Michele Ashman Bell

I'm quite torn on how to rate this book. As far as the narrative's quality, it deserves one star. It was pretty awful: bad dialogue, utterly predictable, and just absurd at some points. That being said, however, I loved reading this book. I spend too much time reading "literature." Reading this convinced me that I should throw in some complete trash from time to time. It's refreshing to read horrible prose, apparently (hence the added star). I read this out loud to Lauren and at dull moments show more or whenever some character uttered something abhorrently cliche, I took it upon myself to embellish the story (usually adding some form of adolescent potty humor). Occasionally, I said something that bothered my sweet wife. She asked me repeatedly to just read the book. Then, as I was "just reading" the story, she'd get mad at me for saying something ridiculous. That's how awesome this book is. It was full of stuff that was way worse than anything I could come up with. Good for Michele Ashman Bell for getting published, it must have been a christmas miracle. show less

The king and queen are dead, murdered by one who will stop at nothing to rule. But the young princess—Rosemund—has survived, spirited deep into the forest by her parents’ most trusted advisor. There, she finds refuge in a small cottage and a new life, one in which she must play a role that will ensure her survival. Soldiers are combing the countryside searching for the lost princess, and they will not rest until she is found—and eliminated.

Rosemund’s strength grows as she trains show more for battle and endures the hardships and dangers of peasant life. When chance brings Maxwell, a young man from the nearby village, into her life, Rose finds in him an ally and a friend. As her sixteenth birthday approaches, the time has come for Rose to reclaim her birthright, and in a court controlled by a vengeful new ruler, she must play a deadly game of politics in order to seize the throne that is rightfully hers.
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Pros:
- Aligns with Biblical morals and principles (e.g. faith, mercy, endurance, trust in God, prayer, not giving up, loving others (even if they're your enemy))
- Great coming-of-age story
- Strong female character
- Clean
- Quick read
- Great themes

Cons:
- If you're looking for this to be a romance, it's not. All the other Covenant medieval books I've read have more romance than this one but personally, I don't mind that much because I was reading the book for the book and not for romance. It's got like one kissing scene at the end though and two of the characters do come to love each other but they're mostly just friends for most of the book and that is all.
- Sometimes it feels like the author is just straight-out telling you what's happening as if you're not a part of it instead of making you feel like you're going through everything with the characters.
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My favorite character was Jacob! I loved him so much!! Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys medieval settings and/or strong female characters. Also to any girls my age (around 12-18)! And pardon me for the run-on sentences. I used to use bad grammar on purpose to annoy one of my friends but now I think it's actually become a real habit... show less

Unfortunately the writing hasn't really improved. The story line moves right along, which is an advantage, but the characters don't feel very real.

While the story has the potential to be exciting, the writing is just awkward enough that it doesn't get going. I like the idea of faith being incorporated into the storyline, but there again, it feel more like it is just stuck in, rather than being an important part of the story.