An Uncertain Choice by Jody Hedlund

As an avid reader of historical romance, I have accepted not every book needs to be 100% accurate to the time-period it represents. No one is perfect and no author, (and no reader) will ever know everything about a particular time in history. If the story and characters are well written small mistakes can and should be excused. However, there is a difference between having small mistakes such as a character mentioning a book that was written a handful of years after the story takes place and having a character use a piece of technology that was not only invented centuries later (if it even existed) they utilize it incorrectly.

An Uncertain Choice  unfortunately is the latter. As I said earlier if I find a book to be enjoyable, I can overlook inaccuracies. However, I did not find the story to be anything to write home about and the inaccuracies feel as if no research was done at all. 

The premise is that our heroine Rosemarie must become a nun when she turns 18 because of a vow her late parents made. The inciting incident is when Rosemarie’s godfather finds a loophole to this vow. Rosemarie must marry before her 18th birthday so her Godfather introduces her to 3 of his noblest knights to compete for her hand, but it quickly becomes clear that someone is trying to sabotage the knight’s efforts in wooing Rosemare. 

Rosemarie, is not that much of a three dimensional character. What I know about her is that she wants to be a good ruler, she is opposed to torture, and she cares a great deal about the poor. Rosemarie’s relationship with the poor and peasants was presented as one of her greatest virtues. The peasants all adore Rosemarie, but not a single one of them have names and anything more meaningful than a parasocial relationship with her. They only exist to ask Rosemarie for alms  so that she could come across as a kind person when she gives them donations. 

There is also a gratuitous usage of medieval torture and torture devices. Although Rosemarie has long since outlawed such cruel practices in her territory, the story opens with our heroine running into the square to save an old man from being boiled alive because the sheriff cannot be bothered to respect Rosemarie as a ruler. Now, punishment for crimes was brutal hundreds of years ago, I am not going to pretend they were not. However, many of what we think in pop culture as medieval torture were rarely used if they were actual medieval inventions. Also, the mention of torture was explicit and very detailed, which I found did not fit the tone of the book.

Like the peasants, the torture feels as if it is only in the story as a tool to make Rosemarie likable. Torture bad. Rosemarie does not like it. Rosemarie good. 

The romance was not all that interesting to me as I found it difficult to root for a character who I don’t care for to find true love.  I also struggled to root for one of the three potential love interests when it was likely one of them was actively trying to harm the others. On the other hand, this mystery of who was the one playing dirty kept me reading as I was thinking it would be resolved excitedly. I was wrong. The one who was guilty was obvious, but as I was reading, I was convinced they must be a red herring. 

If this book was not explicitly stated to be set during the 14th century in England and was fantasy, many of my gripes regarding the historical and religious inaccuracies would be irrelevant. But I still would not be able to say that I would recommend a book as the romance and the subpar mystery and tonal issues would still be present. I wish I knew of a book with a similar premise I could recommend instead, but I cannot think of one. If anyone does know of one please feel free to mention it in the comments. 

Elenor and Park Review

   

 I think it’s about time I read a book this year that I actually liked. However, Eleanor and Park is not one of my new favorites. Little things irritated me were scattered throughout the book. That said, more was done right than wrong and Eleanor and Park is one of the better high-school romance novels out there. 

      The first and probably biggest gripe I had with this book was the formatting. Eleanor and Park is written in third-person limited switching between Eleanor’s and Park’s perspective. I didn’t have a problem with the split perspective. The book is title Eleanor and Park it the story of the two of them not just one. What I didn’t poetically like was the way in which the split perspective was handled. Every time the narration would switch between Eleanor and Park the page would be title with the current narrator. However, I feel this is very unnecessary as the book it third-person. If the narrator switches it’s very obvious. Personally, I felt slightly insulted as if whoever made this formatting decision thought the readers were too dumb to figure out who was narrating by the text alone that they had to outright be told.  I shall note this is very much a personal preference of mine and that several of my friends were not bothered by this one bit. 

      As to the actually story, I don’t think I have ever before read such a realistic representation of a high school relationship. Park and Eleanor are teens. Although they very much care about one another, they aren’t ready to get married and start their lives together. 

      The way the relationship came slowly, but organically. It wasn’t that Park saw Eleanor get on the bus and instantly fell in love or vice-versa. Eleanor starts reading Park’s comics with him and they slowly become friends. 

     Eleanor’s dysfunctional family contrast nicely with Park’s functional one. Park has a set of parents who love each other very much while Eleanor’s father doesn’t appear to care much for her, but her step-father is even worse. 

     I’ve notice the ending is a bit of a touchy subject so I have decided to discuss it here. I am not going to say exactly what happens just what I felt about it. However, I feel the following paragraph could be considered a spoiler. Read at your own risk. 

    Opened endings are lacking in YA books especially romances. I like the possibility of wondering what happened to Eleanor and Park’s relationship. I don’t have to know exactly where it went because whether the pair is together or not, I feel both Eleanor and Park win in the end. My biggest problem, which was not enough to ruin the book for me, was I felt not enough justice was given to Eleanor’s step-father. 

The Importance of Book Covers

    The phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” is a cliché, and a rather old one at that. One of the oldest print recordings of the phrase is from the June 1867 issue of a newspaper called, Piqua Democrat. To sum up what was said the article stated not to judge a man by his appearance because he could have many skills underneath. Not so bad because it would be wrong for me to look at a stranger in the checkout line and decide everything there is to know about that person. However, books are not people. (Shocking, right?) A books cover is often the first thing someone notices while browsing through shelves at a library, bookstore, or a personal collection. Book covers matter and most people, myself included, do speculate about the content of the book by looking at the cover. The phrase, “don’t judge a book by a cover,” wouldn’t exist if this didn’t happen.

      A good book cover is good marketing. Publishing companies know the first thing a potential buyer notices about a book is the cover. Because of this they have developed ways to make covers that will attract their target audience. Hopefully if the cover is intriguing enough for someone to take it from the shelf he/she might read the synopsis, and maybe the first few pages. The goal is to eventually sell the book. Book covers are the bait used to lure readers in. However, it would be wrong for me to say it is all about marketing. Designing books covers is an art that involves capturing the feel of the words written inside. 

      For a cover to be successful it doesn’t exactly need to be attractive. I know of some very ugly covers that I don’t like to look at, but they do fit the story very well.  Red Queen by Victory Aveyard has an upside-down crown that is covered in blood. I like blood inside people’s body, where it belongs, not on a book cover. However, it is professionally done. The main character, Mare, is only pretending to be a noble lady as her life depends on it, but blood is a huge deal in the story. A person’s blood not only determines who is related to whom, but a person’s class and his/her ability. Although I don’t like looking at a book cover that is dripping blood, that isn’t to say it doesn’t play into the themes of the story.     

      Sometimes a cover can be absolutely beautiful, but make zero sense. The first edition cover for Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was  gorgeous. It shows the main character in a fancy white dress standing against a shattered wall. It isn’t displeasing to the eye, but it doesn’t represent the book well. At no point does this girl has the opportunity to wear such a dress. The new covers, while some people think they still don’t make much sense, I think they fit better and it is a good change. The eye on the cover is the main character’s eye. It’s like her window to the world. Although this cover is a little eerie looking, I think it fits much better. 

       A good book cover is one that fits the book and gives the reader a hint of what lies ahead. The cover doesn’t need to be pretty, but it should be professional. If a book cover is amateurish then it is easy to brush it off as an armature story. That is why the most common advice I hear for people looking to self-publish is to hire a professional graphic designer to make the cover of the book. This is also important because a professional is likely to know some tricks that make a cover work. Such as what colors, shapes, and positioning of objects will invoke certain emotions in the viewer. A designer ,also, needs to consider how a cover will look when scaled down because a person looking for a book online will only see a small thumbnail image of the cover. 

     Does this mean it is okay to "Judge a book by its cover"? Of course not! Although a taste of the story inside is presented in the cover, a good cover is still only a window to what a reader will find once he/she opens it up. I know it’s been said a picture is worth a thousand words, but no cover image is going to reveal exactly what was written inside. The best way to know what stories and worlds a book holds is to read it. 

Sources:

https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2015/09/30/4-ways-hack-book-cover-design-science/

https://www.draft2digital.com/blog/the-psychology-of-a-good-book-cover/

http://writerunboxed.com/2017/09/17/the-psychology-behind-good-book-cover-design/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hek_bJARjEg

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-in-world/201208/judging-book-its-cover

https://tcnjjournal.pages.tcnj.edu/2013/03/24/why-you-bought-that-book-the-psychology-behind-book-hunting/

https://www.knowyourphrase.com/you-cant-judge-a-book-by-its-cover

Spoiler Talk Part Two: What Counts as Spoilers?

 This is a sequel of sorts to another article I wrote, Whose Responsibility is it to Avoid Spoilers, if you missed out on that one you can check it out right here, but please finish this one first. :) http://charmingchum.blogspot.com/2018/03/spoiler-talk-part-one-who-is.html

      I and many people really only think of something as spoiled when we hear how it ends. If I learned a little bit about a subplot occurring later in the story, is that also a spoiler? I would say yes, but I enjoy going into a story blind so I can both try to guess what is going to happen next and to keep my expectations under control so what are some guidelines I use to pinpoint spoilers?

    If something isn’t in the trailer of a movie I consider it a spoiler. However, I don’t trust movie trailers anymore so I avoid them. For example, I knew I wasn’t going to see The Last Jedi until after Christmas and I had to quite the internet until then. I suppose I went a little too far as I refused to even watch the trailer until after I saw the movie. After seeing the trailer, I wondered why I thought it was going to spoil me because they did a good job not revealing important events from the end of the film. However, I am still not a person to watch trailers if I’m not forced to because I am at a movie theater.

  

  My personal opinion about what counts as a spoiler for books is if it isn’t in the synopsis and/or the first 20-45 pages (this is the length of most previews give or take a few pages) of the book then I consider it a spoiler. Although, this ground is a little shaky because sometimes a book’s synopsis will have spoilers. Spoiler Warning for Flames in the Mist if you haven’t read it yet I recommend you skip the next several sentences. The synopsis stated Mariko, the main character, was going to find love that will challenge everything she believes in. Although the character who Markio ended up falling in love with was introduced early in the story (within my 20-45-pages rule) there wasn’t any sexual tension until about 50 pages later and actual romance doesn’t begin until well over the second half of the book. This romance was an important plot point but doesn’t occur until the story is coming to a close. Because I knew Mariko would find love when I opened the front cover I continued to anticipate it, but I think I may have enjoyed the story more if I didn’t know what was going to happen. I would rather the question not be “When will Mariko find love?”, but “Will Mariko find love?”

Top 5 Favorite Romance Novels

Top 5 Favorite Romance Novels                                                      

5. The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Vol. 2 by Keiko Ishihara  

  I am trying to avoid plot specific events because I don’t

want to spoil what occurs in the first volume. If it wasn’t  

for my sister urging me on, I would never have gotten around          

to reading volume 2 of this series. Don’t get me wrong the first

one was good. However, it could have been better, but it could have been a lot worst. I gave it three stars. Anyway, thanks to my sister I would have missed out on a delightful romance manga. There are areas in need of development. For instance, the main character’s relationship with her best friend. My sister told me Ishihara wanted to develop it more, but her producers were worried it would take the focus away from the romance. All in all, The Heiress and the Chauffeur is a breezy read. However, that isn’t to say this story doesn’t have some heavy moments of family turmoil.

*Content* As mentioned above there are moments of family turmoil and I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who might have a chaotic home life as it could be triggering. There are also mentions of past injuries, and violence, and some very sensual moments. 15+

4. The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson

     My nostalgia glasses were on when I decided

to put this book on this list as it is the first non-middle

school book I read for fun. It is a historical retelling of

Snow White with a strong Christian focus. (It is set in pre-

reformation Europe) Something that really attracted tween me to the protagonist, Sophie, was her issues with letting go her past with the duchess, the fill in for the evil queen, but Gabe, the fill in for Prince Charming who isn’t a prince, encourages her to let God heal her. I like how both Gabe and Sophie better each other because of their relationship even if there was one plot point at the end which I found to be too convenient. (There is a reason this isn’t at the top of this list).

Content There are some frightening chase scenes and brief descriptions of violence, wounds, death, and minor sensual content 14+

3. First Date by Krista McGee

     A modern retelling of Ester where Queen Ester is Addy,

a normal Teenager, King Ahasuerus is Jonathan, the president’s

son, and they are in a reality show where the prize is going to prom

with Jonathan instead of becoming the new queen. McGee pulls this

off almost flawlessly. There are legitimately funny parts (especially Addy interacting with the other contestants) and I found myself laughing out loud many times. The romance is pretty sweet as far as teenage romance goes, but it isn’t just “I like you. You like me. Let’s take cute selfies together”. Another positive element of this book is the author doesn’t forget the protagonist interacts with people other than the object of her affection. I was not only interested in how Addy's and Jonathan's relationship was developing, but also the relationships the protagonist had with the friend she made on the game show, her uncle, and legal guardian, and her parents who although have been dead for years (not a spoiler) and how their deaths still touch her more than a decade later.

Content There are some scenes of bullying and intense flashbacks in this book, but they aren’t super explicit. It would probably be good for 12+, but I wouldn’t give this to sensitive 12 and 13-year-olds. ie., I wouldn’t give this to middle-school me. (I read this book in high school).

2. Miki Falls: Summer by Mark Crilley

     First things first, Mark both wrote and illustrated

this book by hand so I have to give credit to that because

the artwork of this graphic novel is amazing. Yet another

piece where I’ll have to avoid plot specific events to avoid

spoiling the first one. This is the second out of four books

of the Miki Falls series. Unlike The Heiress and the Chauffeur, I had full intention of continuing with this series after I finished the first volume, Spring. However, I still find Summer to be a stronger entry than Spring as I found the latter to be more of an introduction. Summer builds on what I learned from Spring and does a very good job of showing the story as this is a graphic novel. The frustrations that the two protagonists, Miki and Hiro, have with their relationship and all the problems arising from it. I am now entering some spoiler territory here so if you haven’t read this book yet I recommend skipping to my number one Romance novel. The ending of Summer drove me to read the next book even more than Spring because...

He found the arrow!!!

Content Some scenes of relationship problems and mentions of death and the fear of death. And some sensual content 13+

1. Small Town Girl by Anne H. Gabhart

       I first read this book when I was in my Junior year

of high school where my sister and I were trying to share

my local library’s only copy. This is the second book in

Gabhart’s Rosy Corner Series the first being Angel Sister,

which is also amazing, but as the title suggest the love in

that story isn’t romantic. Unlike the other two sequels I reviewed, I don’t have to avoid plot specific events because this can be read without ruining much of Angel Sister's story. The main characters, Kate and Jay, have a lot more than their relationship in mind. For the most part, they are concerned about the WWII and the other people involved in their lives. The plot is heavily focused on the characters and it works perfectly with the diverse personalities of the people occupying the world of Gabhart’s Rosy Corner series. 

Content There are scenes of family turmoil, mentions of the deaths of loved ones, a scene where a character receives unwanted sexual attention, accidental violence, the strain war places on people, and some sensual content. 16+.

*Note* Top 5 Wednesday is a Goodreads group where blogger/vloggers post about a bookish topic every Wednesday. You can check it out right here. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/118368-top-5-wednesday