Ruslan
Barbara Scrupski
Crown, 2003
Left penniless thanks to her spendthrift father, Countess Alexandra Korvin struggles to restore her fortunes, until, craving freedom and rebelling against the confines of being a woman, she cuts off her hair and joins the army as a man.
I made it about a quarter of the way through this book and didn’t even get to the good part about the countess joining the army. I just couldn’t take the predictable and boring story line. Alexandra is a typical romance novel heroine who must marry in order to get enough money to continue the life to which she has become accustomed. As you may guess, she finds herself attracted to the man she cannot have, and the man she can’t stand is the one who wants her. What is a romance heroine to do but join the army?
Ugh. As I was describing this book to a co-worker, I suddenly realized that there was a reason I was more interested in playing Brick Blaster every night instead of picking this book up to read: it sucked. Then I remembered the third rule of Daniel Pennac’s 10 Inalienable Rights of the Reader, which is: The Right to Not Finish a Book. (See all the rules here: http://www.poynton.com/notes/misc/Inalienable_rights.html)
Hurray! I was saved from tediousness and mind-numbing reading torture!
I’m not sure where I heard about this title. I thought perhaps I read a good review, but I just checked the reviews and they were not very good at all, which made me feel vindicated and justified in my reaction. I’m returning it to the library and starting another title. Ah, but freedom is sweet.
Rating:
Barbara Scrupski
Crown, 2003
Left penniless thanks to her spendthrift father, Countess Alexandra Korvin struggles to restore her fortunes, until, craving freedom and rebelling against the confines of being a woman, she cuts off her hair and joins the army as a man.
I made it about a quarter of the way through this book and didn’t even get to the good part about the countess joining the army. I just couldn’t take the predictable and boring story line. Alexandra is a typical romance novel heroine who must marry in order to get enough money to continue the life to which she has become accustomed. As you may guess, she finds herself attracted to the man she cannot have, and the man she can’t stand is the one who wants her. What is a romance heroine to do but join the army?
Ugh. As I was describing this book to a co-worker, I suddenly realized that there was a reason I was more interested in playing Brick Blaster every night instead of picking this book up to read: it sucked. Then I remembered the third rule of Daniel Pennac’s 10 Inalienable Rights of the Reader, which is: The Right to Not Finish a Book. (See all the rules here: http://www.poynton.com/notes/misc/Inalienable_rights.html)
Hurray! I was saved from tediousness and mind-numbing reading torture!
I’m not sure where I heard about this title. I thought perhaps I read a good review, but I just checked the reviews and they were not very good at all, which made me feel vindicated and justified in my reaction. I’m returning it to the library and starting another title. Ah, but freedom is sweet.
Rating:
This is the author’s first novel.
Other titles you may enjoy more than this one:
The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp (2010)
Ninety-nine years old, with a sharp memory for every jewel she owned and every conquest she made, Mathilde Kschessinska--"prima ballerina assoluta" of the long-vanished Russian Imperial Ballet--sits down to write her memoirs. The greatest dancer of the age, her scything technique catches the eye and heart of Nikolai Romanov.
Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin (2003)
Ninety-nine years old, with a sharp memory for every jewel she owned and every conquest she made, Mathilde Kschessinska--"prima ballerina assoluta" of the long-vanished Russian Imperial Ballet--sits down to write her memoirs. The greatest dancer of the age, her scything technique catches the eye and heart of Nikolai Romanov.
Sonja’s Run by Richard Hoyt (2005)
Fleeing across European Russia for assaulting an infamous colonel and trying to bring daguerrotypes into the country, poet Sonja Sankova and American Jack Sandt find themselves pursued by the colonel's men.
No comments:
Post a Comment