Karen’s Blog

Yes, I love to read. I read books, magazines, cereal boxes - everything. I love a good book, regardless of subject matter or genre. And if I start a book, I will almost inevitably finish it. I always figure, maybe it will get better next chapter even halfway through a book. But sometimes they just don’t, and sometimes what starts as a good book gets worse.

Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban 

This was a book was okay. But just okay. It starts out in a promising fashion, with the title character, Andrea, a Princess who would rather be a knight. Or at least a squire. The fourth of her father the king’s daughters, she has been allowed to train with the boys, and wins the big Archery competition they have been training for. Andrea, about to turn fourteen, is sure this will convince her father to let her continue with the training, and not to become a lady like her mother and sisters are. Set in a medieval kingdom, it seems a decent start.

And when the book takes a science fiction/fantasy turn, who could complain? By accident she ends up in modern California, and realizes her Tio (uncle) Ramiro travels there regularly when she finds his house not far from the beach she lands on. Still interesting enough, right? We then go through the expected culture shock and transition, and the expected tension when her uncle insists she return to her own world as soon as possible.

But it all kinda goes downhill from there, with Andrea and her sisters dealing with battling kingdoms, a deceitful suitor, princes, soldiers, romance, and what is proper and what is not. And I guess the story disappoints me, because in the course of all this action, Andrea is obviously supposedly falling in love with one character whom she dislikes. And it isn’t until the end of the books that she realizes this, and it just seems too dumb for a girl who is supposed to be strong, smart, and clever enough to get away with all sorts of stuff and travel secretly between worlds, but not to figure out her own feelings at all.

So, eh, don’t bother with this one. I am sure the author meant well, and it appears to be aimed at young teen girls, and is supposed to be empowering, I am sure, but it just loses steam. By the end, I was just mildly annoyed by Princess Andrea’s obtuseness, and didn’t even care if she lived happily ever after.

Oh, and by the way, I have always hated cover art that doesn’t quite fit the story. You can’t see her father’s castle from the beach archway she’s standing in - for goodness sake it’s far from the castle, down a large cliff and at the base of a rocky beach, and as the story begins her hair is short, not long enough for a long braid, and the “golden arrow” is supposed to be large and sharp enough to hurt someone with, and is hidden in her hair, not a cute little ornament like the cover illustration shows. I know, the artist was probably not given the actual story to read, but should have been!

I read all sorts of books - since I get to go to The BEA*, I pick up just about anything. And while I don’t specifically seek out good love stories, when I stumble across one and it is well-written, I do enjoy it!

Beginner’s Greek: A Novel by James Collins was one of those. It was just released last month - January ‘08 - in the real world. It is a lovely story about two impossibly good and nice people, who meet on a plane, fall in love, and then lose touch immediately afte - r for long enough for both to regretfully move on, marry others, and have lives. How they reconnect and what happens makes then seem much more real, and the ending is actually satifsying, which is a surprise. In between are many interwoven threads and characters, and even the “villians” aren’t entirely unlikable - it’s just a good, sweet story. Almost but not quite a fairytale for grown-ups. Why not quite? No fairy godmothers or socery involved, just people.

I recommend it - it will leave you smiling.

*Book Expo America