Trudy is a young orphan with a gift for seeing the future. Tips is also an orphan, who struggles with the oppressive hate of his older brothers and the dismal future of running the family mill. They’ve been best friends since infancy, and Trudy hopes Tips is her future. When a man comes to take Tips as his apprentice to become a soldier, Trudy hates to see him go but knows it’s for the best.
Six years later, when both are grown and waiting to be reunited, fate and politics intervene. Suddenly, Trudy finds herself as Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Wisdom, or Dizzy for short. Dizzy is traveling with her Grandmother, the Queen Mother Benevolence, to her wed a conniving duchess’s son.
When Trudy sees the princess, she senses pain. Dizzy will cause Trudy heartbreak and pain.
Too soon, Trudy and Tips meet again, but Tips has been keeping secrets. Trudy’s vision of Wisdom comes true. But can the two abide each other long enough to save a nation?
--
The title and cover of this book was so intriguing, I was very excited to read Wisdom’s Kiss. It started off gripping! And then it turned confusing…
I didn’t realize this book was told from no less than eight point of views! Memoirs, letters, diaries, encyclopedias, and a play. A play? Yeah. A play. It’s completely random, slightly genius, and a bit confusing. I would love to say, “Oh, the author should have just cut out…” but the rest of the story wouldn’t have woven as well. It’s just a bit tiresome to work that hard to figure out what’s going on.
The story itself is really good. I have to say though, I was furious with Tips. Furious. I won’t say more than that. But his act alone put a sour taste in my mouth that I never really could get rid of.
The author wrote Princess Ben, which I read well a over a year ago. I remembered a few key points from the book, and I remembered that I really liked it.
While reading Wisdom’s Kiss, I thought, “Wow, this author really likes the name Benevolence.” Which she shortens to Ben. And then, further in, I thought, “Wow. This author really likes to use doppelgangers in her books.” And then a light flashed so brightly in my dense little head that I was practically blinded! The Queen Mother Benevolence is Princess Ben! While the author asserts this is not a sequel to Princess Ben, and I’d agree, I still thought it was kind of a forehead slapper when I realized it. No, you don’t need to have read Princess Ben to understand Wisdom’s Kiss, but I wish it hadn’t been so long since I read it. I might have picked up on a few things I missed.
While I really did enjoy the story, I was completely thrown by having to work so hard to understand what was happening. Plus Tips just ruined it for me.
- Reading level: Young Adult
- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 1 edition (September 13, 2011)
- Source: Publisher via NetGalley
- Amazon
- Goodreads
1 comment:
I hate when there are more than about 2 points of view in a book. It gets so very had to follow.
Post a Comment