Hello Everyone :)
I hope you're all doing well, and thank you for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron:
Source: Library
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: February 6th, 2018
Genre: Christian Fiction/Women's Fiction/Historical Fiction
Series: Lost Castle
Synopsis:
Launching a brand-new series, Kristy Cambron explores the collision of past and present as she discovers the ruins of a French castle, long lost to history.
A thirteenth century castle, Chateau de Doux Reves, has been forgotten for generations, left to ruin in a storybook forest nestled deep in France's picturesque Loire Valley. It survived a sacking in the French Revolution, was brought back to life and fashioned into a storybook chateau in the Gilded Age, and was eventually felled and deserted after a disastrous fire in the 1930s.
As Ellie Carver sits by her grandmother's bedside, she hears stories of a castle . . . of lost love and a hidden chapel that played host to a secret fight in the World War II French resistance. But her grandmother is quickly slipping into the locked-down world of Alzheimer's, and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the truth of her family's history.
Sparked by the discovery of a long forgotten family heirloom, Ellie embarks on a journey to French wine country to uncover the mystery surrounding The Sleeping Beauty--the castle so named for Charles Perrault's beloved fairy tale--and unearth its secrets before they're finally silenced by time.
Set in three different time periods--the French Revolution, World War II, and present day--The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost, of battles waged, and an enchanted castle that inspired the epic fairy tales time left behind.
(synopsis from goodreads).
My Review:
This was my first experience with a Kristy Cambron novel, but she's an author that I'd been wanting to read for quite some time. Over and over again other bloggers always recommended this particular book of hers to me, so this is the one I decided to give a try. I'm generally a huge fan of timeslip novels, and I loved the idea of this one being mainly set in France. I dived into it with high hopes, and instantly found myself swept up in this beautiful tale of love, loss and family drama.
The Lost Castle is told in three different POV's, across three different time periods. Ellie's is the modern day story, and she's struggling in her current situation as she helplessly watches her grandmother suffer from Alzheimer's, and knows that that this beloved strong lady who raised her days are numbered. In a rare moment of clarity, her grandmother (Viola) insists that Ellie must travel to France, to an important location and right a wrong that her grandmother never got the chance to do. On a whim, Ellie decides to do as her grandmother asks but is not prepared for the amazing history and familial connections she's about to discover in beautiful France. The second POV comes from Ellie's grandmother Viola during World War Two, and showcases her time spent helping the allies in war relief, and the reasons as to why France became so important to her. Lastly, the story jumps all the way back to 1789 to that of Aveline Sainte-Moreau, a young woman who's forward thinking on wealth and status has placed her in a precarious position within her family. As such, her family has arranged a marriage between her and a son of nobility in order to guarantee her prospects, and keep her misplaced ideals to herself.
Kristy Cambron's vivid attention to details brings this story to life over the three time periods, and the reader is treated to a visionary delight of French details including the beautiful scenery, the delicious sounding food, and the many norms and customs. Each woman also experiences a romance, and I thought each were written beautifully enough that I ended up enjoying all three, and not preferring one or the other. I loved the historical attention to detail, the way that the castle felt like a real place that tugged at my heartstrings, and the lovely conclusion that leaves the reader satisfied, but still leaves room for the continuing novels.
However, my one hangup with this novel was that I wasn't a huge fan of the timeslip format. Normally timeslip novels are some of my favorites, but I found it too confusing to keep up with in this one. I felt like just as I really started to get into one of the women's stories, it would jump out of that time period into another, and it became a tad less enjoyable. I also struggled with the fact that I felt all three women were very similarly written, and that made it even harder to distinguish from the different eras. Lastly, within each timeslip, there were look backs featured at least once or twice, and I found it increasingly complicated to keep track of what was happening to who, and when it was happening.
The Lost Castle is still a beautiful novel though, and I gave it four out of five stars. I will most definitely be continuing on with the series, as I really did enjoy it for the most part. I just wished the timeslip part of it had been a little bit less confusing!
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
I hope you're all doing well, and thank you for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron:
Source: Library
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: February 6th, 2018
Genre: Christian Fiction/Women's Fiction/Historical Fiction
Series: Lost Castle
Synopsis:
Launching a brand-new series, Kristy Cambron explores the collision of past and present as she discovers the ruins of a French castle, long lost to history.
A thirteenth century castle, Chateau de Doux Reves, has been forgotten for generations, left to ruin in a storybook forest nestled deep in France's picturesque Loire Valley. It survived a sacking in the French Revolution, was brought back to life and fashioned into a storybook chateau in the Gilded Age, and was eventually felled and deserted after a disastrous fire in the 1930s.
As Ellie Carver sits by her grandmother's bedside, she hears stories of a castle . . . of lost love and a hidden chapel that played host to a secret fight in the World War II French resistance. But her grandmother is quickly slipping into the locked-down world of Alzheimer's, and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the truth of her family's history.
Sparked by the discovery of a long forgotten family heirloom, Ellie embarks on a journey to French wine country to uncover the mystery surrounding The Sleeping Beauty--the castle so named for Charles Perrault's beloved fairy tale--and unearth its secrets before they're finally silenced by time.
Set in three different time periods--the French Revolution, World War II, and present day--The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost, of battles waged, and an enchanted castle that inspired the epic fairy tales time left behind.
(synopsis from goodreads).
My Review:
This was my first experience with a Kristy Cambron novel, but she's an author that I'd been wanting to read for quite some time. Over and over again other bloggers always recommended this particular book of hers to me, so this is the one I decided to give a try. I'm generally a huge fan of timeslip novels, and I loved the idea of this one being mainly set in France. I dived into it with high hopes, and instantly found myself swept up in this beautiful tale of love, loss and family drama.
The Lost Castle is told in three different POV's, across three different time periods. Ellie's is the modern day story, and she's struggling in her current situation as she helplessly watches her grandmother suffer from Alzheimer's, and knows that that this beloved strong lady who raised her days are numbered. In a rare moment of clarity, her grandmother (Viola) insists that Ellie must travel to France, to an important location and right a wrong that her grandmother never got the chance to do. On a whim, Ellie decides to do as her grandmother asks but is not prepared for the amazing history and familial connections she's about to discover in beautiful France. The second POV comes from Ellie's grandmother Viola during World War Two, and showcases her time spent helping the allies in war relief, and the reasons as to why France became so important to her. Lastly, the story jumps all the way back to 1789 to that of Aveline Sainte-Moreau, a young woman who's forward thinking on wealth and status has placed her in a precarious position within her family. As such, her family has arranged a marriage between her and a son of nobility in order to guarantee her prospects, and keep her misplaced ideals to herself.
Kristy Cambron's vivid attention to details brings this story to life over the three time periods, and the reader is treated to a visionary delight of French details including the beautiful scenery, the delicious sounding food, and the many norms and customs. Each woman also experiences a romance, and I thought each were written beautifully enough that I ended up enjoying all three, and not preferring one or the other. I loved the historical attention to detail, the way that the castle felt like a real place that tugged at my heartstrings, and the lovely conclusion that leaves the reader satisfied, but still leaves room for the continuing novels.
However, my one hangup with this novel was that I wasn't a huge fan of the timeslip format. Normally timeslip novels are some of my favorites, but I found it too confusing to keep up with in this one. I felt like just as I really started to get into one of the women's stories, it would jump out of that time period into another, and it became a tad less enjoyable. I also struggled with the fact that I felt all three women were very similarly written, and that made it even harder to distinguish from the different eras. Lastly, within each timeslip, there were look backs featured at least once or twice, and I found it increasingly complicated to keep track of what was happening to who, and when it was happening.
The Lost Castle is still a beautiful novel though, and I gave it four out of five stars. I will most definitely be continuing on with the series, as I really did enjoy it for the most part. I just wished the timeslip part of it had been a little bit less confusing!
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
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