A Pretty Age

By Barbara Mueller 

 I had a really hard time getting into this book and was sorely tempted to give up on it after the first few chapters as it was quite confusing, disjointed and, frankly uninteresting. However, I did persevere and was rewarded for my efforts. The story as a whole is intriguing, unique, and draws you in. And the events of those first few chapters prove to be very significant to the later story. However, to me one important hallmark of excellent writing is the ability to place important information into a story in such a way that the reader is able to take it in without feeling beaten over the head with it or totally bemused as to why he is being fed this or that when it seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the story up to that point. I think that this ability is one of the things that made the Harry Potter series so successful. J. K. Rowlings was able to master that art. Barbara Mueller isn't there yet.

Another problem I had with this book was that the story was sometimes completely unintelligible and, more often, just confusing.

Finally, while I really enjoyed the actual story, I did not find it at all believable. For instance, [POSSIBLE SPOILER] Antoinette in her final diary entries writes about how she overhears sounds from downstairs that indicate that her chance has come to possibly escape her captivity. However, if she were truly feeling as though her chance for a quick escape had finally come, she would not have taken the extra time to write the further 3 paragraphs of narrative before signing the diary, hiding it for her friend, and taking her leave! Also, who writes about current events in the past tense? Just before, apparently, taking the sudden chance for escape she writes "Shortly, I heard the door below creak on its hinges..." [END OF SPOILER]

I really did enjoy the story about this poor girl's plight and her friend's adventure to save her, but the execution was definitely hard to follow at times.