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grav_ityI think my chief problem with this was that I read it right after The Girl Who Drank The Moon, and therefore was v.e.r.y. picky about my Middle Grade at the time.
It's impeccably researched and the story is neat, but it's not as deft as tGWDtM, and it's certainly very dude-heavy. (I mean, there's a reason I rarely read books written by men in the first place.)
So anyway, it was interesting but not really gripping, and then I read the author's note and felt it was a little patronizing, but it's a solid entry, and it doesn't fall prey to any of the "But there weren't any black people!" bullshit that lazier medieval storytelling does (the three main characters were a girl, a Jewish boy, and a boy whose mother was African). Also, the whole book is illuminated, and the art is wonderful.
Anyway, so I didn't love it, but I do kinda respect it? YMMV.
It's impeccably researched and the story is neat, but it's not as deft as tGWDtM, and it's certainly very dude-heavy. (I mean, there's a reason I rarely read books written by men in the first place.)
So anyway, it was interesting but not really gripping, and then I read the author's note and felt it was a little patronizing, but it's a solid entry, and it doesn't fall prey to any of the "But there weren't any black people!" bullshit that lazier medieval storytelling does (the three main characters were a girl, a Jewish boy, and a boy whose mother was African). Also, the whole book is illuminated, and the art is wonderful.
Anyway, so I didn't love it, but I do kinda respect it? YMMV.
