Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Loved the fiesty heroine, the men who fall for her, the horse who will never let her down, and the kingdom she saves.
I read this book again this year after Oprah said to reread the book that started your love of reading. I read this in 5th grade and still have the copy I bought at the Scholastic Book Fair. I still love this book, and I understand more than ever why 10 year old me fell in love with this book.
I enjoyed this book. I think I would have LOVED it in middle school/ high school when I was so desperate for female heroes. I liked Aerin's character development, and I liked the overarching themes in the book, but I found the pacing to be really off. I really liked reading as Aerin learned to understand the making of the kenet and began her dragon slaying career, but as soon as we get into Part 2, the events seemed rushed and too compressed. The confrontation with Agsded was just really peculiar and ended far too quickly and then the end of the book meandered on longer than even the end of Return of the King (book version). In summation, it is a book I can recommend to a certain type of reader, but not one I could really throw my whole enthusiasm behind. For a book about a female dragon slayer, I really had higher hopes.
I thought I liked this one less than the first book when I was younger, but I definitely liked it more this time. The ending plodded a bit though.
Why did Luthe make me think of Petyr Balish...? 🤔
Why did Luthe make me think of Petyr Balish...? 🤔
A favorite since I was 11. Centres around a strong-minded, strong-willed girl who has a fondness for swordplay, horses and slaying dragons.
I love this heroine—she trains her warhorse to ride without a bridle, goes off on her own to kill dragons, and gains an army of wild dogs and mountain cats. She returns to her city and turns the tide of a losing battle, and marries a man who accepts her as an equal. After marriage, only the animals have babies, and she gets to train warhorses and fighters. The writing was wonderful as well. This is the kind of story that I’m always looking for, and most fall short. The author really knows her horses as well—you can always tell the ones who know horses apart from the ones who just did some research. Much appreciated!
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn’t think this one was as good as some of the others I have read by this author. It needed a little more detail and to actually be longer. It felt a little rushed at the end.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Death
As a lover of fantasy novels in general, I thought that this would be a great read for me. Sadly, the takeaway feeling from the book that I was left with was the headache that the last half inspired.
First, let's talk about the structure of the story itself. The first two chapters are a kind of 'in the future' hook that I'm sure was supposed to reach out and grab you. It left me feeling confused because I had no idea that's what it was doing until I reached that point in the chronology of the story. The next eighty pages or so, are then a flashback to catch you up on the story. The story is divided into two clearly marked parts and this is the first one. The second starts on page one hundred nine and is so incredibly less interesting - and of a very different sort - that it feels as though Ms. McKinley wanted to write two distinct stories and just didn't have enough ideas for either of them.
The main character of the story is Aerin who was somewhat interesting in the first part. She is a first sol (equal to a princess) that cannot inherit the throne because her mother was a witch that the people believe bewitched the king. To further seal her fate, she is devoid of the magic gift that all of the royal blood possess. This first half deals with her struggles to be comfortable in court while most people view her with open hatred or fear.
The only ones that do not is her father the king, her personal...handmaiden(?) and Tor, her young childhood friend. There are few other characters of note and this part of the story is mostly a coming of age yarn about a girl that starts slaying dragons. Not the dragons of old, those behemoth creatures, but dragons that sound to be roughly the size of a breadbox with useless wings.
The second part of the story begins with Aerin's battle against an ancient dragon. This is also the point where the members of the court pretty much disappear in favor of Luthe.
I liked Tor. I thought he was nice and was so glad to see someone like him playing the love interest - even if Aerin never showed any romantic interest in him.
Luthe is the third part of the love triangle - something that almost every book marketed to a young adult audience seems to need. He was very off putting to me and I hated the near love-at-first-sight thing he and Aerin had going on.
Speaking of Aerin, her personality really changed in the second half. She went from a fairly independent, rather foolishly courageous young lady to a needy, whiny, lackadaisical girl. So many of the events in the second half were just thrust on her and she didn't/couldn't make any decision on her own.
The writing was choppy and we had paragraphs filled with run-on sentences. The style of writing was a bit too wordy for me, with more descriptions and less conversations that I would have liked. This is due, at least in part, to Aerin traveling alone so often - which I felt was a poor decision on Ms. McKinley's part.
Finally, as one other review that I found mentioned, the semi-colon was used so incorrectly in this book. Nearly every paragraph had to have one of these miss-abused little signs in it, making me wonder if that key tended to stick on Ms. McKinley's typewriter. Of course, that doesn't explain how any proofreaders/editors missed it.
Oh, I almost forgot. This story is told in the third person omnipresent view. Which means that, even while we are 'inside' the main character's head, we get a little information trickling in about what the other people are thinking and muttering. Except for one very noticeable instance where Aerin's companion only muttered and she couldn't hear it (obviously done to add mystery). This was a writing choice that bothered me a bit. Not as much as a first person POV would have - I, likely, would have never picked up the book then - but I feel a slightly different POV would have served better. (I also think this is the reason behind my headache...)
As I was reading this book, I found myself wondering: 'who is this book directed towards?' It is somewhat marketed as a children's novel (so the 'John Newbery Medal' stamp on my copy proudly proclaims) but a couple of referenced instances of marital relations between two people - and one that would continue on to marry someone else, no less - scrapped that idea for me. Young adult novel, perhaps? While I could see that slightly more, I personally would have reviled this book when I was a teen - specifically because of the romance. I could be convinced that it is directed towards teens if not for one glaring issue. The characters are flat. Much more flat than in any other YA novel I have ever read.
With that thought in mind, I checked the publication date and, upon discovering the book was first published in nineteen eighty-four, promptly backed off. I have read a few books from the nineteen eighties and prior and the one thing they all seem to have in common is a complete lack of true 'Characters'. (My own opinion, from my own experience.)
First, let's talk about the structure of the story itself. The first two chapters are a kind of 'in the future' hook that I'm sure was supposed to reach out and grab you. It left me feeling confused because I had no idea that's what it was doing until I reached that point in the chronology of the story. The next eighty pages or so, are then a flashback to catch you up on the story. The story is divided into two clearly marked parts and this is the first one. The second starts on page one hundred nine and is so incredibly less interesting - and of a very different sort - that it feels as though Ms. McKinley wanted to write two distinct stories and just didn't have enough ideas for either of them.
The main character of the story is Aerin who was somewhat interesting in the first part. She is a first sol (equal to a princess) that cannot inherit the throne because her mother was a witch that the people believe bewitched the king. To further seal her fate, she is devoid of the magic gift that all of the royal blood possess. This first half deals with her struggles to be comfortable in court while most people view her with open hatred or fear.
The only ones that do not is her father the king, her personal...handmaiden(?) and Tor, her young childhood friend. There are few other characters of note and this part of the story is mostly a coming of age yarn about a girl that starts slaying dragons. Not the dragons of old, those behemoth creatures, but dragons that sound to be roughly the size of a breadbox with useless wings.
The second part of the story begins with Aerin's battle against an ancient dragon. This is also the point where the members of the court pretty much disappear in favor of Luthe.
I liked Tor. I thought he was nice and was so glad to see someone like him playing the love interest - even if Aerin never showed any romantic interest in him.
Luthe is the third part of the love triangle - something that almost every book marketed to a young adult audience seems to need. He was very off putting to me and I hated the near love-at-first-sight thing he and Aerin had going on.
Speaking of Aerin, her personality really changed in the second half. She went from a fairly independent, rather foolishly courageous young lady to a needy, whiny, lackadaisical girl. So many of the events in the second half were just thrust on her and she didn't/couldn't make any decision on her own.
The writing was choppy and we had paragraphs filled with run-on sentences. The style of writing was a bit too wordy for me, with more descriptions and less conversations that I would have liked. This is due, at least in part, to Aerin traveling alone so often - which I felt was a poor decision on Ms. McKinley's part.
Finally, as one other review that I found mentioned, the semi-colon was used so incorrectly in this book. Nearly every paragraph had to have one of these miss-abused little signs in it, making me wonder if that key tended to stick on Ms. McKinley's typewriter. Of course, that doesn't explain how any proofreaders/editors missed it.
Oh, I almost forgot. This story is told in the third person omnipresent view. Which means that, even while we are 'inside' the main character's head, we get a little information trickling in about what the other people are thinking and muttering. Except for one very noticeable instance where Aerin's companion only muttered and she couldn't hear it (obviously done to add mystery). This was a writing choice that bothered me a bit. Not as much as a first person POV would have - I, likely, would have never picked up the book then - but I feel a slightly different POV would have served better. (I also think this is the reason behind my headache...)
As I was reading this book, I found myself wondering: 'who is this book directed towards?' It is somewhat marketed as a children's novel (so the 'John Newbery Medal' stamp on my copy proudly proclaims) but a couple of referenced instances of marital relations between two people - and one that would continue on to marry someone else, no less - scrapped that idea for me. Young adult novel, perhaps? While I could see that slightly more, I personally would have reviled this book when I was a teen - specifically because of the romance. I could be convinced that it is directed towards teens if not for one glaring issue. The characters are flat. Much more flat than in any other YA novel I have ever read.
With that thought in mind, I checked the publication date and, upon discovering the book was first published in nineteen eighty-four, promptly backed off. I have read a few books from the nineteen eighties and prior and the one thing they all seem to have in common is a complete lack of true 'Characters'. (My own opinion, from my own experience.)
Good book o really enjoyed it when I was younger in school.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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