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Harrison, Mette Ivie
5 Reviews
(4)
YA
Magic and discrimination are tightly linked for two princesses from rival kingdoms prophesied to unite--Princess Ailsbet, who must hide her power from a vicious father, and Princess Issa, who's expected to subordinate hers to a husband's demands. The politics of this brutal fantasy world are compelling, but Harrison's style of characterization is oddly remote. The unresolved conclusion leaves room for a sequel.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(3)
YA
The legend of Tristan and Isolde gets a contemporary treatment when Harrison reimagines it in a high school setting. The romantic tensions among Tris, Izzie, Mark, and Branna translate well; witches, love potions, monsters, and a quest to rescue Izzie's father push the book toward supernatural fantasy.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(3)
YA
Liva (daughter of Harrison's hound and bear protagonists) needs help from a village boy and a legendary Snowbird, as well as a richer understanding of love and sacrifice, to complete her destiny. As in the folktales Harrison's novel invokes both thematically and stylistically, the boundaries separating humans and animals are thin, and many mysteries remain tantalizingly unexplained.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(3)
YA
A king cursed to be a bear and a hound who was a woman must quest together to save their magical land. This compelling companion story to The Princess and the Hound follows the characters first as creatures and later as humans. Harrison's use of myth to explore the complex relationship between man and beast is striking.
Reviewer: T. Borregaard
(4)
YA
Prince George has "animal magic"; he's able to communicate with animals, a feared and forbidden skill in his homeland. After his mother's death, he's followed by a cursed bear. The story meanders until the prince meets Princess Beatrice and her hound companion. Some Grimm-inspired twists late in the book enhance the plot.
Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess
5 reviews
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