Francesca Simon
Author of Horrid Henry
About the Author
Series
Works by Francesca Simon
A Triple Treat of Horrid Henry: "Horrid Henry and the Mummy's Curse", "Horrid Henry's Revenge", "Horrid Henry… (2002) 62 copies
A Hat Trick of Horrid Henry 3 Books in 1: Horrid Henry Mega-Mean, Football Fiend & Christmas Cracker (2007) 37 copies
Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine (Early Reader: Horrid Henry) (2016) — Author — 13 copies
Horrid Henry 5 Book Set: Horrid Henry's Underpants, Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb, Horrid Henry and the Mega Mean Time… (2013) — Author — 13 copies
A Monster Helping of Horrid Henry 3-in-1: Horrid Henry Rocks/Zombie Vampire/Monster Movie (2013) 9 copies
A Greedy Gulp of Horrid Henry 3 Books in 1: Horrid Henry Abominable Snowman, Robs the Bank & Wakes the Dead (2011) 8 copies
Horrid Henry Versus Moody Margaret: "Horrid Henry's Double Dare" AND "Moody Margaret Strikes Back" (2009) 6 copies
Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman, Horrid Henry's Rainy Day, Moody Margaret's Makeover. (2009) — Author — 5 copies
Horrid Henry's Jumbo Joke Book: Horrid Henry's Hilariously Horrid Joke Book/Purple Hand Gang Joke Book/All-Time… (2015) 5 copies
Horrid Henry's Loathsome Library Collection 30 Books Bundle (Horrid Henry,Horrid Henry Meets the Queen,Horrid Henry's… (2016) 2 copies
A Double Dose of Horrid Henry, Volume 2: Horrid Henry's Nits & Horrid Henry and the Haunted House (2002) 2 copies
Grozni Gašper sreča kraljico 1 copy
Grozni Gašper se maščuje 1 copy
Grozni Gašper in spodnjice 1 copy
Grozni Gašper 1 copy
Ne bodi grozen, Gašper! 1 copy
Rosszcsont Peti és a foci 1 copy
Grozi Gašper oropa banko 1 copy
Grozi Gašper ima uši 1 copy
Potrójna paskudna porcja: Koszmarny Karolek i klątwa mumii, Zemsta koszmarnego Karolka, Koszmarny Karolek i… (2009) 1 copy
Koszmarny komplecik: Koszmarny Karolek i wszy, koszmarny Karolek i wielka forsa, Koszmarny Karolek i nawiedzony dom, (2004) 1 copy
Szatańskie sztuczki: Koszmarny Karolek i megabombowa machina czasowa, Koszmarny Karolek i bestia boiska, Koszmarny… (2007) 1 copy
Koszmarny zbiorek: Koszmarny Karolek, Koszmarny Karolek i tajny klub, Koszmarny Karolek i zębowa wróżka (2009) 1 copy
Drakońska dawka: Koszmarny Karolek i cuchnąca bomba, Koszmarny Karolek i wstrętne gacie, Koszmarny Karolek i wizyta… (2009) 1 copy
Horrid Henry 4 Books Set: Horrid Henry's Stink Bomb, Horrid Henry and the Mummy's Curse, Horrid Henry's Underpants &… (2011) 1 copy
Horrid Henry's Christmas Stocking (Horrid Henry's Christmas Cracker & Horrid Henry's Jolly Joke Book) (2007) 1 copy
Horrid Henry Collection: Horrid Henry, Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick, Horrid Henry's Haunted House, Horrid Henry and the… (2011) 1 copy
The Complete Horrid Henry Collection: Includes Horrid Henry, the Secret Club, Tricks the Tooth Fairy, Horrid Henry's… (2011) 1 copy
Faoi gheasa ag PeigÌ Pusach 1 copy
Horrid Henry's Diary [DVD] 1 copy
Ag Maisiú Pheidí Pusach 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1955-02-23
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
UK - Birthplace
- St Louis, Missouri, USA
- Places of residence
- California, USA
London, England - Education
- Yale University
Oxford University (Jesus College|mediaeval studies and Old English) - Occupations
- journalist
author - Relationships
- Simon, Mayo (father)
- Organizations
- Sunday Times
Guardian
Mail on Sunday
The Daily Telegraph
Vogue (US)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 308
- Members
- 9,500
- Popularity
- #2,527
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 90
- ISBNs
- 1,162
- Languages
- 20
- Favorited
- 1
The story follows Hel, the half-dead god Norse goddess of death, from birth to Ragnarok, casting her as snarky, 'boy crazy', emo, girlboss teen with an acerbic attitude.
At first I was really enjoying the similarish tone to Harrow from Tamsyn Muir's Locket Tomb series, especially with the wonderful performance of Eleanor Tomlinson that has a similar timbre to Moira Quirk's glorious narration for Muir's books, but it's kind of left no actual impression on me and I had to kinda force myself to get though it. I thought Circe by Madeline Miller was great and I would most compare it to that with less depth, story arc, and the fact Circe seemed to be doing something new with the story from a historical/ mythological fantasy perspective.
I suppose the question I'm left with is, what was the point? The historical/ mythological fiction giving a character a new first person, protagonist perspective is generally used to explored a character in greater depth, especially one done dirty by events and their screen time, interpret them in a new way, often through a feminist lens, or using them much like science fiction as a medium to explore and/ or interrogate a contemporary issue. I don't really see this doing any of those beyond showing that Hel had a tough life. Unfortunately, this book doesn't really give her much depth or narrative, and, with the handling of her feelings for Balder and reaction to her yassification by the mortal Freya, it doesn't seem like a feminist reading.
I think the real shame is that this tone and prose really could have been something, but it ultimately comes off as running Hel's story through an 'AI' filter. That's really unfair and I don't mean to be so harsh on Simon, I simply mean that this is what if Hel was an emo teen girlboss? without actually exploring what that means.
The narration really is something else and I think I would have struggled so much more without it, but this is also the first audiobook I've upped the playback speed because I just wanted to finish it sooner.… (more)