Review: Better for a Select Group of Young Adult Readers...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2014
I found the book to be a fairly quick and interesting read overall. I wanted to like the story with its presumably gutsy and strong-willed female lead. Instead I found her to be more of an insipid ingenue, too naive to recognize or anticipate the scheming nature of a boy she had grown up with that was a challenger to her potential rule.  When it is pointed out to her that she is essentially a spoiled brat that gets everything she wants without having to work for it, I thought "Hooray! Finally! Maybe she will stop being emotionally so passive." While Klawdia does seem to have a certain amount of stubborn pride, I felt that her character needed a little more fleshing out to support the complex issues she was dealing with. All the other characters were in need of a little more character development as well, as they seemed very one-dimensional and there simply to provide background color and narrative.This novella seems to be geared towards a Young Adult audience, although I question the inclusion of the scenes dealing with sex and an unplanned pregnancy and discussions of abortion for some young readers. I would love to see this story re-written and the characters and story given more depth for a more adult audience - I would probably enjoy it more then.  I also found the first half of the story to be lacking in a good frame of reference for how much time was passing during her challenge in the woods. I was under the impression that it was two or three days instead of the week and a half described upon the heroine's return to her tribe. This seemed to continue through the story, unfortunately.  I would also have liked to see the background information on the realm and the political struggles with neighboring groups and the Queens earlier in the story, rather than at the end.Overall I was rather disappointed in the story. While it was pretty well written, it just did not give me (as an adult reader) enough character and story development to want to read more.