I don't really know what I want to rate this book, maybe a 3.4 or 3.5. It takes awhile to get interesting and well I had a hard time letting it keep my attention. Can I say maybe it was because I knew nothing about the history of Moorish Spain.

I do now, I had to read some facts about this time, like what the heck are Moors doing in Spain...

Fatima the main character was just a child when she was married to her cousin Faraj. He was older then her by 8 to 10 years. Fatima was a spoiled child, her father let her have every little whim, her mother though tried to make her see that her father wasn't the great man that Fatima saw him as.

Faraj wasn't easy to like either, but he got there before Fatima.

When the time came to actually get to their relationship, they both had matured in many ways, even though Fatima still acted childish sometimes. Maybe because they grew into their love, it made it seem more real, the last 3/4 of the book was really good...I think I was about 36% into the book.

I am hesitant to pick up the second one, but I am sort of hoping the story would be getting from the point where the author stopped. ( )

I had an ARC of Sultana by Lisa J. Yarde sitting so long my shelf that I felt guilty about not reading it.

There were some positive things about this book, it was very well researched. Now I have some knowledge about 13th Century Moorish Spain, the clothes, customs and the royal families. I have to thank the author for that. In the back of the bock are some helpful charts like the one that gives the modern day name for the place identified in the book. Also, there is a great glossary and list of the characters in the front with concise descriptions.

At the beginning of the book, the child Fatima was only eight years old when she was kidnapped. Fatima been married Farij earlier on the same day. She seemed intelligent and loyal to the family that she missed.

But I had a load of trouble with the writing. There were awkwardly worded sentences that made me stop and think about they could be worded better. I found this annoying and often lost the flow of the story. Also the descriptions of the food were great and made me hungry. But I thought that the emotions of Fatima and Fariq were put down in a superficial manner.

I love historical fiction but not so much romance. I think the roots of romance are there but again not very developed. I thought that the feelings could have been expressed in such a way that I could connect with the main characters but I was not able to connect even to Fatima.

The author’s passion for history of this area and time period comes out in this book. However, I think it could have benefits from more re-writing. I think that she could do it but gave up too soon on editing.

I cannot recommend this book. I am hoping that the writing has been improved in her next book.

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What a pleasure to read about a time and a place that 1) I knew very little about and 2) is under-represented in historical fiction. Sultana is a page-turner, the tale of the Moorish Nasrid sultans (and sultanas) and their fight to maintain power among shifting alliances in late 13th-century Gharnatah (Granada). In addition to the entertaining story, Yarde also provides fascinating historical notes, a handy glossary, and translations of place-names. ( )

Sultana is historical fiction set in Moorish Spain. It was great historical fiction providing enough historical details and yet telling a easy to read, action-packed story. It made me want to go research the history some more!

The characters were engaging, and the story well told. The fact that the main character was a strong, independent woman made the story.

*** Reviewed for member giveaway *** ( )

Normally, I have few complaints when it comes to historical fiction. A little embellishment here and there is just fine, particularly since we really never know what happened in the past.

I have to say, though, that this was one historical fiction novel that I'm not crazy for. It's not a terrible novel, but I found the plot elements very difficult to follow. I also found it hard to believe that love came so easy to the main characters.

The novel is set in the 1200's, where the young daughter of a Sultan is married off to her cousin as a pre-teen. The period is one of much turmoil. There is constantly some battle occurring, or a political fine-line to walk. Realistic to the period perhaps, but not always that interesting to read. The personal interactions were the best part, even if I found the main relationship hard to believe.

Regardless, like I said, this isn't a terrible novel. I just didn't particularly enjoy it unfortunately. I found myself skimming the long parts describing the various battles, and half the time I wasn't sure what was going on since all of the names were the same and the relations were far too complicated. I won't be seeking out the sequel when it's released later this year. ( )