CHARACTERS Ø IBCTHAI.CO ☆ Diane Stanley

Diane Stanley ☆ 1 CHARACTERS CHARACTERS ✓ The Silver Bowl (Silver Bowl, #1) Unwanted at home Molly goes to work for the king of Westria as a humble scullery maid She arrives at the castle with no education no manners and a very disturbing secret She sees visions and those visions always come trueOne day while she's working in the king's great hall young Prince Alaric passes by Molly finds him unbearably handsome but also unbearably rude But wh. Originally Reviewed on The Book SmugglersThe youngest in a large poor family Molly has never been truly wanted by her father It doesn t help that she starts developing a strange ability while playing tag with some of the local villagers Molly has a vision of a neighbor dying tragically A few days later when that vision comes true the entire village sees her as a witch and a curse like her mother before her who has been locked away from the world and called mad by Molly s father Molly has a rare gift of seeing the future So at the age of seven when her family s fortunes are at an all time low her father finds the perfect reason to get rid of his unwanted child Molly is hauled off to the castle where she is put to work as a scullery maid in the kitchens hard long labor that at first is a tough fit for the headstrong and very vocal Molly As the years pass though she finds her place at the castle making friends especially with the so called Donkey Boy Tobias and fellow maid Winifred and eventually getting a position polishing silver outside of the kitchensHer new job however has her polishing a beautiful silver bowlwhich immediately begins to show her terrifying visions of the past and of the grim future that awaits the King As it turns out the royal family is cursed and Molly alone has the ability to foresee and change the futureWhen I started this book I was looking for a diverting adventure filled YA fantasy read and I am pleased to say The Silver Bowl did not disappoint Reminiscent of middle gradeyoung adult fantasy novels Patricia C Wrede The Silver Bowl is a sweet adventurous tale with a wonderful plucky heroine In fact though this book was published in 2011 it feels much like one of the books I would have devoured and loved as a middle schooler like Cine s adventures in Searching for Dragons or Harry s adventures in The Blue Sword The tone of the novel and its prose are beautifully rendered and I love that Diane Stanley is not afraid to show the darker elements of the story curses in the form of monsters bloody battles and injury to name a few but it is the elegant style in which the book is written that gives it the feel of a McKinley or Wrede or McKillip Of course the true standout of the book is our heroine young Molly and her singular ability to cut to the heart of any problem and take matters into her own hands I love that she unlike the usual heroines that seem so prevalent in today s fantasy fiction for young adults is charmingly ignorant and un educated Instead of being the peasant girl that has had the loving family that has inexplicably educated her far beyond the station of her time Molly is refreshingly ignorant She s not polished She s not princess beautiful She s not literate But that does not mean she isn t brilliantly smart Molly has gumption beyond her station in life and that is pretty freaking amazing I also love that there is a romance angle to this story and it s not one that features the peasant girl becoming the prince s bride From a story perspective the underlying conflict of The Silver Bowl is somewhat simplistic and somewhat predictable once the villain is revealed but that does not translate to a poorly told or boring story Stanley s writing style the touching interchanges between her characters the magical abilities and curses of this world they are all fantastically done The Silver Bowl is a book that I would whole heartedly recommend to anyone looking for a uick nostalgic fantasy novel and I will be checking out Diane Stanley s backlist very very soon Nine and a Half Weeks A Memoir of a Love Affair king of Westria as a humble scullery maid She arrives at the castle with no education no manners and a very disturbing secret She sees visions and those visions always come trueOne day while she's working in the The $5 Takeout Cookbook king's great hall young Prince Alaric passes by Molly finds him unbearably handsome but also unbearably rude But wh. Originally Reviewed on The Book SmugglersThe youngest in a large poor family Molly has never been truly wanted by her father It doesn t help that she starts developing a strange ability while playing tag with some of the local villagers Molly has a vision of a neighbor dying tragically A few days later when that vision comes true the entire village sees her as a witch and a curse like her mother before her who has been locked away from the world and called mad by Molly s father Molly has a rare gift of seeing the future So at the age of seven when her family s fortunes are at an all time low her father finds the perfect reason to get rid of his unwanted child Molly is hauled off to the castle where she is put to work as a scullery maid in the The Reluctant kitchens hard long labor that at first is a tough fit for the headstrong and very vocal Molly As the years pass though she finds her place at the castle making friends especially with the so called Donkey Boy Tobias and fellow maid Winifred and eventually getting a position polishing silver outside of the Vargens lilla lamm kitchensHer new job however has her polishing a beautiful silver bowlwhich immediately begins to show her terrifying visions of the past and of the grim future that awaits the King As it turns out the royal family is cursed and Molly alone has the ability to foresee and change the futureWhen I started this book I was looking for a diverting adventure filled YA fantasy read and I am pleased to say The Silver Bowl did not disappoint Reminiscent of middle gradeyoung adult fantasy novels Patricia C Wrede The Silver Bowl is a sweet adventurous tale with a wonderful plucky heroine In fact though this book was published in 2011 it feels much like one of the books I would have devoured and loved as a middle schooler like Cine s adventures in Searching for Dragons or Harry s adventures in The Blue Sword The tone of the novel and its prose are beautifully rendered and I love that Diane Stanley is not afraid to show the darker elements of the story curses in the form of monsters bloody battles and injury to name a few but it is the elegant style in which the book is written that gives it the feel of a McKinley or Wrede or McKillip Of course the true standout of the book is our heroine young Molly and her singular ability to cut to the heart of any problem and take matters into her own hands I love that she unlike the usual heroines that seem so prevalent in today s fantasy fiction for young adults is charmingly ignorant and un educated Instead of being the peasant girl that has had the loving family that has inexplicably educated her far beyond the station of her time Molly is refreshingly ignorant She s not polished She s not princess beautiful She s not literate But that does not mean she isn t brilliantly smart Molly has gumption beyond her station in life and that is pretty freaking amazing I also love that there is a romance angle to this story and it s not one that features the peasant girl becoming the prince s bride From a story perspective the underlying conflict of The Silver Bowl is somewhat simplistic and somewhat predictable once the villain is revealed but that does not translate to a poorly told or boring story Stanley s writing style the touching interchanges between her characters the magical abilities and curses of this world they are all fantastically done The Silver Bowl is a book that I would whole heartedly recommend to anyone looking for a uick nostalgic fantasy novel and I will be checking out Diane Stanley s backlist very very soon

REVIEW The Silver Bowl (Silver Bowl, #1)

Diane Stanley ☆ 1 CHARACTERS CHARACTERS ✓ The Silver Bowl (Silver Bowl, #1) At does it really matter She'll probably never see him againIn time Molly is promoted to polishing silver and is given a priceless royal treasure to work on the king's great ceremonial hand basin But there's something odd about it The silver warms to her touch a voice commands her to watch and listen and then the visions appear They tell the story of a dreaded curse th. At the age of seven Molly is sent to be a scullery maid at Castle Dethemere It s here that she discovers that she has the ability to see visions the most disturbing of which appear in a silver bowl Here Molly learns about a curse on the royal family she serves but before she can do anything the castle is attacked Molly and her friend Tobias are able to escape with the young prince Together they must find away to break the curse and keep the prince safeThe Silver Bowl is one of this year s nominees for the Maine Student Book Awards and as a Maine librarian that works with kids I like to keep up on these particular titles as they are often great sources for recommendations Unfortunately this will not be a book that I will be recommending to many children The Silver Bowl may have its bright moments but there is ultimately too much holding it backMolly is a tough and capable heroine that s easy to root for and I really enjoyed how this book explored what the life of a servant in a castle might be like The Silver Bowl is written in a brisk manner that makes it very easy to read which is great for a book aimed at children Unfortunately I often felt that this uick pace often ends up being just as much as a hindrance than a help to my enjoyment The book plunges ahead with such speed that important aspects such as character development can be left behind The book doesn t fully explain what motivates characters so it often feels as if their actions only exist to move the plot forward This results in a cast that can feel very shallow This is the most obvious with the prince character The book also features several large jumps forward in time which ended up making the novel feel choppy There were times when I felt that the dialog felt stilted and unnatural and the climatic seuence at the end feels incredibly rushed as characters somehow find themselves transforming into warriors in order to defeat the enemy despite the fact that they are otherwise not very experienced in combatI feel as if I m being a little harsh with The Silver Bowl because there were a handful of moments when the book was really enjoyable such as a touching scene between Molly and Tobias where Tobias speaks of his family Unfortunately due to the underdeveloped characters and at times rushed plot the novel came off feeling almost half baked If the author had just taken a little time developing her story the results would have been much enjoyable Granted I am not in the target audience so perhaps a child won t have the same issue I did Still I cannot recommend this books to others and will not be reading any of the other planned books in this series

Diane Stanley ☆ 1 CHARACTERS CHARACTERS ✓ The Silver Bowl (Silver Bowl, #1) At has stalked the royal family for years There have already been deaths; soon there will be As tragedy after tragedy strikes the royal family Molly can't help but wonder Will the beautiful Alaric be next Together with her friends Tobias and Winifred Molly must protect the prince and destroy the curse Could a less likely champion be found to save the kingdom of Westria. The Silver Bowl was so cute I should have recognized it instantly as a work by one of my favorite authors I found the story sweet and delightful though its full of danger wicked curses and evil family members Molly is a charming spunky heroine who is loyal and brave The story has everything including a handsome prince inner magic and a wicked villain or two The action is occasionally a tad passive but mostly delightful with an ending that leaves you grinning Perfect for middle school readers and lovers of a good story