Twisted Kingdom

This is my second novel based on the Tam Lin folk ballad and I must say I am extremely disappointed. I like the Tam Lin myth and I found this book extremely and utterly boring. Let's have the plot first from Amazon:

In 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folkwhose customs are even older than the Druids" and include human sacrifice

The plot and the fact that it's based on one of my favorite tales should have made this a great read. That and the praise that seems to follow this book everywhere. So what went wrong? I can't put my finger on it. All I can say is that there was nothing motivating me to go on reading.

The character of Kate, our heroine, is bland and given to sudden silly outbursts for really stupid reasons. The hero, Christopher, is no better. One of the things that really bugged me was how one minute they couldn't fathom for one second that faeries exited and the next they are all but going after them. They, especially our heroine, are portrayed as religious therefore they cannot accept such pagan thoughts. The next thing you know they are utterly convinced that it was the Fey that took Christopher's niece a while back. Up to this "realization" Christ was adamant that the girl was dead and it was his fault for not watching her and that she fell into the Healing Well and drowned. He has lived with this guilt eating away at him and will accept no respite from wallowing in his misery. Then it takes Kate barely a few sentences to convince him without a shadow of a doubt that it's the Fey that did it.

Huh?

I found this a little too convenient. That along with the bland characters and the writing, which felt stiff and without any emotion, made me not care what happened to any of the characters or how this would end up.

A very disappointing Did Not Finish.

Book Description:

Will Lady Jeanette sacrifice her freedom to save her family's honor?

Lady Jeanette Avenel is the free-spirited second daughter of a nobleman in twelfth-century Scotland. When her elder sister, Isabel, isdishonored, Jenny is asked to relinquish her freedom in an attempt to save thegood name of her father's house. But will the affection of a mysterious young man lead to Jenny's ruin as well?

Lady Jeanette battles tradition and magic amid a world alive with medieval pageantry. Hers is the timeless story of a young woman who seeks to control her own destiny to win a better life for herself and her sister.

Kailana says...


This is an example of buying a book and totally not paying attention to what it is about. I read about this book, I assume on a blog, but it was quite some time ago. So, I finally decide that I am going to buy some of the books that have been on my Amazon wish list for a while, and this is one of them, so I added it to the cart. I did not know I was going to be posting about it on this blog, though, I thought it was historical fiction. Then, I thought it had an Arthurian twist to it. I mean, there had to be something historical about it that made me buy it. I get to reading it and I discovered that I had no idea what I was reading. This book is in fact a folk tale retelling, Tam Lin to be exact. Anyways, on with the review.

Even though I had no idea what I was reading, I really liked this book. It could be considered historical fiction, and actually, the mention of anything fantasy is very minor, so it did not have to go in this blog, but I chose to anyways. For the most part, it is a historical fiction novel. The two girls in the book have a slightly unconventional father, which is what happen when he has lost two wives and decided that he is not going to marry again. That being said, though, the girls are still held to the conventions of the day. The story is told through the eyes of Jeanette. Her world has suddenly been turned upside down because her typically conventional older sister had a run in with a knight that caused her to be cast off from society and destined for a life in the nunnery. Very historical fiction because it did not matter what this knightly fellow did, it was automatically the girls fault that it happened.

Jeanette never had to run the household before, her sister always did it, so she is trying to do her best for her family. That also extends to marriage. Suddenly her marriage is important because her sister is out of the running. She always counted on a simple and quiet marriage, even marrying for love, and now she is the forerunner in the marriage game and she might have to risk her freedom for the sake of her family. So, as you can see, it is a very conventional historical fiction novel. It is only when she meets Tam Lin, the young man that has taken up residence in his old family home, that the fantasy aspect presents itself. Re-tellings of the Tam Lin story seem to be quite popular nowadays. If you know the story, you roughly know what happens to Jeannette and Tam, but if you do not, I am not going to ruin it for you.

What I will say is that I really liked this book. Believe it or not, the reason I picked it up off the to be read pile is that my sister was into my books (rare, as she is not a reader) and picked this one out of the pile. When she finished it she told me she read it in one sitting, and I figured if the book to make my sister read, it was a worthwhile read. I am glad I read it, and I strongly recommend it. I look forward to seeing what other books this author has for me to enjoy.

4/5







Mailyn says...

Let me start by saying that I absolutely adored this book. It's by far the best story based on the Tam Lin myth I've read and, as I only borrowed it from our library, it's going to be the very next book I buy! For those not familiar, the Tam Lin folk ballad tells the story of a young man who was under the Faerie Queen's enchantment and a maiden who fell in love with him.

Everything about this book was perfect for me. I loved the heroine, Jenny because she seemed very real. Our story takes place in 1162 and these were bad times to be a woman. Many, many a writer tries to make historical heroines into carbon copy of our standards of today's independent woman and thus seem extremely out of place. Not so for McNaughton. Although our heroine is a bit of a free spirit [I am sure there were exceptions to every rule even back then] she still torn between what she feels and how she must act. One perfect example is how, at one point, she treats some of her servants. This is a time when servants could be beaten and mistreated and no one would see anything wrong with that. Jenny, having grown up without a mother to teach her how to run a household and seeing how some of the other nobles act, thinks that maybe that's how a lady of her station should behave. Nonetheless she still feels bad and sad if this is how she is expected to act. When she sees another noble girl actually being kind to the servants she understands that she was wrong and makes up for it.

Tam Lin is, well, perfect in his role. Really, there is not much I could say since I found him to be just wonderful. I also loved the look into the harsh life people had back then. It was hard to swallow some of the men and how they viewed and treated women but we all know our history and it would have hurt the book a lot if Janet had tried to make it fit with our ideals today.

The love story is beautiful and I must say I enjoyed the secondary story of Jenny's sister Isabel. She was a fallen woman yet she was merely a victim of a time where women where blamed for just about everything. LOL.

My verdict, as if you haven't guessed by now, is to run to your local bookstore and get your hands on this jem. You won't be disappointed!

A solid 5 out of 5!

The Genre

Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Faeries

The Plot

From the book:

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!
Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms -- a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Mailyn Says:

The Review

First of all let me start by saying that I was pleasantly impressed by this book but, even before we get into that, let me warn you all: do not be fooled by the title. This book pays homage to the REAL faerie tales, not the watered-down Disney versions of today. If you've ever had the pleasure of reading the true collected works of the Grimm bothers, unabridged mind you, then you know what I am talking about.

Consider the fact that most faerie tales back in the days were used to explain the unexplainable; the things that went bump in the night and those that could bump you off. They were also used to pretty much scare the children into not doing things they weren't supposed to do like, say, wander off in the woods alone.

This is THAT kind of faerie tale. Black isn't afraid to portray the Fae as they were known back when the Grimm’s were around. These are mean, bloodthirsty faeries and they have way too much fun being evil.

My kind of book. Mehehe.

OK, seriously now, you do have good and bad faeries but the bad seem to outnumber the good ones by a mile and then some. Black doesn't squirm when it comes to portraying the evilness that they are capable of and this is always good in setting up a believable adversary for the heroes. After all, wimpy evilness never scared anyone.

Although I did love this book a lot and am now officially obsessed with this series, I do have to admit that Black's writing does tend to reflect what her target audience is: Young Adults. That does not mean that the book is boring or that she doesn't paint her pictures well. It simply means that Black doesn't seem to be as thorough in her language, her prose and the minute details of her every page unlike say Garth Nix and his Abhorsen trilogy, Rowlings and her Harry Potter or Meyers and her Twilight.

To be sure, don't read this expecting another Bella and Edward or you will be sourly disappointed. Kaye is as far from Bella as werewolves are from vampires. Her world is not pretty. Trailer trash is the only way to describe her friends and family. I should know because I had plenty of friends back when I was in high school that were, for lack of better words, white trash. The way they talk, the things they do, I don't know if Black did much research but I'm willing to bet she did. I can almost see some of my friends in the manner these kids interact with adults and with each other. It brought back a lot of memories. But let’s keep with the review, shall we?

The mood of the book is also darker and more somber since, as I explained, Black isn't afraid to "go there". People die in this book. People you wished hadn't die but this keeps you on your toes wondering who is going to make it to the end unharmed. I have read many an urban fantasy and, as this was young adult, didn't expect much in the usually dark department that represents most urban fantasy novels. I am glad to say I was wrong and this fits into the genre perfectly, young adult label be damned.

Another thing I loved in the book were the characters themselves. Kaye is far from being the usual heroine we are all used to. Even in fantasy it's hard to find a heroine that is just so, well, trashy. She dropped out of school, she drinks, she smokes, she comes and goes whenever she wants, and she is all of 16 years old. Of course she is the product of her flighty mother's lifestyle but still, it was also a pleasant surprise not to have a little Miss Perfect, as it would have ruined the urban fantasy aspect

As far as heroes go, Roiben the Black Knight is great. I won't say he is the best I've ever read but he is very, very good. Reminded me somewhat of Daemon and Lucivar of Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy. He has suffered much because of the jobs he is forced to do as he is a slave to the evil Queen, which by the way, reminds me a lot of Dorothea the evil bitch Queen in the Black Jewel’s, except I find this crazy Queen scarier.

The Verdict

I say this book begs to be read. true to the Urban Fantasy genre, it’s not afraid to show you the darker side of life and it’s just all around entertaining. You will be hooked from the get go and, indeed, I am on my way to Amazon to order the next book in the series: Valiant.

A solid 4.5 out of 5



Kailana Says:

I am going to try and add on to what Mailyn said without repeating too much, so bear with me. I was drawn to this book from both reviews that I have read and from the fact that it was a fairy tale. I just seem to REALLY enjoy fairy tales. And this was no exception. It takes you no time at all to read, but it is so rewarding while you are doing it. For a young adult book, it was well-written. I agree with Mailyn, she seems to get a bit more childish with her writing than other young adult authors, but it doesn't take away from the book at all.

The first thing I must do is say that I liked Kaye more than Bella from Twilight. Mailyn compares, so I must do so too. I found Bella annoying, Kaye was more hardcore. I have been reading New Moon by Meyer, but have not got into it yet. Black's book draws you in from the very first page! I really enjoyed reading it. Robiben is also an interesting character. I would say this was totally his development stage, I think he will just improve with every novel you read by him. He is just coming into his own in this book, getting the chance to stand on his own two feet, so I think he will be a very interesting character to watch in future novels. I can see the comparisions with Anne Bishop, though.

Anyways, I strongly recommend this book to anyone that doesn't mind fantasy. It is a modern fantasy novel, and it is written very well. I look forward to reading the sequel.

I also give it a 4.5/5.