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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
8/12/10 - I wish I'd read this book as a kid. It was lovely! We were recently at the movies and saw and ad for the movie adaptation of this called The Secret of Moonacre. I'd never heard of it before. The library had it, so off I went. It was sweet! It's the perfect elementary school age book. This is a book that's going on my "to buy" list for Em when she gets a little older. Lovely.
9/12/11 - I read this one to Em as a bedtime story. It took quite a while. I think she got tired of it after the first half, but we did finish it.
9/12/11 - I read this one to Em as a bedtime story. It took quite a while. I think she got tired of it after the first half, but we did finish it.
Enchanted and utterly enchanting tale for the young, and the young at heart.
Not a satisfying mystery for me. Maria's only true obstacles were the Old Parson being an overbearing jerk and the rest of the adults being useless and refusing to fix the obvious problems plaguing their idyllic town--but not in the way adults are typically useless in MG and YA stories. These people were straight-up incompetent. And I didn't connect with Maria. She's a solid character but doesn't have much spirit.
I see the appeal and would probably still recommend it to the appropriate age group, but it doesn't carry over genre lines very well.
I see the appeal and would probably still recommend it to the appropriate age group, but it doesn't carry over genre lines very well.
content warning below for stereotypes, racism, marriage of children, incest regarding cousins.
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This book was surprisingly /very/ problematic. The book is set in 1842, which explains why some of the problematic stuff happened, but does not justify it. I started reading it because my favorite movie, The Secret of Moonacre, is based off of this book and thank goodness the movie did not stick to the original plot and here's why.
1. The antagonists of the novel are literally called "The Black Men." They are described as dark and evil, etc, and considering that this book was written 1946, I really wouldn't be surprised if this was the author's attempt at some sort of racist allegory. "The Black Men" are constantly stealing from the villagers
2. There are a lot of stereotypes with women and Marmaduke, who has some bodily disfigurement just because of how he was born. There were also a lot of racist and sexist ideas. It's honestly concerning.
3. Robin and Maria, who are both about 13-14, get married at the end of the book.
4. A recurring idea is that Maria shouldn't be so curious or prideful and that she should be demure and sweet.
5. Loveday and Benjamin are cousins and they were planning on getting married until they argued and Loveday was blamed for it because she annoyed Benjamin by wearing the color pink. At the end of the book they get married.
Even looking past the problematic pieces, there wasn't anything I liked. The writing was very confusing. The characters weren't very well developed or good people.
Anyways, here is where Imma tell y'all to go watch The Secret of Moonacre, 2008 movie with Dakota Blue Richards. The movie took the setting and created a masterpiece without all the problematic stuff so go watch it because the cast is actually really good and I'm in love with Robin's actor. Plus the costumes and aesthetics are sooo cool.
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This book was surprisingly /very/ problematic. The book is set in 1842, which explains why some of the problematic stuff happened, but does not justify it. I started reading it because my favorite movie, The Secret of Moonacre, is based off of this book and thank goodness the movie did not stick to the original plot and here's why.
1. The antagonists of the novel are literally called "The Black Men." They are described as dark and evil, etc, and considering that this book was written 1946, I really wouldn't be surprised if this was the author's attempt at some sort of racist allegory. "The Black Men" are constantly stealing from the villagers
2. There are a lot of stereotypes with women and Marmaduke, who has some bodily disfigurement just because of how he was born. There were also a lot of racist and sexist ideas. It's honestly concerning.
3. Robin and Maria, who are both about 13-14, get married at the end of the book.
4. A recurring idea is that Maria shouldn't be so curious or prideful and that she should be demure and sweet.
5. Loveday and Benjamin are cousins and they were planning on getting married until they argued and Loveday was blamed for it because she annoyed Benjamin by wearing the color pink. At the end of the book they get married.
Even looking past the problematic pieces, there wasn't anything I liked. The writing was very confusing. The characters weren't very well developed or good people.
Anyways, here is where Imma tell y'all to go watch The Secret of Moonacre, 2008 movie with Dakota Blue Richards. The movie took the setting and created a masterpiece without all the problematic stuff so go watch it because the cast is actually really good and I'm in love with Robin's actor. Plus the costumes and aesthetics are sooo cool.
adventurous
medium-paced
I think I would have loved this book when I was 8-10 years old. But I struggled to get into it now.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a delightful fairytale. I truly loved it and wished I had read it as a girl.
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Skvělé, akorát pořád nechápu, proč měla autorka potřebu provdat holku ve čtrnácti. Přitom na ději by se nic neměnilo, kdyby jí bylo aspoň 17? Když už musí být hodně mladičká...