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Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Anne Kelleher Bush really developed her characters well, especially Juliene. Juliene just seemed to grow up before my eyes, from dependent noble lady to independent brave songsayer. The plot of Lindos's doom also kept me interested. The way Ms. Bush incorporated Cariad into the plot was excellent. I would reccommend this book to any older kids who are looking for a good read, and I'm hoping with everyone else that a sequel is on the way.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice vacation read.
Review: I'm on the hundreth and something page(about a third of the book) and NOTHING has really happen yet. Not anything not told on the back of the book. The main character was only in the prologue and then he disappear. The girl of the story was so stupid I don't even want to go into it. Suffice to say that she brought a curse down on herself and got rape without putting up much of a struggle. You can't even say it was a struggle since the rapist didn't get hurt. All she did was tried to push his hands away and then scream when she finally realize what he was doing. I didn't even bother to finish a book with such a weak, pathetic heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Rather Interesting
Review: The plot was okay. I thought that she was a little naive and not very....protective of herself. I thought some of the parts the book could have done with out. But a pretty interesting book.
Rating:
Summary: Hoping for a Sequel
Review: This book was great. I literally couldn't put it down. I think I read it all in only 2 nights. It was great. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that I couldn't do a book report on it in school. Certain scenes wouldn't have been appropriate for my teacher to read aloud. Other than that though, the characters were well developed, as was the plot and everything else. I found myself becoming Lady Juilene of Sylyria!
Rating:
Summary: Hmm
Review: This is a really good book except for the two pages in which the heroine is raped (in great detail) which the book did not need.
Rating: 
Summary: I laughed, I cried.
Review: This story and the characters are copies of the generic figures you've met in inumerable other fantasy novels. The setting is the same familiar squeeky clean washed-out Hollywood quasi-medieval setting. The so-called heroine relies upon various men to protect her and define her and lacks a spine or anything to help her stand on her own. She and other female characters are basically cardboard figures used to show whether the sterotypic male characters are good or bad. This book is duller than plain corn grits. And the writing...geez...clumsy, thin and the action and dialogue are as cliche-ridden as the characters. This book has the feel of a trashy romance novel. It's so bad it's funny but you might weep over lost time and this book's contribution to the decline of fantasy fiction. Do authors think that the only fantasy readers are young teens? Seems that way given how the books read. Best thing to come from this book is its service as firestarter for my still.
Rating:
Summary: Different from what I usually read.
Review: To be honest, when I picked up this book I was expecting a historical medieval romance, this was not what I got. This story was pure fantasy, about a make believe world with evil wizardry, thurges, master thurges, over thurges - thanes, and all sorts of classes of people that I had never run across before running all over in a fantasy land - again that I had never heard of. But I figured what the heck, I am into it why not broaden my horizons! The story starts off with Lady Juilene who has been classically trained as a harpist and with a pleasing voice wants nothing more than to enter a competition before she marries her betrothed Arimond. Arimond's sister is attacked rather brutally by the evil thurge Lindos' soldiers - one of many such brutal type happenings in their domain. Arimond thinks he can defeat and kill the thurge if Juilene can, pose as a song-sayer and get Lindos to drop his guard. - This does not happen - Arimond is caught and killed - Juilene is brought back to Lindos' keep and given an option - marry Lindos. She refuses, and he places a curse on her that would hurt anyone who offers her aid, to be broken only by someone who will love her for herself. To save her family and friends she flees with nothing but her harp and a few coins. The rest of the story tells the trials and tribulations of this once pampered Lady who must now earn coin for her food, shelter and anything else she needs. You get to watch her grow up and draw on strengths she never knew she had. I would say that this was geared more for a young adult but there is a scene in which Juliene loses her innocence that might make a parent think twice. Eventually, a knight does come into her life with many secrets of his own. The romance story is sweet and their journey together is rife with danger. All in all - this not being a genre that I have immense knowledge of - I would say it is an okay read. Interesting concept if you like that sort of thing.
Rating:
Summary: Different from what I usually read.
Review: To be honest, when I picked up this book I was expecting a historical medieval romance, this was not what I got. This story was pure fantasy, about a make believe world with evil wizardry, thurges, master thurges, over thurges - thanes, and all sorts of classes of people that I had never run across before running all over in a fantasy land - again that I had never heard of. But I figured what the heck, I am into it why not broaden my horizons! The story starts off with Lady Juilene who has been classically trained as a harpist and with a pleasing voice wants nothing more than to enter a competition before she marries her betrothed Arimond. Arimond's sister is attacked rather brutally by the evil thurge Lindos' soldiers - one of many such brutal type happenings in their domain. Arimond thinks he can defeat and kill the thurge if Juilene can, pose as a song-sayer and get Lindos to drop his guard. - This does not happen - Arimond is caught and killed - Juilene is brought back to Lindos' keep and given an option - marry Lindos. She refuses, and he places a curse on her that would hurt anyone who offers her aid, to be broken only by someone who will love her for herself. To save her family and friends she flees with nothing but her harp and a few coins. The rest of the story tells the trials and tribulations of this once pampered Lady who must now earn coin for her food, shelter and anything else she needs. You get to watch her grow up and draw on strengths she never knew she had. I would say that this was geared more for a young adult but there is a scene in which Juliene loses her innocence that might make a parent think twice. Eventually, a knight does come into her life with many secrets of his own. The romance story is sweet and their journey together is rife with danger. All in all - this not being a genre that I have immense knowledge of - I would say it is an okay read. Interesting concept if you like that sort of thing.
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but still an enjoyable read...
Review: While many of the negative reviewers here raise valid points about predictable stock characters, I still found the book to be a fun read. The premise of Juilene's curse that keeps her from accepting charity is an interesting one, but I feel that it was not exploited as much as it could have been. I'm not sure what the people who accuse it of being slow are talking about... I enjoyed Ms. Bush's writing style and finished the book in a couple of days. While it may not warrant a full five stars it will not dissapoint a fantasy fan who merely wants some light reading while waiting for the next book from their favorite author.
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