Ellen Renner

Charlie is a princess living in poverty. The poverty of her mother, the Queen, running away when Charlotte was only six. The poverty of a cruel housemistress who feeds her cabbage water and stale bread. The poverty of a grief-stricken, deranged father, the King, who spends his time making castles of playing cards. But Charlie has most of her time to herself and spends much of it in a love-hate relationship with Tobias, the gardener’s helper. Tobias, the ever-smiling in spite of all her show more jabs, who fiercely protects his dark secret.
When Charlie discovers an incomplete letter from her mother that reveals the first clue to her disappearance, the wild girl is determined to solve the mystery of her beloved mother. The tension escalates as Charlie meets the Prime Minister who’s been ruling in her father’s stead. At first, Alistair Windlass’s charismatic smile lures Charlie to his side, but she soon notices that his eyes hold an opposite, cold message. Charlie learns of the resistance against Windlass and must assume a role of no little danger, staying on Windlass’ good side to gain intelligence for the Republicans.
Twists and turns abound as Charlie uncovers the truth behind her kingdom’s politics, and unexpected revelations unfold for both friends and enemies. But Charlie – Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte Augusta joanna Hortense - is equal to the task with her bold and brave character. Follow Charlie into her world and you will be swept up in the intrigues and secrets of Quale, the castle of shadows.
Renner is a master of descriptive prose that doesn’t impede the action and witty dialogue. Her characters are well-developed individuals with flaws as well as strengths. You will love to hate some of them and hate to leave others. My favorite supporting character is Mr. Molehill, the butler who lives in the cellars, kind-hearted, but timid like me. A meaty first novel that will have readers begging for more. show less

Hmm, yeah, this book wasn't as good as I hoped it would. The scene on the cover does actually happen, but it's not nearly as awesome as I thought it wuld be. And the plot is interesting, I really like the idea of the magical minority ruling the non-magical majority. It's a pretty reasonable caste system in a fantasy world.

I just had something different in mind when I started reading: I thought Zara would go on a more epic journey, rather than just sneak around underground for most of the show more novel. Though the sequel sounds like it will show us more of the world, so maybe I'll give that a chance.

I did like how Zara was like the perfect representation of well-meaning ally that really doesn't see her privilege. She gets angry when the oppressed people hate her because omggg can't you see I'm one of the good guys, but she's CONSTANTLY referring to the non-magical people as "kine" in her inner monologue, and we're told early on that kine means cattle and that when non-magicals here her use this they get offended. Yes, Zara, I understand that you've grown up with people using that slur and it's understandable that you do, but you also make zero effort to change your language, so you're not nearly as great of an ally as you think. But this definitely feels like it was done on purpose by the author, and I liked that.

What I didn't like was the rushed romance, the rushed character development and her comically evil dad. I really would have preferred to read a novel that was 100 pages longer but that actually took its time setting things up.

If I know myself I'll probably read the sequel, but I won't rush out to buy it ... show less

While there we some moments that were a bit slow and I found got in the way of the story, mostly this was an excellent read.

Zara is both privileged and not, her father is chief mage and his ruthlessness makes people step carefully around her. He is ruthless with her as well and he is disappointed by how she isn't his clone. She was traumatised by the death of her slave, Swift, who was killed for the crime of literacy. The mages have kept slaves, tributes, for years and they're treated show more appallingly.

Zara rebels and finds fellow rebels that can help but survival becomes important, her choices will have consequences and she's determined to work as hard as she can on fixing things so that she feels that she has used her talents in less selfish ways.

Interesting and entertaining. show less

Castle of Shadows by Ellen Renner
Pages: 400
Release Date: March 20th, 2012
Date Read: 2012, April 1st-7th
Received: ARC via NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
Recommended to: 10+

SUMMARY -
Her Royal Highness, the Princess Charlotte Augusta Joanna Hortense of Quale, more commonly known as Charlie, has spent the last six years getting to know every nook, cranny, and shadow of her father's castle. Her father, the King himself, busies himself by building card castles, higher and higher, driven mad. Some say show more by grief, others say by guild - that he killed Charlie's mother, the Queen. But Charlie knows she is alive, and is determined to find the whereabouts of her mother who disappeared all those years ago without a trace.

MY THOUGHTS -
I really enjoyed this mystery. I'm not a huge mystery reader - it typically has to blow my mind and shock me numb for me to 5-star it. But this book really was wonderful, a fun read as well as an intense one. Ellen Renner's style is lovely, her writing very sophisticated but easy to read.

CHARACTER NOTES -
I really did enjoy this cast. Charlie was such a fun MC, a girl with a lot going on - plus a huge personality. Tobias was a great addition, helping Charlie but to what end? Why is he helping her? His motives remain unclear until the end and I love this about him.

Mrs. Odair, the King, Mr. Moleglass, Bettina, Peter and a few others were great supporting characters, good or bad. All had a place and really complimented every aspect of Castle of Shadows.

My favorite character, however, is Alistair Windlass, Prime Minister of Quale. I won't spill any secrets about him, but I'll just say that he was perfect. Part of his perfection goes to the fact that one moment you hate him and the next you love him and after that you're wonderful where his loyalties lie. It's brilliant, really.

I had one issue with two of the characters - Charlie and Tobias. They didn't act their ages, 11 and 12, respectively. Charlie sometimes acted childish, but her level of thought-process, logic, and overall wisdom was that of a 13 or 14 year old. And Tobias mostly acted 14 or 15. So, I, erm, pretended they were the ages I pictured them as.

STORY NOTES -
Like I said, mysteries don't always cut it for me, but Castle of Shadows certainly did! For me, Renner's writing and the way she crafted her story created a wonderfully illustrated picture of life inside Charlie's castle, as well as Charlie's lifestyle and the lives of those around her. The difference between the lives of, say...Tobias and Windlass were striking.

I really liked the mystery of the missing Queen, but honestly, that wasn't my main draw. It was definitely Windlass, and everything to do with him. I was so surprised by all the things he did. He confounded me, like, every 5 pages or so.

The twist about Tobias in the end was really brilliant as well. I had an idea something like the real deal but wasn't sure...

SUMMING IT UP -
Dark intrigue. That's another thing...the story line was a bit darker/sadder than I would prefer for this age group, but can definitely be an exception. I really enjoyed Castle of Shadows! A great book to curl under the covers with. Especially the last 125 pages - I didn't put it down once!

For the Parents -
Some death toward the end. Darker themes (madness/murder) but not too strong. One or two uses of b****rd. Recommended 10+ show less