Wednesday 4 August 2010

TEEN: The Chosen One - Carol Lynch Williams

BOOK BLURB:

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in her isolated community without ever questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters; without ever questioning the strict rules imposed by 'the Prophet who leads them. But now Kyra has started keeping secrets. She reads books that are forbidden and sneaks away to meet Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself, instead of having a husband chosen for her. Kyra knows that it's only a matter of time before her two secret loves are discovered. And when the Prophet decrees that she is to become the seventh wife of her sixty-year-old uncle, Kyra is forced to make a desperate choice. But saving herself means endangering everyone she's ever cared for. How far should she go for freedom?


REVIEW:

OK, a book that’s had a lot of positive press about it but for the UK market I’m not if it will hit the mark. It is well written however the age group to which this offering is aimed I feel is a little bit too young for a lot of the events that happen within, likewise, the plot would have been better had it been a true story rather than a fictionalised account.

Whilst it is quite harrowing and depressing, the other problem with this offering is that I’m not sure how well the UK readers will respond to a religious cult background as we have very little knowledge of the various sects other than what appears on late night TV. What does shine through in this title however is the lead character, she has attributes that a modern reader can latch onto, to allow them to sympathise with her which is, after all the key part to any story.


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