Official Review: The Tale of Lord Zancrist
Posted: 09 Jan 2016, 20:12
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Tale of Lord Zancrist" by April Patterson Clemens.]
3 out of 4 stars
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This is a review of April Patterson Clemons' stand-alone young adult novel, The Tale of Lord Zancrist.
The story takes place in a seemingly older era, where slavery generally is a rather common thing, especially in the cities. You can see that this time era is not very technologically advanced, not having phones, cars or even modern day toilets. The social classes are more distinguished than modern times, having slaves is a way that upper-class citizens could show their wealth. The setting itself is always changing due to the protagonist, Peach Blossom trying to escape the morbid fate of becoming a slave.
The story begins with the protagonist’s mother getting pricked by a poisonous, yet not deadly plant sending her into a sickness. Despite the fact the sickness lasts only a few days, Peach Blossom gains the opportunity to take the place of her mother to go to the market with her father to sell their nectar. At town Peach Blossom insists on exploring with her father, leading them to order a dress for Peach’s mother. The next day, as her father sells the nectar Peach remembers the dress. Her father sends her to get it with the assistance of Brennlyn, a fifteen year old boy bored of being stuck at home, thus setting off a chain of reactions ending up with Peach Blossom getting kidnapped.
The main character being thirteen year old Peach Blossom accompanied with antagonists Lord Zancrist and Brennlyn. A few characters I found quite likable would probably be Lent and PuzzleJuzzle because of their heartfelt kindness and humor that could make you laugh out loud. The setting opens with a farm, the only place Peach Blossom has ever been. The story travels through many places including a foreign land where Peach ends up coming across Lord Zancrist again. This story kept me hot on my feet, with there always being new settings and new characters.
The novel took somewhat longer than I expected to pull me in, but when it did, it had my full attention the rest of the novel. Always wondering Peach’s fate and who was going to turn up next was an element I quite liked. I love the way the story is put together, with vivid detail and enough suspense to keep you on edge. The characters seemed to have a lot of thought put into them, all having personalities that suit the story. I always love a book that I can’t put down this being one of them made me excited to finish, though I was disappointed with the very abrupt ending.
A problem I had with the book was the pace, being too fast for my liking. It seemed that I had just warmed to a character or fully understood who they were or what they did when they left the store. The setting was missing some detail because of the pace which threw me off tremendously. I was able to grasp where Peach was at most times, despite a few odd times that I didn’t know where she was until the setting had changed again. I feel supposing that the pace had slowed, even for just a moment, I would’ve been able to take note of all the details that you should in a story.
I rate this book a strong 3 out of 4. This novelization is dramatic, suspenseful and extraordinary, I strongly recommend this to anyone into the young adult genre now and I know you will love this story.
******
The Tale of Lord Zancrist
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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This is a review of April Patterson Clemons' stand-alone young adult novel, The Tale of Lord Zancrist.
The story takes place in a seemingly older era, where slavery generally is a rather common thing, especially in the cities. You can see that this time era is not very technologically advanced, not having phones, cars or even modern day toilets. The social classes are more distinguished than modern times, having slaves is a way that upper-class citizens could show their wealth. The setting itself is always changing due to the protagonist, Peach Blossom trying to escape the morbid fate of becoming a slave.
The story begins with the protagonist’s mother getting pricked by a poisonous, yet not deadly plant sending her into a sickness. Despite the fact the sickness lasts only a few days, Peach Blossom gains the opportunity to take the place of her mother to go to the market with her father to sell their nectar. At town Peach Blossom insists on exploring with her father, leading them to order a dress for Peach’s mother. The next day, as her father sells the nectar Peach remembers the dress. Her father sends her to get it with the assistance of Brennlyn, a fifteen year old boy bored of being stuck at home, thus setting off a chain of reactions ending up with Peach Blossom getting kidnapped.
The main character being thirteen year old Peach Blossom accompanied with antagonists Lord Zancrist and Brennlyn. A few characters I found quite likable would probably be Lent and PuzzleJuzzle because of their heartfelt kindness and humor that could make you laugh out loud. The setting opens with a farm, the only place Peach Blossom has ever been. The story travels through many places including a foreign land where Peach ends up coming across Lord Zancrist again. This story kept me hot on my feet, with there always being new settings and new characters.
The novel took somewhat longer than I expected to pull me in, but when it did, it had my full attention the rest of the novel. Always wondering Peach’s fate and who was going to turn up next was an element I quite liked. I love the way the story is put together, with vivid detail and enough suspense to keep you on edge. The characters seemed to have a lot of thought put into them, all having personalities that suit the story. I always love a book that I can’t put down this being one of them made me excited to finish, though I was disappointed with the very abrupt ending.
A problem I had with the book was the pace, being too fast for my liking. It seemed that I had just warmed to a character or fully understood who they were or what they did when they left the store. The setting was missing some detail because of the pace which threw me off tremendously. I was able to grasp where Peach was at most times, despite a few odd times that I didn’t know where she was until the setting had changed again. I feel supposing that the pace had slowed, even for just a moment, I would’ve been able to take note of all the details that you should in a story.
I rate this book a strong 3 out of 4. This novelization is dramatic, suspenseful and extraordinary, I strongly recommend this to anyone into the young adult genre now and I know you will love this story.
******
The Tale of Lord Zancrist
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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