Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published:
May 24, 2012
Pages:
266
Source:
For Review from Simon & Schuster Canada (Thank you!)
Rating: 2 Stars
Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl shut up in a nunnery so she can’t inherit any of her father’s estate. As the nuns walk in their sleep and see strange visions, Isolde is accused of witchcraft—and Luca is sent to investigate her, but finds himself plotting her escape.
Despite their vows, despite themselves, love grows between Luca and Isolde as they travel across Europe with their faithful companions, Freize and Ishraq. The four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers as they head toward a real-life historical figure who holds the boundaries of Christendom and the secrets of the Order of Darkness.
In short: Though Philippa Gregory is well known and liked for her adult historical novels, I do not believe her writing and characterization translated well to her YA debut, Changeling.
Despite this, I can't say I was completely entertained and enthralled with Changeling. The story felt very disjointed as it was split into two completely separate story lines, one revolving around a nunnery and one a werewolf, and neither of them were particularly interesting. The characterization was also bland, save for a few secondary characters, making it hard to care much about what happened to these characters. And the writing, to be honest, left much to be desired, which was surprising because I was expecting a lot from Philippa Gregory. But at best the writing was bare-boned, without any flourish or interest, and at worst, kind of... well, bad. (Note: I really dislike describing an author's writing as bad because I am by no means a good writer myself, obviously, so my apologies for my hypocrisy here).
I have not read any of Gregory's adult historical novels, but I understand from their popularity that they are quite well done and detailed. It's unfortunate then that my first exposure to her work was though Changeling, her YA debut, as I do not believe Gregory's writing and characterization translated well to YA. As such, I will not be continuing with this series. It wouldn't feel fair for me to judge her writing just based off of Changeling though, so I would like to give her adult works a try sometime.
Other Reviews:
Hooked on Books
Midnight Bloom Reads
Musings of a YA Reader
Author Links:
Website
Aww, bummer.
ReplyDeleteSounds like this book was a real le down for you :(
I have heard her books are pretty good too, but never picked one of them up since I'm not that big into court drama and the stuff she usually writes about. :P
Anyway, hope your next read is more awesome.
Yeah, it was too bad. I think I might actually really like her adult books but I'll have to check them out to be sure.
DeleteSorry this didn't work for you, but I do appreciate the honest opinions! I think some authors just aren' mean to do YA, but it seems to be the new trend for adult authors to try YA (and even a bit vice versa). I'm totally cool with that, but again, it doesn't work for some.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
Yeah, I've noticed that myself. And the attempts that I've read so far, including Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney and Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult were no good, in my opinion.
DeletePhilippa Gregory is one of my favourite authors. I simply loved her books about the Tudors. Her books are so well written. But as for her writing for a YA audience, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI know, I have heard that and that's what makes me so confused about the writing here. I really should give her a second chance because I feel bad.
DeleteI dislike when I start a book and it's not really what I expected. I'm not a fan of historicals at all so this one wasn't even on my TBR list. Too bad it wasn't as good as you were hoping.
ReplyDeleteYeah, misleading blurbs are a huge pet peeve of mine. I feel fooled. If I had known what it was really about, then I would've skipped it and spent my time reading something else!
DeleteYeah, that synopsis is misleading. I had the same problems as you, Aylee, with this one, but I plan on reading the next one in the series. Hopefully, it'll be better because she'll have some experience writing for a YA audience. I definitely hope Luca and Isolde become deeper characters or I probably won't be continuing on either.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, maybe she'll improve. In that case, I'll be interested to hear what you think of it, if the plot becomes less disjointed, if the writing and characterization is better.
DeleteEh a nunnery and a werewolf? Huh! I hate it when summaries are misleading because it leds to false expectations. I think I will pass on this but maybe try one of her adults one day? It sounds like what makes her a great adult didn't transition well into YA.
ReplyDeleteIf I had known what this one was really about, I wouldn't have given it a chance to be honest. So yes, false descriptions suck. I have heard from numerous people that she really is a great adult historical author though so I would like to give her adult stuff a chance for sure.
Deleteawwwwwww that is too bad! I really wanted to read this one but now I think I will just borrow it from the library later. I haven't read too much historical fiction so I think I might try this one! Thank you for the honest review :-)
ReplyDeleteFollowing!!!!!!
SeeitORreadit
Well, if you really wanted to read it, then you shouldn't take my word for it - you should absolutely try it! I know there were a few reviews out there that were actually quite positive.
DeleteSucks that you didn't like it, it's still on my TBR shelf so i will reserve my opinion!
ReplyDeleteGood idea! I hope you love it!
DeleteBummer. Every review I read gives me the same impression: Tons of potential and expectations given the author, but a total letdown in the end. I wonder if she put less effort in because it's YA? I hope not. I think I'll be skipping it for now.
ReplyDeleteWho knows what went wrong. Maybe adult writers really don't translate well to YA writing.
DeleteHow disappointing. I've been looking forward to that because I liked the one adult book of hers I read. Maybe I'll get to it some time.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in hearing what you thought of it!
DeleteI've tried to read her adult books, but could never get into them. I normally like historical fiction, but felt like her pacing was slow. Maybe adults can tolerate slower pacing, but that's not something that you can do in YA? Thanks for reviewing it, I was on the fence on whether I should check this out.
ReplyDeleteLauren @ Hughes Reviews
Hmm, but I've read plenty of slow paced YA books that still managed to intrigue me. So I really don't know what was up.
DeleteYeah, I remember Z saying something similar about the characterization. Bum deal. I'm not much of a historical fiction gal, but I think I would have liked this one if the focus was more supernatural or PN than just HF.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I would have liked it more had the characterization been better or the plot more interesting.
DeleteI got this book for review and I was really looking forward to it...because of the synopsis and it's a Philippa Gregory book for teens. I haven't read any of her adult books either. I'm still reading this, but it's slow going. I think the concept and the two main characters are interesting, but like you I'm disappointed in the writing. Did you notice how she kept repeating? I started to wonder if she was paid by the word.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I noticed that. It seemed either really amateurish, or else like she was doing it on purpose just to fill pages. I was very disappointed in her skills.
DeleteI'm really disappointed to hear that Gregroy's writing doesn't translate well to YA. I've been seeing a lot of reviews for this one that are making me decide to put off reading this. I love Gregory's adult books but I don't think I'll like this one. Thanks for the honest review.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I should really give one of her adult books a chance, considering how many good things I always hear about them.
Delete