Sovay
by Celia ReesSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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| YA Book Council: Notepad for Future Books | 15 | 76 | 18 days ago, 02:35AM | |
| SPOILERS: Gabriel? | 2 | 11 | 09/09/2008 04:19PM |
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Read in October, 2008
Wow! I loved this book. I'm going to say it's more like 4.85 than 5.0 . . . so I went low because it's not quite a 5. I read it over the course of about a week (slow for me, right?), but only because I wanted to keep reading it so badly that I would pick it up for small snippets of time when I had a few minutes to read instead of waiting for time to sit and enjoy it all without other distractions taking me away from it!
The cover is gorgeous, but I knew nothing about the story inside when ...more
The cover is gorgeous, but I knew nothing about the story inside when ...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
Fans of 'The Knight of Maison-Rouge' by Alexandre Dumas; 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' by Baroness Orczy
Sovay had the potential to be a great novel, but turned out to be an overly ambitious project that sadly misses it's mark. This book is full of wonderful plot devices, too full in fact; therein lies the problem. The story contains elements of Ann Radcliff's gothic suspense, Frances Burney's mannerly romance, and Baroness Orczy's mystery-laden intrigue; but the author seems unable to decide which of these themes demand dominance in the story, and the result is a confusing mess. Too many...more
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Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com
It's England, 1783. America has recently won independence and a revolution is going on in France. Anyone and everyone in England is suspect for treason, and spies are everywhere.
Sovay Middleton donned a man's cloak and posed as a highway robber in order to prove her lover disloyal. But when she stumbles upon papers that belong to one of England's most powerful and dangerous men, she finds her family's life at stake. He...more
It's England, 1783. America has recently won independence and a revolution is going on in France. Anyone and everyone in England is suspect for treason, and spies are everywhere.
Sovay Middleton donned a man's cloak and posed as a highway robber in order to prove her lover disloyal. But when she stumbles upon papers that belong to one of England's most powerful and dangerous men, she finds her family's life at stake. He...more
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Read in June, 2008
Rees, Celia Sovay, pgs.416 Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. Language~PG-13, Sexual Content~PG-13; Violence~PG-13;
Sovay is not your average young lady especially in 1783 England. In order to seek revenge against her former fiancé, Sovay dresses up as a highway man and begins to hold up carriages and travelers. The story segues into the more important battle going on in France. This is the time of the French revolution and Sovay’s brother and father are in France, and haven’t been hea...more
Sovay is not your average young lady especially in 1783 England. In order to seek revenge against her former fiancé, Sovay dresses up as a highway man and begins to hold up carriages and travelers. The story segues into the more important battle going on in France. This is the time of the French revolution and Sovay’s brother and father are in France, and haven’t been hea...more
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In this historical novel independent Sovay is not a young woman who primps and preens, she is adventurous and daring. Posing as a male highway robber to find out the true feeling of a suitor, Sovay does not get the reaction that she expected. While in her disguise as the feisty “Captain Blaze”, Sovay lifts important papers from a dangerous man entangling her in a web of deceit that affects not only herself but also her family.
Not knowing who is friend or foe, Sovay travels to London and th...more
Not knowing who is friend or foe, Sovay travels to London and th...more
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Read in October, 2008
Sovay isn't a typical girl of 1794. She is the daughter of a man who believes in reform and liberty, and Sovay, her brother Hugh, and even the servants Gabriel and Lydia have been infected with his ideals. Now though, the French revolution rages and in England fears of rebellion run high. Sovay's father is suspected of treason, and Sovay can't find him or her brother. A trick Sovay thought up to test her fiance's love by dressing as a highwayman and robbing him to see if he would give up her ...more
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Read in July, 2008
Maybe I'm being too fussy about this sort of thing but... I don't like the "mere bystander plays major role in Historic Affairs" style of writing. The gold standard of historical fiction for me is Ring Out Bow Bells (Cynthia Hartnett): there are major events (Agincort, the Luddite rebellion) but I never got the sense that the hero was being forced into the action. Here, Sovay is forced into a story that ranges from England to France during the French Revolution. I almost expe...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
9th grade and up but I don't recommend it
This book was a mess: story lines all over the place, grammatical errors, too many characters to keep track of and thinly drawn at that, historical events/people talked about but never fleshed out so the reader could understand why the events were even brought up, etc. etc. I threw it across the room when done! (Figuratively speaking of course - it is a library book after all...) I wonder sometimes whether authors think because they are just writing a young adult novel they can get lazy about go...more
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Read in August, 2008
This book has everything: girls dressed up as highwaymen! Broken engagements! Unrequited love! Revolutionaries! Spies! Adventure! Thieves and whores! Betrayal! Americans in Britan! Illuminati! Mad scientists! There's nothing it doesn't have (except pirates, but there's a highwayman named Captain Jack, so we forgive Reese for that omission.)What's not to like? (Well, except the labyrinthine plot, excessive roll of stock characters and wooden dialogue... but what's that in comparison to hunky Fren...more
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Read in September, 2008
I am normally a huge fan of Celia Rees, but this is my least-favorite of her books. I really enjoy the 18th century so I started the book expecting to really like it. Admittedly, I was reading an ARC, but I am used to ARCs being a near-finished product. Sovay felt like it was still in the draft stage, lots of skipping around and unfinished aspects of the plot. Overall very unimpressive. Try her Pirates instead.
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Read in September, 2008
recommended to Robin by:
ARCrecommends it for: those who like historical fiction
Well, I finally finished this one after months of struggling to get through it. It starts out well enough with the young woman, Sovay, disguising herself as a highwayman to rob her fiance to test his love. But then it turns into a story of political unrest in England and the French Revolution! I really had to force myself to get through this book even though I enjoyed "Pirates" by the same author.
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Read in September, 2008
I really wanted to like this book -- it sounded like something I'd love -- but I was disappointed. It started out well, and I was pulled in to the story right away, but as I got further into the book it became less and less interesting. There were too many characters to keep track of, and the ending was abrupt and unsatisfying. Not one I'd recommend, sorry.
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Read in November, 2008
I wasn't terribly impressed by this book. I never really got into it, was bored by it, and ended up skimming much of it. The slogan on the front implies that there will be some sort of romance--don't be fooled! There's an implied romance at the end, but the love, that's love for her family.
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Read in November, 2008
I enjoyed the history aspect of the book. Although, if I wasn't paying attention, I kind of missed a few things and had to back a few pages to get what was going on. I'm glad that it had a happy ending....I'm all about happy endings.
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Read in November, 2008
A disjointed, disappointing story of a fickle young woman who tries to save her father and brother--and pretty much everyone else in the story--from a spy lord attempting copy the French revolution in England.
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recommends it for:
people dying of boredom
I really liked the beguining but as the book went on I liked it less and less. I think in the middle they shouldve just ended it instead of going on. Its an ok book. I guess you can read it if your really bored.
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Read in October, 2008
A great historical young adult novel about Sovay, a woman who robbed for love and fought for her life. I completely devoured this book in two days time and loved the constant action and romantic interests.
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I should probably give this four stars because it was really a riveting read. Wonderful fleshy characters, engaging historical setting, but it being summertime, I was hoping for a bit more romance. Sigh.
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Her books Witch Child, Sorceress, and Pirates are excellent historical adventures; I'm looking forward to this one.
http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs...
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Set during the French Revolution, this novel has romance, suspense, and historical color. Another good YA historical fiction novel by Celia Rees.
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