Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry: Review

Secondhand Charm
By: Julie Berry
Review Copy received from Bloomsbury USA


Summary (from Goodreads): In a secluded village, magic sparkles on the edges of the forest. There, a young girl named Evie possesses unusually strong powers as a healer. A gypsy's charms—no more than trinkets when worn by others—are remarkably potent when Evie ties them around her neck. Her talents, and charms, have not escaped the notice of the shy stonemason's apprentice. But Evie wants more than a quiet village and the boy next-door. When the young king's carriage arrives one day, and his footman has fallen ill, Evie might just get her chance after all . . .

Berry's debut novel garnered glowing reviews and strong sales—and now she's done it again with a beautifully woven tale to keep all readers, young and old, absolutely charmed.

My Review: Younger readers will enjoy this fun, lighthearted story about a girl with big dreams and ambitions who suddenly finds out that everything she thought she knew about herself and her past isn't true.


I had previously read and reviewed Julie Berry's debut novel The Amaranth Enchantment (link). While I found the story delightful, I think I needed just a little more to push me over the edge to loving it.  I feel very much the same about this book.


Evie is a great heroine with strong ambitions and talents. I love a girl that is smart and knows what she wants. However, once we get into the story and add in a secondary character that is her familiar of sorts, I became a little disenchanted.  Frankly, her relationship with her familiar fellow was a little weird. I understood that they are bound to each other and require each other for survival, but her introduction to him and the way he latched on was just a tad over the top.  However, once they are introduced and the story continues, a lot of those feelings mellowed out and the little guy grew on me.


At about Chapter 24, or halfway through the book I started to really get engaged in the story. Plot was flowing, intrigue was beginning to take place, and I loved the addition of Rudolpho and Alfonso, the actors, to the story.  Evie's friendship with Annalise reminded me a lot of the relationship between Ani and Selia in The Goose Girl (which I loved). Annalise definitely has the gift of people-speaking, and she was a very nicely developed character.


As I said before, while I really enjoyed this book, I wanted a lot more back-story and information about Evie's leviathan. If you've been reading my reviews for awhile, you probably know how much I love a well-built story world.


However, this book is a perfect pick for those that love middle-grade fantasy. Another bonus? It's a stand-alone novel, which means no waiting for sequels!


My Rating:

Profanity: None
Sexuality: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Violence: None

Book-a-likes: Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George  

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry: Review

 The Amaranth Enchantment

By: Julie Berry

 

Synopsis (From Goodreads): When Lucinda Chapdelaine was a small child, her parents left for the royal ball and never returned. Ever since, Lucinda has been stuck in perpetual servitude at her evil aunt’s jewelry store.

 

Then, on the very same day, a mysterious visitor and an even more bizarre piece of jewelry both enter the shop, setting in motion a string of twists and turns that will forever alter Lucinda’s path.
In this magical story filled with delightful surprises, Lucinda will dance at the royal ball, fall under the Amaranth Witch’s spell, avenge her parents’ death, and maybe — just maybe — capture the heart of a prince.

My Review: This book was on the verge of being something I totally loved, but for some reason it fell flat. I really can't figure it out.  There wasn't anything horribly wrong with the story, the writing or the characters, but there were little flaws in each that added up to something that came very close to being a favorite book.

First, the dialogue was a little strange. I found it switched from being old-style english to modern-day slang too often. It probably would have been fine either way, but the combination of the two was really weird for me.

Second, the characters weren't quite engaging enough for me. I didn't really like the prince, and it didn't seem believable to me that Lucinda would like him. It seems like the only thing she liked were his looks. And she didn't seem like the type of girl that would only care about that.

Characters I did like: Dog and Peter. Peter was so much fun. I liked his boldness and the way he instilled confidence in Lucinda. He was very charming and interesting. Much better than Gregor if I must say so. Lucinda's goat, Dog, was so sweet and loyal you couldn't help but love him.

The ending wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. A lot of things happened that were a little hard to believe, and didn't quite flow with the rest of the story.  There were two twists in the story that I really liked, and one even made me audibly gasp.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, just not a fantastic book. I think a younger audience might like it better than I did.
 
My Rating:
I gave this book 3 stars

Profanity: None
Drugs and Alcohol: None
Sexuality: None
Violence: Mild

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/It's Monday What Are You Reading is hosted by Shelia at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

What a week! My first week back at work went well, I had two major work events this weekend but everything went smoothly.  I've got a lot of really awesome things planned for my blog in the next month. Seriously, it's going to be epic. But, it's taking all my free time to plan and organize.  I did manage to get a few things read though:

The Tension of Opposites by Kristina Mcbride: I'll get a review up sometime next week since the book comes out May 25.

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry: I'm working on a review now. It's been difficult since I've got mixed feelings about the book.

The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan: I won't have a review posted on this until September sometime since it doesn't come out until October 4.

What's up for this week?

Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus: I've got big plans for this ARC, so I've got to get it read this week!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Other items of blogging business

I'm helping to organize a fun week of events for those bloggers who aren't going to BEA this year.

Also, it's my blogiversary June 1st. I've got a lot of really awesome things in the works for it. I'm not ready to go into too many details, let's just say I've got over $150 in prizes lined up.

Oh, and it's Children's Book Week. Our library is doing a big bash on Saturday, and guess who is going to be there? Shannon Hale! So, I've got to plan on how to not be a total fan girl when I meet her. And, Mette Ivie Harrison will be there as well. I'm oh so excited!

So, whatcha reading this week?