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Maelyn (2012)

by Anita Valle(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1438283911 (ISBN13: 9781438283913)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Amazon

series

The Nine Princesses Novellas

review 1: If you haven't heard of Anita Valle before, then look her up right away. This girl is good. I mean it. There are few new authors who I can really admire. She's one of them. She stands out from the millions of terrible writers out there like a swan among weeds. ;)This is the first book in her series. It was not only fun and easy to read, it had a remarkable diversity of characters and a good feel for personality. Plus, it had a really good point.In some ways, this author reminds me of Noel Streatfield. You feel when reading her that you're looking at real world girl drama, but with a neutral point of view--she understands the unfairness of some things, but that doesn't make her unobjective about it. Maelyn's story begins the series. I absolutely loved this book, in spite of... more two blemishes that I will mention later. The good stuff more than made up for the flaws. Good stuff:1: Beautiful, simple narrative. No heavy, padded, self-conscious writing here. Just a storyteller and her story.2: Diverse characters. All the girls are so different--from the horrid Coralina to the sturdy Heidel. The author is interested and friendly to all the different girls, though she is not blind to their faults at any time. She lets us in on their personalities with subtle details that sound as if she must have met all of them personally to know them so well. 3: Agreeable heroine. Most book-worm heroines come across as dull and angsty, but Maelyn was legitimately the leader of their group and a smart girl. All the girls will be heroines eventually, and Heidel's coming up...I am very excited. Maelyn was nice, but Heidel is the one who proved to me that this author is refreshingly unconventional. Are you kidding me? A tall, heavy girl is allowed to be the heroine? Only a smart author would try such a scandalous thing and defy the world.:P4: A strong romance. I rarely think the romance was the strong point of a book--romance is such a difficult element to handle well--but this one was perfect. Emphasis was laid on compatibility of character, not just on looks, and the guy and girl make a very sweet couple. They belong together. :)5: A beautiful point about the legitimacy of a person's value, in spite of their background. I felt emotional in some places where Maelyn realized her value as a person could not be erased by her back story. I can relate to feeling like your background is an obstacle to being respected. The book had only two flaws. Probably these won't be a problem in the rest of the series.1: The hostility to the girls as fake-princesses just felt a tad overblown. Uncle Jarrod himself I found to be a real person, and quite interesting, but the plot associated with him---the people rejecting the girls as real royals--was a bit of a weakness, in spite of the beautiful point made about personal value etc. The scene where he hit Maelyn came too early. I know he's a bum, but I think he'd probably wait a while before he got that violent.2: Tofer. ( I hope that's spelled right!) He threatened Maelyn with a knife--sort of--and I think he's kind of a bum. I'm not sure I liked Maelyn letting her sister be with that guy. I didn't get a good impression of him at all. I know the point was a good one--Maelyn learns what it's like to be in love and is kinder to her sister--but I still think Tofer's a problem. He's nothing so nice as Willow, Maelyn's boyfriend.These are small flaws, but I thought I should mention them as a proof of how good this author is. In spite of two plot problems, I still LOVED the book and became a BIG fan. Incidentally, at the end it sounded like Coralina was planning to try to steal Willow. The cheek! I'm so worried I'm going to have to read the next book! She'd better not try it, that conceited thing!A definite 5 star. I wish I could give it 6 stars, but 5's all that's allowed.
review 2: Maelyn is the eldest of nine untraditional princesses. Years have gone by since becoming a princess; the king and queen have died and Maelyn is in charge of the kingdom. The novella is short and cute with a few twists and turns to make the story interesting. The characters are pretty much realistic; especially the relationship between Maelyn and next eldest sister, Coralina. Sisters who spat at times but can also be friends as well. less

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