How would you react if you knew you were beautiful to the point that it made your sister green with envy? How would you change if you knew you were going to rule an entire kingdom (in this case Sparta) one day? For Helen of Troy, this is her reality. Then again, maybe she doesn't have so much power, because the Fates have already mapped out her destiny: she will marry, become queen, and raise children. Simple.
Or not.
As a young girl, Helen questions everything about her world, and while she has her faults, she's also funny and kind. This translated into a strong character as she grew up, and I loved being given the opportunity to get to know her.
Besides that, there was also an interweaving between Greek mythology and the perspective of a girl with an independent spirit, which I thought was the best part about Nobody's Princess. Though I've never been a fan of Greek mythology, it's integral to Helen's life, and I didn't mind - even enjoyed - reading about it because I liked Helen and wanted to understand how she saw the world.
However, the ending stopped too abruptly for me. Even though there's a sequel, it felt a little empty, and I needed more closure.
That aside, there are so many great things about this book! Helen is strong and happy to let herself grow. She has a wonderful family and wants to travel the world. Helen's dreams became your dreams, and I respect and admire Esther Friesner for helping me to experience all that and more.
Appropriate for ages 14+
I read this book while covered in welts from a certain incident I had with poison ivy, and when a story can keep your attention while your skin is itching as well as pulsing like it's on fire ... let's just say you know that story is good.
At first, though, I was a little skeptical. Even though I've read all of Lisa Mangum's novels and enjoyed them, this book essentially happens during the course of one single day. Sara is visiting New York, a photographer and an artist at heart. Sam is something of an enigma, and noticing him from afar, Sara snaps a picture of him.
My skepticism boiled down to this: how can you establish relationships, plot, and all the other intricacies involved in book-making when all you give yourself is one day? For Mangum, the answer, I believe, came down to two steps.
1) The reader has to have a conversation with both Sara and Sam. Thus, the first chapter was written in a first-person narrative, following Sara every step of the way. The second chapter focused on Sam ... but in third person.
I had to take a step back there. Looking at the story from this angle was something I had never encountered. Mangum was bold to do it, but it was absolutely right. I loved seeing the story not only from each character's perspective, but from the stylistic differences between narrators, as well.
2) Sara and Sam's journey, while physical, has to be primarily emotional. This book delves intensely into these people's heads, into the stories that haunt their past. It surprised me. When you first pick up After Hello it promises to be a light read. And while it has all sorts of quirky and light-hearted moments, it was much more serious than I expected. Sometimes that weighed me down a little. Sometimes I doubted that such a story could even take place.
But then, I thought, isn't that the magic of stories? That sometimes the impossible CAN happen, and even the smallest of items, like sugar packets, can be the start of something greater? Something better?
I think so.
Appropriate for ages 15+
"'All good stories--stories that touch your soul, stories that change your nature, stories that cause you to become a better person from their telling--these stories always contain truth.'"
For Sang Ly, a woman who lives in a dump in Cambodia with her small son and husband, the truth is what she is must discover. Will her boy Nisay ever get better? Will her husband always have to pick trash for a living? Is there hope in this world where garbage as tall as mountains loom before you and toxic rivers stain your feet?
The answer is yes.
The discovery of hope is different for Sang Ly than she anticipated, though, because she must look for it in the neighborhood rent collector, Sopeap Sin, a woman despised and otherwise known as "the Cow."
This story is glorious on so many levels, following the journey of individuals who have true strength and courage. These people are "swimming in literature," and not because there are discarded books at the dump, but because each one of them have a story ... as long as they are willing to read them in one another.
I didn't tear through this book in a single night, though there were moments when I was gripped to the words on the page. Instead, reading this book is like eating a bowl of rice and taking it one grain at a time, enjoying the people, the places, and the stories that are so perfect on their own, but that are even better as a whole.
There are stories that excite, and stories that make you laugh. There are stories that make you cry and stories that make you feel fear. And then there are stories that change your life.
This is one of those stories.
Appropriate for ages 18+
