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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
This was a slow read for me. Towards the end I thought, that it might appeal to young girls as a young romance. However, the ending really threw me. At the beginning of the book Maria is a young 13 year old girl and it doesn't seem like her adventures take that long time wise, but a year later she is getting married? That just blew me away and had me rounding down. Also, this seems a very descriptive story and I guess I am a much more plot driven reader.
I came across this book because of the movie "The Secret of Moonacre" which was a nice coming of age movie without the heroine being overly feminine or tomboyish. The book was lovely. It reminded me of being a little girl reading Secret Garden for the first time. Perfect for a mother-daughter read!
That being said, I do have a couple complaints. One a child might not notice is the emphasis on quelling feminine curiosity and the importance of couples never quarreling. The second is the ending with everything tied up in a pretty bow. I realize it's a children's fantasy, but it didn't need a sugary cherry on top.
That being said, I do have a couple complaints. One a child might not notice is the emphasis on quelling feminine curiosity and the importance of couples never quarreling. The second is the ending with everything tied up in a pretty bow. I realize it's a children's fantasy, but it didn't need a sugary cherry on top.
I read this book as a child and loved it and reading it aloud to my two daughters was just as fun. They are 5 and almost 8 and they followed it quite well. As other reviewers have noted (in great detail!) this book is outdated in its vocabulary and ideas of love and heroism. But let us consider the age in which it was written and let us consider the age in which it was set. Within the context of both it makes complete sense. To me, at least. I don't only read my daughters books with which I completely agree or which only show my own ideals. The story line provoked valuable conversations about marriage, love, and courage, as well as why purity or goodness is so often represented with fairness of hair or skin, whereas villains are shown to be so by their dark skin, eyes, or hair. There is still magic in this book, archaic forms aside, and we're glad we read it.
This was hands-down my favorite book from childhood. I even went so far as to acquire a first edition. It is so descriptive and the story is so captivating. As a child, I didn't notice the religious undertones a bit. I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat.
Maria Merryweather and her governess are sent to Moonacre Manor to her only living relative after her dad's death. She feels like it is paradise (but feels like something creepy about it to me). There is an old wrong that a Merryweather must make right to banish the evil which lives in the nearby forest.
Gothic for children.
Gothic for children.
Read this last weekend, for probably the seventh time since childhood, as a respite from the cares of the world.
3.5 stars. A girl orphaned by her parents' death travels to live with her cousin at a distant estate, and is pulled into an ancient family feud troubling a sweet country village. The beauty and the beast vibes are real - not the monster bridegroom, but the estate: beautiful, gently neglected, haunted by a tragic past, magically populated by embroidered riding habits and delicious sugar biscuits. It's delightfully purple escapist reading, set on the blooming cusp of spring, lush and indulgent and unrepentant. And for want of a monster bridegroom or other dangerous fairytale aspect it's limited by its 1946 publishing date, with restrictive gender and didactic social commentary which is never subverted or complicated. I mind less than I would: blur out the lectures about the sins of female curiosity, and the protagonist's journey, riding her gigantic protector-dog into the dark woods that surround a fairytale estate, still feels beautiful, bold, and, yes, full of a hunger for knowledge.
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this book, years ago, after it being gifted to me from elizardbreath. It is one of the many fictional books that helped shape my childhood and later teen years. I decided to pick it up again a month ago, and just finished it. It is just as magical and beautiful as it was before, and it brought back a flood of memories.
I highly recommend reading it, if you like a mix between historical romance and magical whimsy.
This is staying in my permanent collection, to hopefully read to my future children.
I highly recommend reading it, if you like a mix between historical romance and magical whimsy.
This is staying in my permanent collection, to hopefully read to my future children.
I had to force myself to get through this one. There were two things wrong with this book.
1) Every character (even the 'bad' ones) were Mary/Gary Sues. Everyone had goodness in their hearts, everyone was perfect.
2) My belief was not suspended. Usually it is quite easy for me to immerse myself in a book and at least superficially believe what is going on. Not so in this case. Several examples: Deciding, on the fly, that you will marry a guy (two years older) that yells at you that you will marry him when you are thirteen. At sunrise, the waves are made up of little white horses and one of them got caught on an inland tree on a hill (I suppose this could have been broken down into two examples).
BONUS: The intricate relationships. Pretty much everyone is related and is having icky incest. Yes, I do admit that there are severeal degrees of seperation, but once you know someone has the same last name as you, it is your duty, as a human being, to stop it then. I know that it was a different time and place but in this preesent day, I cannot wrap my head around it.
BONUS X2: The introduction is too long. What I mean is, you spend half the book being introduced to the characters and scenery before you even know what her purpose is in being there and starting the actual adventure. (side note: it also tells you when the 'introduction' is done by saying that she now fit in and knew everyone and now something was going to happen [paraphrased, of course])
My recommendation? If you just have to, read the book. If you could live without, please, please do not. If you're in the middle and don't mind watching a not-so-great-but-better-than-the-book movie, then watch The Secret of Moonacre. It's nothing like the book, the characters are slightly more interesting (Sir Benjamin), the relations are less icky, the adventure takes center stage, and is just better in all ways.
Happy Reading
Jenny
1) Every character (even the 'bad' ones) were Mary/Gary Sues. Everyone had goodness in their hearts, everyone was perfect.
2) My belief was not suspended. Usually it is quite easy for me to immerse myself in a book and at least superficially believe what is going on. Not so in this case. Several examples: Deciding, on the fly, that you will marry a guy (two years older) that yells at you that you will marry him when you are thirteen. At sunrise, the waves are made up of little white horses and one of them got caught on an inland tree on a hill (I suppose this could have been broken down into two examples).
BONUS: The intricate relationships. Pretty much everyone is related and is having icky incest. Yes, I do admit that there are severeal degrees of seperation, but once you know someone has the same last name as you, it is your duty, as a human being, to stop it then. I know that it was a different time and place but in this preesent day, I cannot wrap my head around it.
BONUS X2: The introduction is too long. What I mean is, you spend half the book being introduced to the characters and scenery before you even know what her purpose is in being there and starting the actual adventure. (side note: it also tells you when the 'introduction' is done by saying that she now fit in and knew everyone and now something was going to happen [paraphrased, of course])
My recommendation? If you just have to, read the book. If you could live without, please, please do not. If you're in the middle and don't mind watching a not-so-great-but-better-than-the-book movie, then watch The Secret of Moonacre. It's nothing like the book, the characters are slightly more interesting (Sir Benjamin), the relations are less icky, the adventure takes center stage, and is just better in all ways.
Happy Reading
Jenny