Changeling, Philippa Gregory

I'm submitting this book to the 2012 YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss.

Description

My thoughts: Expectations are so hard to live up to. For starters, this book was wrongly marketed. The title, the description, even the excerpt printed in the back give off paranormal vibes, which couldn't be further from the truth. And on another note, Philippa Gregory is praised for her historical novels - her historical research and care with the details shows in the book, but there were fundamental weaknesses in the story.

I felt the story was dumbed down because it was for teens, which is so... not right. The story is too short to be read as true novel (it felt more like a novella), and the plot is simplistic. For example, Luca is an inquisitor, charged with the task of discovering the truth behind seemly unnatural events, and he faces two different mysteries throughout the story - but they were just too easy to guess.

Besides, I found it hard to connect with the characters. Many of them are just not well developed yet. I liked the quirks about Freize and Ishraq's personalities, and I liked that the thing between Luca and Isolde is slow-burning, instead of those annoying insta-loves - it feels true to the time the story is set in -, but I wanted to like all of them more than I actually did.

I enjoyed the historical setting - it shows why the author is considered the queen of historical romance - and the premise is pretty interesting, along with the promise of things yet to come, but this book just fell a bit short on what I expected it to be. I am willing to give the second book a try, but I hope it is better developed than this one.

Pages: 272

Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK