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kattzie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
1.0
What's that saying? 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results?'
As always my chief gripe in this series is the lackluster characters. I find it impossible to get invested in the story when the people involved are paper thin. Why should I care that Danland might go to war? Why should I care that Mount Eskel is in peril yet again? Why should I care about Miri's struggles in the swamp? None of the people move me to any particularly deep emotion. Well nobody except Britta, who I hate.
The three sisters are boring. It might as well have just been one for how indistinct they turned out to be. As was the case in the other two books, each gets a pronounced character trait to differentiate them and nothing else. Astrid is the eldest, Felissa the emotionally savvy one, and Sus the precocious one. Miri is in even worse shape than the last book; even the small bit of character she had seems to have been snuffed out in an attempt to further highlight how rugged the swamp sisters are.
She’s also very stupid making very obviously dumb decisons that only happen because Hale needs them to happen so the story can go a certain way.
This is essentially a mishmash of stuff we've seen before from this series. This book in particular is very close to The Princess Academy as this could have literally been that book if taken from Tutor Olana's perspective. Awful new environment, uncouth young women uninterested in learning, a promise of glory (or in Miri's case the deed to Mount Eskel) if successful.
I didn't much like either book preceding The Forgotten Sisters so seeing them through new eyes left me even less enthused.
Unlike some other reviewers I think that Miri belongs in the lowlands or rather I don't care if she goes back to Mount Eskel as it has not been developed enough for me to see the appeal. So I was fine with this detour from her return.
I was bored initially as the first chapter or two is rushed expository plot convenience to justify the third book. Seconds before departing for home Miri is tasked by the King to set up a Princess Academy for his random cousins as one of them will need to marry to solidly an alliance with a neighboring kingdom. Despite not being the least bit prepared for the job Miri has to be the one to do it as a totally not made up to make this work law says that each Princess Academy must be headed by a tutor who was a graduate from the last. Also the Queen is adamant for some reason.
As always the worldbuilding is poor. The new location is as flat as Mount Eskel. It’s a little swamp town called Lesser Alva. That doesn’t much matter though because most of the book takes place inside the girls’ little linder house. Only one townsperson is ever spoken to regularly, a secretly kind older gentleman named Fat Hofer who occasionally offers Miri insight into the community. An evil man named Jeffers has spread lies about the girls so the townspeople ignore them. This is never addressed directly despite being referenced several times.
Miri teaches the girls very little as, again, she is not equipped to be a tutor. Thankfully, this is The Princess Academy so all that matters is reading, basic level math, and some conveniently appropriate historical accounts.
I expect a little wish fulfillment and to have to suspend my disbelief a little. This book stretched my limits so far they snapped.
I can’t believe the ridiculous writing that led to the ending of this book. From the secret involving the sisters not making practical sense to the absurdity of a child being able to mitigate a war after being taught for only a few months to said child arguably not even needing that schooling to stop the war to the absolution of truly despicable adults because they feel remorse for their actions to the ludicrous decision to put a person who has absolutely no experience nor any demonstrated interest on the throne merely because the underlying theme of these books is that men are the source of all malcontent in the world. It’s a mess any way you slice it.
I love a good girl power book as much as the next person, but this was not it. It was tedious to read a book for girls that took pains to remove any true conflict that might showcase legitimate strengths for girls to admire. It certainly tells you all the time that Miri is so bold, and Astrid so resourceful, and Felissa so regal and Sus so intelligent. It rarely provides opportunities for the girls to prove this. When it does the circumstances are unbelievable because the book is fine manipulating situations so that the girls come out on top regardless of whether or not it would make sense or is realistic. I would be perfectly happy if the girls win in the end as long as it felt like they earned it. Instead I was always subconsciously aware of how carefully events were being plotted out so as to arrange themselves neatly in the correct position once it was time for the conclusion to happen.
And the quarry speech was even more of a crutch than it was in the last book; Hale completely broke our knowledge of how it worked whenever she wanted to force the plot forward.
I’m sad that a series I enjoyed as a kid went out like this. It wasn’t all that when I first started, but I got increasingly more annoyed as each book continued. I love Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale so I know she’s got it in her to do better than this. I’m crossing my fingers this was a fluke.
As always my chief gripe in this series is the lackluster characters. I find it impossible to get invested in the story when the people involved are paper thin. Why should I care that Danland might go to war? Why should I care that Mount Eskel is in peril yet again? Why should I care about Miri's struggles in the swamp? None of the people move me to any particularly deep emotion. Well nobody except Britta, who I hate.
The three sisters are boring. It might as well have just been one for how indistinct they turned out to be. As was the case in the other two books, each gets a pronounced character trait to differentiate them and nothing else. Astrid is the eldest, Felissa the emotionally savvy one, and Sus the precocious one. Miri is in even worse shape than the last book; even the small bit of character she had seems to have been snuffed out in an attempt to further highlight how rugged the swamp sisters are.
She’s also very stupid making very obviously dumb decisons that only happen because Hale needs them to happen so the story can go a certain way.
This is essentially a mishmash of stuff we've seen before from this series. This book in particular is very close to The Princess Academy as this could have literally been that book if taken from Tutor Olana's perspective. Awful new environment, uncouth young women uninterested in learning, a promise of glory (or in Miri's case the deed to Mount Eskel) if successful.
I didn't much like either book preceding The Forgotten Sisters so seeing them through new eyes left me even less enthused.
Unlike some other reviewers I think that Miri belongs in the lowlands or rather I don't care if she goes back to Mount Eskel as it has not been developed enough for me to see the appeal. So I was fine with this detour from her return.
I was bored initially as the first chapter or two is rushed expository plot convenience to justify the third book. Seconds before departing for home Miri is tasked by the King to set up a Princess Academy for his random cousins as one of them will need to marry to solidly an alliance with a neighboring kingdom. Despite not being the least bit prepared for the job Miri has to be the one to do it as a totally not made up to make this work law says that each Princess Academy must be headed by a tutor who was a graduate from the last. Also the Queen is adamant for some reason.
As always the worldbuilding is poor. The new location is as flat as Mount Eskel. It’s a little swamp town called Lesser Alva. That doesn’t much matter though because most of the book takes place inside the girls’ little linder house. Only one townsperson is ever spoken to regularly, a secretly kind older gentleman named Fat Hofer who occasionally offers Miri insight into the community. An evil man named Jeffers has spread lies about the girls so the townspeople ignore them. This is never addressed directly despite being referenced several times.
Miri teaches the girls very little as, again, she is not equipped to be a tutor. Thankfully, this is The Princess Academy so all that matters is reading, basic level math, and some conveniently appropriate historical accounts.
I expect a little wish fulfillment and to have to suspend my disbelief a little. This book stretched my limits so far they snapped.
I can’t believe the ridiculous writing that led to the ending of this book. From the secret involving the sisters not making practical sense to the absurdity of a child being able to mitigate a war after being taught for only a few months to said child arguably not even needing that schooling to stop the war to the absolution of truly despicable adults because they feel remorse for their actions to the ludicrous decision to put a person who has absolutely no experience nor any demonstrated interest on the throne merely because the underlying theme of these books is that men are the source of all malcontent in the world. It’s a mess any way you slice it.
I love a good girl power book as much as the next person, but this was not it. It was tedious to read a book for girls that took pains to remove any true conflict that might showcase legitimate strengths for girls to admire. It certainly tells you all the time that Miri is so bold, and Astrid so resourceful, and Felissa so regal and Sus so intelligent. It rarely provides opportunities for the girls to prove this. When it does the circumstances are unbelievable because the book is fine manipulating situations so that the girls come out on top regardless of whether or not it would make sense or is realistic. I would be perfectly happy if the girls win in the end as long as it felt like they earned it. Instead I was always subconsciously aware of how carefully events were being plotted out so as to arrange themselves neatly in the correct position once it was time for the conclusion to happen.
And the quarry speech was even more of a crutch than it was in the last book; Hale completely broke our knowledge of how it worked whenever she wanted to force the plot forward.
I’m sad that a series I enjoyed as a kid went out like this. It wasn’t all that when I first started, but I got increasingly more annoyed as each book continued. I love Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale so I know she’s got it in her to do better than this. I’m crossing my fingers this was a fluke.
philippam's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
erinricks's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! I really liked this one! Astrid, Felissa, and Sus really made me laugh.
kebreads's review against another edition
5.0
This was an excellent conclusion to the Princess Academy trilogy. It is very well-written and takes the reader to a variety of places in Danland. I enjoyed learning more about Danland's history. The sisters were a great addition to the collection of characters I've come to know while reading these books. This book is full of adventure and unexpected twists and turns. And I liked how Miri continued to discover more about linder. I've enjoyed see Miri learn and grow throughout this series. I will cherish and reread this series forever. I am so glad Shannon Hale wrote them.
Content: Clean
Content: Clean
telcontar2901's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
roseleaf24's review against another edition
5.0
I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get around to reading this one, and so sorry that this is the last book with Miri. Fantastic series, fantastic story. Each of these could stand fairly well on their own, but they're so good. Each character is so strong and rich.
sallyavena's review against another edition
4.0
I just finished this one and I'm still processing it (I read it fast, when I could sneak it away from my daughter). I liked the storyline and the new characters and even how all was resolved, but I felt it was heavy on what I think has become Shannon Hale's soapbox and that is the portrayal of female characters (I read her blog...). She has a point and an accurate portrayal of the fact that female characters can be strong and courageous is important, but I felt this dominated as a theme...maybe that was her point. While she has a lot of strong female characters without too many flaws, her male characters come across as flawed. I like a balance.