Monday, September 9, 2013

Blog 139 - Maid of Secrets


Maid of Secrets


Author: Jennifer McGowan
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 406
Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN-13: 9781442441385

About the book
In this breathtaking start to a series, a secret society of young women make up Elizabeth I’s most trusted royal guard. God Save the Queen—or the Maids will.

Orphan Meg Fellowes makes her living picking pockets—until she steals from the wrong nobleman. Instead of rotting in prison like she expected, she’s whisked away to the court of Queen Elizabeth and pressed into royal service, where shejoins four other remarkable girls in the Maids of Honor, the Queen’s secret society of protectors.

Meg’s natural abilities as a spy prove useful in this time of unrest. The Spanish Court is visiting, and with them come devious plots and hidden political motives. As threats to the kingdom begin to mount, Meg can’t deny her growing attraction to one of the dashing Spanish courtiers. But it’s hard to trust her heart in a place where royal formalities and masked balls hide the truth: Not everyone is who they appear to be. With danger lurking around every corner, can she stay alive—and protect the crown?

My Review
Cover: I really love the cover and how it lets the reader imagine what this story is going to be about. It made me wonder what secrets is this maid going to be keeping and from whom is she keeping?

Things that I like: I really enjoyed the beginning and the ending of the novel. At both the beginning of the novel and the ending there seemed to be action and surprises around every turn of the story. I really enjoyed the plan towards the end of the novel that the main character, Meg Fellowes, has in saving her fellow maids and the crown all at once.

Things that I didn’t like: However, I didn’t enjoy the pacing throughout the middle of the novel. I was expecting action every time I turned the page and for Meg or one of the other girls to be getting into something or getting into some kind of trouble and there was nothing. They seemed to be either sitting around chatting, going through their lessons on being special maids to the crown and or they were walking through the castle looking for passageways and how to get to certain areas of the castle faster it seemed.

Overall: I enjoyed reading the book, even though the pacing and the middle portion of the novel seemed a little off to me. I give this book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. 


That is all for me this time, until next time Happy Reading!


2 comments:

Unknown said...

This was an interesting book, but I did enjoy Grave Mercy more!
-Scott Reads It!

TheAMWriter said...

Yeah I liked it more towards the end of the end of the book, but I haven't read Grave Mercy yet. I bought the book just haven't gotten to it yet.

Thanks for the comment and stopping by.