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131st out of 367 books
—
347 voters
Captured (The Divided Realms #1)
Fifteen-year-old Willow Kingswell has been listening to her Nana's tales of faeries and enchanted kingdoms for as long as she can remember. But when she is magically transported to the realm of Mistolear, she is stunned to learn that the stories were true, and that she is actually a princess. Suddenly, Willow has to fit into a royal family she didn't know she had, deal wit...more
Paperback, 284 pages
Published
May 1st 2011
by Lobster Press
(first published April 30th 2004)
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Reading Level: Grade 6-8
It has always been just Willow and her Nana. 15-year-old Willow has grown up listening to her grandmother's fairy tales about a magical realm called Mistolear. Willow used to enjoy the stories but as her grandmother slips further and further into Alzheimer's, hearing Nana talk of a fantasy world as if IT is the reality hurts.
One of her grandmother's fantasies was the "summoning spell" game where you could touch a special crystal and travel to another world. Willow had bel...more
It has always been just Willow and her Nana. 15-year-old Willow has grown up listening to her grandmother's fairy tales about a magical realm called Mistolear. Willow used to enjoy the stories but as her grandmother slips further and further into Alzheimer's, hearing Nana talk of a fantasy world as if IT is the reality hurts.
One of her grandmother's fantasies was the "summoning spell" game where you could touch a special crystal and travel to another world. Willow had bel...more
The cover:
It's got potential to be pretty, especially with the contrasting red, black and white. But the Photoshop effect is all too clear around the girl; just from the lighting, you can tell that she wasn't originally from this checkered hall. And somehow the whole shebang looks eerily Breaking Dawn-esque.
The book:
The chess game premise was interesting, but on the whole the writing in this book fails to deliver. The world-building is run-of-the-mill, complete with uselessly exotic names, enoug...more
It's got potential to be pretty, especially with the contrasting red, black and white. But the Photoshop effect is all too clear around the girl; just from the lighting, you can tell that she wasn't originally from this checkered hall. And somehow the whole shebang looks eerily Breaking Dawn-esque.
The book:
The chess game premise was interesting, but on the whole the writing in this book fails to deliver. The world-building is run-of-the-mill, complete with uselessly exotic names, enoug...more
This book and I have a funny history. I read it was back when it was still The Princess Pawn and the cover donned not the elegant black, read and white one it does now, but three characters (excluding Willow) that appeared in the book for all of half a chapter. Now its been repackaged, rewritten (not a whole lot, but the difference is notable), and republished. Is it better? Well, perhaps the correct question here is not whether it is better but whether or not it is good. And, as it turns out, t...more
I fell in love with the cover as soon as I saw it, and I thought "it HAS to be good", and guess what? It was! It was so much better than good! This book was just pure creativity( like harry potter)! A teenager who comes to a strange land where she is a princess and realizes that there's a huge real life chess game going on, and she is the pawn who has to go to the other side of the board to become a queen so she can get magical powers and defeat an evil faerie prince so that the Game spell can...more
Aug 18, 2008
(G)Emma
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Girls who like Fantasy
A magical book about good and evil, Maggie portrays Willow's struggle between the part of her who wants to stay in her own world, and the part that wants to venture to a new one. Amazing book, one of the best I've ever read.
The one thing I really enjoy about small press/self published books is that even though many of them are terrible, there are some gems out there. This is one of them. The idea of two kingdoms being trapped into playing a giant magical chess game was a unique one, and in the end I enjoyed it a lot. Willow really grated on my nerves at first, but she grew on me eventually. The writing doesn't flow as well as your standard press YA book, but it wasn't bad either. One of the nicest things was that a...more
When I was little, instead of wishing to be a princess, I instead wanted to be an awesome superhero with awesome powers. Even now after having grown up I still wish this. However, there is this teeny, tiny part of me who wishes to be a princess. Really. Captured isn't only a book about a girl finding out she's a princess-it's also about a whole other fantasy world. And I love me a good fantasy book!
The synopsis doesn't exactly do a good job of describing the book, so let me explain. Willow is a...more
The synopsis doesn't exactly do a good job of describing the book, so let me explain. Willow is a...more
I initially found the concept of people being linked to chess pieces in a large scale game of wizard chess to be silly and strange. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the novel and think it was well executed. This style of fantasy that combines our world with a fantastic one is very effective for teens. It allows them to deal with issues like war and family drama at a safe distance. At at the same time they feel close to the action because of the character from our world who sees things as t...more
Jun 03, 2011
Kara Cardwell
added it
This was a sweet and short introduction to the Divided Realms series. Early on I was introduced to Willow and in turn introduced to the realms, family, and people (/creatures) she had no idea existed. Therefore, like Willow I didn’t know much about the new world and was forced to cope quickly with the complicated situations.
Everything moved so quickly, but Willow and her companions seemed like a good enough team to handle all kinds of adventure, which I’m looking forward to with the upcoming boo...more
Everything moved so quickly, but Willow and her companions seemed like a good enough team to handle all kinds of adventure, which I’m looking forward to with the upcoming boo...more
I previously read this book under its former title The Princess Pawn, and was surprised to find that this was the same book -mostly. It was slightly unnerving, because this book is the same book with a new title, however I'm fairly certain that there were minor changes done to it. Before I discus the story itself, I'd just like to say that I perfered the title The Princess Pawn to Captured. The Princess Pawn was a unique, interesting and memorable title. Captured, well, what does that tell you a...more
'Captured' by Maggie L. Wood has a very unique chess game storyline. Unfortunately the plot drags at times. I found my self having to turn to the 'Cast of Characters' page more than once to try to figure out who characters were which was very disruptive to the momentum of the story. I found the male lead 'Brand' very interesting and was disappointed at his removal from the story halfway through the book. Honestly there just wasn't enough spark in this book to make me want to read the second in t...more
Nov 25, 2011
Heather
marked it as to-read
"a series that intricately weaves the adventure and strategy of gaming with the romance of faerie tales and medieval folklore"; "luscious descriptions, comedic timing and fast-paced action" (taken from Can. Children's Book News) Recommended for Gr 7+
Sep 21, 2011
Suzanne Schack
added it
Though her books are hard to find, I like Maggie Wood's writing. And doesn't every girl want-in some way-to be a princess? Well, being a princess isn't easy for Willow. If you want to know more, read it! And the second book, The Darkening.
This book was quite different, to say the least. It follows Willow, who is part of a collosal game of chess where lives are at stake. I was apprehensive at first glance, but it turned out to be a fairly good story.
Nice to see a different twist on a fairy tale. Chess is definitely not overdone in this day and age.
Wow finally finished this book. It seemed like a good story but it was very slow and hard to get interested in.
it was interesting
Best book ever
Good books :)
Apr 27, 2012
Amy
marked it as to-read
Sort of Cliché
I don't get the book, what with all the complicated names all the characters have and the game (chess) they are playing. The story gets all hard to understand at times and I didn't really enjoy the whole process. I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 because there were some nice and funny scenes in the middle of the book.
I'm probably not gonna read book 2 in the near future.
I'm probably not gonna read book 2 in the near future.
Feb 02, 2008
Denae
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
girls with big dreams
Shelves:
alternate-reality-fantasy
This is a wonderful tale of an ordinary girl finding the truth of her past in an extraordinary world where she finds she's princess in a magical realm. I love the way MLW describes her main character's indecision and common problems. This book also has a wonderful conclusion. It's all wrapped up nicely, though a reader will never know if Willow goes back to earth or not.
Great fantasy novel. I was drawn right into the characters and plot, and I think you will be, too.
Check out my full review of Captured here.
Check out my full review of Captured here.
May 11, 2013
Haylee
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Sierra
marked it as to-read
May 01, 2013
Carol
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| super natural: Event | 1 | 1 | May 30, 2012 07:11pm |
Maggie L. Wood lives in London, Ontario, where she writes and works as a bookseller. The Princess Mage, second in the Mistolear series, is a sequel to her first novel for young adults, The Princess Pawn, published by Sumach Press in 2003.
More about Maggie L. Wood...
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May 15, 2013 03:06pm