Spirit's Princess

Spirit's Princess by Esther Friesner
3/5 stars
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012
449 pages
YA; Historical Fantasy

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book although I knew that it was based on a real-life historical figure, known as Himiko, in ancient Japan. That is not a time period I am familiar with so that meant that everything would be new to me.

Now I don't know if it was because of how new everything was or what the reason might be, but I really struggled to read this book. That would be mostly because of the characters. I could not get a feel for the young Himiko and none of the other characters really interested me. Honestly I thought Himiko was kind of a brat, quick to anger and selfish.  Most of her mishaps come from her bullheadedness and inability to listen to people unless they told her what she wanted to hear.

The setting was fine. Himiko is the only daughter of the chief of a secluded clan (not sure how big they are though they must be of some size) and somewhat spoiled. She desires to be like her eldest brother and also finds herself drawn to the shaman of their tribe. Through these twin desires, she wanders through the book, which takes place over some years (not entirely sure how many but she goes from child to adult woman ready for marriage).

Saying that, there were some cool plot points that relate to the fantasy aspect. The shaman educates Himiko but Himiko also seems to possess her own powers that infused some magic into the story. The descriptions around these experiences were very intriguing especially the final one toward the end, which I think will help guide Himiko in the next book in the series. However I will not be joining them because I did not enjoy this book enough.

Overall: A different kind of historical fiction (we need more non-Europe stories) but with lackluster characters and a meandering plot that made it difficult for me to concentrate.

Threads and Flames

Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
Viking, 2010
386 pages
YA; Historical
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Read for YA Overlooked Book Battle.

This book was a great historical fiction novel with its main conflict coming from the famous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on March 25, 1911 where the main character Raisa and most of her friends work. But that doesn't occur until near the end of the book.

Raisa just managed to survive typhus in her Polish shtetl before she embarks on a journey to America to meet her older sister Henda who has lived there for the past four years.  On the boat, she befriends Zusa, a young woman about her age, and begins to take care of little Brina whose mother dies on the ship.  Upon arrival, she begins to search for Henda.  Unfortunately Henda had received a letter informing her of Raisa's death and is thus nowhere to be found.  Luckily for Raisa, though, she finds a good room to let and soon starts earning money.  Eventually all of the main young characters end up working for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory leading to the fire that devastates a community and highlights the inequities of the American economic system.

Raisa was a very brave girl; she turns fourteen on the ship over but she acts much more maturely than me and I'm twenty-one.  She takes on the responsibility of caring for Brina and she works tirelessly to master sewing with a machine as well as learning English.  Of course, she also gets to have fun with her friends Zusa, Italian immigrant Luciana, and dreamy Gavrel, the son of her landlords.

The historical details were fantastic! Although this is not my time period, I felt very immersed in the world described.  Although not much time is spent there, the worst part (and worst because accurate) was the descriptions of the sweatshops, awful places where the cloth is valued more than the people; as Friesner reminds us in her author's note, such places still exist, even in America where they ought not to.  The description of the fire is also powerful with the confusion and the people who jumped out of the window in order to avoid being burned particularly grabbing me.

Despite those sad facts, there is also the optimism of the American dream with Raisa looking to be a teacher and Gavrel looking to be a rabbi, which would give them a better life than they had known and give any children a better life too.  The ending is pretty optimistic.

My biggest quibble was the search for Henda.  Raisa starts strong but as time passes and no sign of her emerges, her fears begin to master her.  The way she finds Henda seemed way too coincidental to me and I rolled my eyes a little.  However I'm glad that Raisa got to find out what happened to her sister so that's good.

Overall: A good historical novel calling attention to the dark tragedies lurking in the American dream.

Cover: I like the title within the charred fabric scraps or paper.