjoyable read.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Cleopatra Confesses by Carolyn Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of Small Review.)
It is the first century B. C. Cleopatra, the third of the pharaoh’s six children, is one that her father has chosen to be the next queen of Egypt. But when King Ptolmey is forced into exile, Cleopatra is left alone to fend for herself in a palace rife with intrigue and murder. Smart, courageous, ambitious and sensuously beautiful, she possesses the charm to cause two of history’s most famous leader’s to fall in love with her. But as her cruel sister plot to steal the throne, Cleopatra realizes there is only one person on whom you can rely—herself.
In Cleopatra Confesses, award-winning author Carolyn Meyer writes the story of the teenage girl who would become Egypt’s most unforgettable queen from her early years to her ultimate destiny.
This is not my favourite interpretation of Cleopatra’s story, but it certainly paints her in a much more sympathetic light. It’s also more appropriate for younger teens than my favourite one, Hand of Isis.
Cleopatra Confesses is the first-person account of the life and death of Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt. It tells the story starting with her unhappy childhood, where her sisters Berenike and Tryphaena taunt her mercilessly. As is expected, the life of a princess and the taunts of her older sisters harden the young Cleopatra and teach her she can only rely on herself. This transition from innocent child to slightly cynical teenager takes place gradually and many young readers will be able to relate to it.
As with all of Carolyn Meyer’s work, it is incredibly historically accurate without sacrificing a good plot. She inserts real historical figures and makes them breathe, makes them more accessible to the modern reader. And of course the best part is that Carolyn Meyer has joined many of the authors who are working to rehabilitate the maligned figure of Cleopatra and give her a voice after two thousand years of silence.
This is historical fiction at its finest, but readers should know that there is mature content including violence and sexuality. Personally, I would recommend it for 13+, but it depends largely on the maturity level of the reader.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.