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savage_book_review 's review for:
One Sun, One Moon, Two Stars
by Margaret Armand Smith
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've had this book and its sequel sat on my bookshelf since 2015, when my boyfriend (now husband) bought them for me at a local craft fair where the author had a stall. I remember her explaining the premise and loving the idea; a time travelling mystery mixed with recognisable historical events, with teenage characters leadibg the way. But they've always been superceded in my TBR list by other more mainstream books, until now.
In the main, the story and plot hold up well; three children/teens visit the Rufus Stone with their friend? Babysitter? Responsible adult? But when they get there, the bustle of the 21st Century disappears and, after a little exploration, they realise they're now in Norman Britain, at around the time the event that the Rufus Stone memorialises takes place. The tale is one of the kids both trying to fit in to this new/old world, and trying to work out how to get home.
The trouble is, in my head the story lends itself to a history twist - a what if the King lives tale, or what if one of the kids kills him? But despite the promise of history, it just comes across as a coincidental occurance rather than central to the plot. Which kind of makes the whole premise collapse in on itself.
While it does explore the Norman world a little, it barely scratches the surface and feels very generic - it could be a village at any time between the end of the Roman Empire right through to the Tudor period. Only the mention of which King is on the throne confirms the setting. Likewise, it has a very Enid Blyton-esque feel to it - despite the modernity of the teenagers, you have quite stereotypical boys; one smart, brave and protective, the other a bit more independent, lazy and stubborn... and the girl is just a bit pathetic. So you could be reading a book set in the early 20th century just as easily!
Unfortunately I didn't find that the writing had any depth to it at all; I couldn't connect with the main characters as they were completely two-dimensional. I only know their last names as they're mentioned on the back cover and bookmark! You're launched into a story with minimal explanation of how the characters have come together, and this trend continues throughout; there was a lot of telling rather than showing, and a lot of the plot points just seemed shoehorned into conversations.
The imagination is there and I'm wondering if this is the sort of book that might work better being read aloud to a child as a bedtime story. I can certainly accept the author's idea as a strong one, but the execution just lets it down for me.
In the main, the story and plot hold up well; three children/teens visit the Rufus Stone with their friend? Babysitter? Responsible adult? But when they get there, the bustle of the 21st Century disappears and, after a little exploration, they realise they're now in Norman Britain, at around the time the event that the Rufus Stone memorialises takes place. The tale is one of the kids both trying to fit in to this new/old world, and trying to work out how to get home.
The trouble is, in my head the story lends itself to a history twist - a what if the King lives tale, or what if one of the kids kills him? But despite the promise of history, it just comes across as a coincidental occurance rather than central to the plot. Which kind of makes the whole premise collapse in on itself.
While it does explore the Norman world a little, it barely scratches the surface and feels very generic - it could be a village at any time between the end of the Roman Empire right through to the Tudor period. Only the mention of which King is on the throne confirms the setting. Likewise, it has a very Enid Blyton-esque feel to it - despite the modernity of the teenagers, you have quite stereotypical boys; one smart, brave and protective, the other a bit more independent, lazy and stubborn... and the girl is just a bit pathetic. So you could be reading a book set in the early 20th century just as easily!
Unfortunately I didn't find that the writing had any depth to it at all; I couldn't connect with the main characters as they were completely two-dimensional. I only know their last names as they're mentioned on the back cover and bookmark! You're launched into a story with minimal explanation of how the characters have come together, and this trend continues throughout; there was a lot of telling rather than showing, and a lot of the plot points just seemed shoehorned into conversations.
The imagination is there and I'm wondering if this is the sort of book that might work better being read aloud to a child as a bedtime story. I can certainly accept the author's idea as a strong one, but the execution just lets it down for me.