Wednesday, February 25, 2015

book talk: more on The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Okay, so I am starting to love The Two Princesses of Bamarre. The writing style seems to have worked itself out, though I am still perplexed why the beginning chapters seemed so disjointed. I suppose it could have just been my mood, but there was an awful lot of really short sentences that pulled the reading level and intended audience down for me. I am still really bummed that they revealed that Meryl would catch the Gray Death on the back of the book. I know it seems like a minor detail, but this didn't happen until chapter 6, which means for 5 chapters everything I read I felt like had read spoilers. Every detail that was leading towards her being ill I would just think, yeah, I know, she's going to get sick. I think whoever created the blurb on the back could have written it in a way to not have revealed that, which is most definitely possible to do. This is really the first time I have ever felt that a description on the back of a book kind of spoiled part of a book, I am finding it slightly weird.
So far I am enjoying reading what appears to be a possible growing love between two characters, and now that Meryl has finally come down with the Gray Death, I feel I am all in the clear and ready to be surprised at what is to come. I do think this novel is more of a fluffy book for me, something that I wont be taking in too seriously and pondering over. However, I was surprised to find this in the book:

"Then why am I so tired?"
"Illness is exhausting, even when someone else is ill."

This is most definitely true, and I have never really thought about it in such simple terms. It is hard to watch a loved one be sick. I don't think it is exhausting in the physical sense, but mentally and emotionally, which can be just as debilitating. I am interested to see what comes of these characters and hope to get through it quickly!

2 comments:

  1. I've heard of this book, and I think I flipped through it in a book store once…should I read it?

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    1. Most definitely if you already know you like other novels by Gail Carson Levine. For myself, I was not overly thrilled about it. I wrote a review for it today on my blog, you can read it and see what you think. I did not really give away any spoilers in my opinion, but towards the end I do mention if the ending was happy/sad/bittersweet and what I thought of it....though no specifics further to give away details.

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