A review by brandypainter
The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett

3.0

There were aspects of The Children of the King that I really appreciated. I enjoyed the story and, of course, the story with in it. I found the characters differing attitudes toward WWII and England's place in it to be well done and nuanced. I very much enjoyed the characters of Jeremy, May, and Uncle Peregrine. There were several aspects that annoyed me as well as though. Cecily is twelve and until she announced that at that the end of chapter two, I thought she was around six. She acts like it through the entirety of the book. What. A. Brat. There's no growth there either, but I don't really have so much a problem with that as some people are brats and that never changes. I did think she acted far to young for her age though. The aspect that bothered me the most though was the story within the story which is about the infamous Richard III and the princes in the tower. Peregrine was telling this story and it was like his audience had never heard it. ????? Keep in mind this audience consisted of a 10 year old, a 12 year old, and a 14 year old. I'm sorry, but what sorts of schools were these children attending? I went to an American school while living in England during elementary school and we all knew this story. I can understand Cecily not knowing as she's a feather brained idiot, but Jeremy has clearly been snoozing in all of his history classes if he didn't know this. Unfortunate since I'm sure his snooty parents pay out the nose for his education.