Gail Carson Levine, I am a fan of this. I have never read a single book about the Spanish inquisition, or specifically Sephardic Jews and their expulsion in 1492, so already that is a plus for this book and I learned so many things. But also so many of the characters are well-rounded and grey and it's interesting, and I liked Loma as a narrator.

Should this be categorized as middle grade? Ehhh. I understand why it was categorized this way, because it's Gail Carson Levine. Also I personally read way more of this type of historical fiction when I was 11/12 than I do now. Like I don't think this is unique in the middle grade/books-tweens-read market. But also, throw in a random mature scene and this wouldn't be out of place on adult shelves. Or YA with like virtually no changes. (Actually if it was YA Hamdun would be the love interest, hopefully but not necessarily shifted to be age appropriate. Am I wrong?) Most middle grade doesn't have a 7-16 year old protagonist because 10 year olds don't want to read from the perspectives of itty bitty 7 year olds (and 7 year olds don't want to read this). Also the way one specific 13 year old is baby coddled would totally irk 12 year old me. Just saying. 17 year old me isn't fazed. So audience is not the best considered in the world.

Plot, mood, and atmosphere wise, this is not like the books Levine is known for, and a lot more like...historical fiction about people being oppressed by something. Oh, look. It is that. Her storytelling style is the same though, or at least you can still tell it's her. Will this be the enduring beloved favourite that Ella Enchanted is? No. But it's good historical fiction. (I don't say that because it's bad but because delightful fantasy romps are way more universally appealing and revisitable than historical fiction books. In my opinion. Also Ella Enchanted is one of my very most beloved books ever.)

P.S. I'm thinking about Levine's other recent releases like the ogre one and Ever, and honestly I was never even sold enough to make much of a dent in them. So if Levine wants to just swing into historical fiction for good, honestly I'd be here for it because I'm WAY more into this.

After reading the Author's Note, I might go try out Dave at Night now.

A Ceiling Made of Eggshells - Likewise Book Reviews

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