Skip to main content

Blog Tour: Alina: A Song For The Telling by Malve von Hassel: A Book Review

Alina: A Song For the Telling by Malve von Hassell

August 27, 2020
BHC Press
Hardcover, Paperback, & eBook
Genre: Young Adult/Historical/Medieval


Synopsis: You should be grateful, my girl. You have no dowry, and I am doing everything I can to get you settled. You are hardly any man's dream."

    Alina's brother, Milos, pulled his face into a perfect copy of Aunt Marci's sour expression, primly pursing his mouth. He had got her querulous tone just right.

    I pinched my lips together, trying not to laugh. But it was true; Aunt Marci had already introduced me to several suitors. So far I had managed to decline their suits politely.

    Maybe Alina's aunt was right. How could she possibly hope to become a musician, a trobairitz, as impoverished as she was and without the status of a good marriage? 

     But fourteen-year-old Alina refuses to accept the oppressing life her strict aunt wants to impose upon her. When the perfect opportunity comes along for her to escape, she and her brother embark on a journey through the Byzantine Empire all the way to Jerusalem.

     Alina soon finds herself embroiled in the political intrigue of noble courts as she fights to realize her dream of becoming a female troubadour.

     My Review: Alina had always dreamed of becoming a woman troubadour. However, that dream always seemed unreachable for Alina. In order for a woman to become a troubadour, Alina had to be from a wealthy household and marry into a good family. Alina did not come from a wealthy household nor did she possess a good dowry. These circumstances prevented Alina from chasing her dream. When her father dies and she is forced to live with her mean aunt and greedy uncle, Alina finds the chance to pursue her dream. She and her brother, Milos, join a group of knights to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During the journey, Alina finds adventure and the courage to become a troubadour.

     Even though Alina narrates the story, it was hard finding her voice. Alina was not a well-developed character and was passive throughout the novel. It was hard to understand her feelings and emotions. Most of the time, she was overshadowed by more fascinating characters in this novel. That was not to say that I did not like her. I found some of her traits to be very admirable. She was very loyal to her brother. She yearned to defy the expectations of women’s roles during her time and was determined to follow her dream. Thus, while Alina was a passive character, she was still very likable and relatable.

     Overall, the message of this book is to follow your dreams. The novel’s main drawback was that it is mostly told and not shown. This made it hard to be engaged in the story and the characters. However, there were moments of intrigue and a dash of danger that made reading the story enjoyable. Alina: A Song For The Telling is rich with vivid historical details that will transport readers to the Middle Ages. I recommend this novel for fans of Courageous, Crossing to Paradise, and Angeline.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars


Amazon | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound


About the Author


     Malve von Hassell is a writer, researcher, and translator. Born in Italy, she spent part of her childhood in Belgium and Germany before moving to the United States. She lives in Southampton, New York, close to the ocean and a bay beach where she meets flying sea robins and turtles on her morning walks with her rescue dog Loki. She enjoys reading, playing chess with her son, gardening, anything to do with horses, and dreams of someday touring Mongolia on horseback. Her works include the children's picture book, Letters from the Tooth Fairy, written in response to her son's letters to the tooth fairy; The Falconer's Apprentice, her first historical fiction novel for young readers; The Amber Crane, a historical fiction novel set in Germany in the 17th century, and Alina: A Song for the Telling, a coming-of-age story of a young woman from Provence in the 12th century who dreams of being a musician.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads


Giveaway

   During the Blog Tour, we are giving away a paperback copy of Alina by Malve von Hassell! To enter, please use the Gleam form below. The giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on September 7th. You must be 18 or older to enter. 

  Alina

Comments

  1. Thank you for your review and for taking the time. I appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview with Melanie Karsak

Today, I have the pleasure of having an interview with Melanie Karsak! I have read and enjoyed her many series of books on some of history's more obscure or misunderstood women. Often, little is known about their true histories, either from not being recorded because of their gender and the unimportance given to women or else intentional character assassination. Mrs. Karsak seeks to bring light where much is shrouded in darkness. As a result, we are enriched by their lives and these fascinating women can speak to us through the centuries. In this interview, Mrs. Karsak talks about what drew her to these women and her writing pro cess! Thank you Mrs. Karsak! You have written books on Lady MacBeth, Hervor, Queen Boudica, Queen Cartimandua, and now Freydis. What drew you to write about these women? I like the unsung and maligned heroines. Hervor is a significant character in the Norse Hervarar Saga . In fact, there are two Hervors in that tale—grandmother and granddaughter. But

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki: A Book Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Release Date: February 15, 2022 Pages: 381 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweath

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.        Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.       Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.       1947, London.        Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the royal wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, disaster threatens. Osla, Mab and Beth are estranged,