o.o

Look I really enjoy books in which we find out the main character is a royal in hiding. Joyce Ballou Gregorian's Tredana trilogy and Paul Park's Roumania Sequence, not to mention Pamela Dean's Secret Country trilogy and Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars trilogy , are ALL based around this concept. And I *adore* those series. And to be truthful CHRYSANTHE sounded exactly like something I would love. Plus from a publisher I almost always enjoy (Tor) I thought this was a shoo-in for at least a 3 star rating. I was leery of the fact that a large piece of the story seemed to center on Christine's 'childhood trauma' (or perceived trauma, let's just say she takes a unique approach to finding out the truth).

But as I read more and more of the book (its over 500pages) I became less and less happy. I couldn't put my finger on it. I really couldn't. The book wasn't written badly--its blunt and a bit unsettling at first, but it had a certain....voice to it that I wasn't adverse to. Christine is hard to relate with at first, what she suffers at the hands of her therapist (and 'Uncle') are difficult to read. Though the tension and unsettling nature of those experiences are lessened because the reader already knows its all fake.

Its not until I put down the book and thought about it that I realized why I wasn't happy or satisfied.

I hated this book. I mean, full on hated it. Its been so long since I've hated a book with every fiber of my bookish being that I didn't understand the emotion. (for the curious the last book was BREAKING DAWN) Most books something interests me--like Andrea Cremer's books, I thoroughly disliked the choices made, the development of characters and ending, but I really found the concept fascinating. And Calla wasn't horrible, just made stupid decisions a lot--but by the end of CHYSANTHE? I couldn't recall a single instance, character or concept I wanted to know more about.

Even as I'm sitting here I can't recall anything to like. I have a vague feeling of disquiet and uncomfortableness with the book actually, and gave away my ARC edition as fast as possible. ( )

Unfortunately, this author set out to tell a brilliant idea with the wrong lead character. Meynard chose the Princess because it allowed the author to explore the made worlds and the real world through the eyes of a newcomer, but an info dump is an info dump is an info dump. It took four hundred pages of info dumping, to get to Melogian and Casimir, the heart and horror of this story.

I'd recommend skipping all the way to Part VI, read the exciting bits, and thank me for the time I saved you. Then if your interested in the myths of the Law and the birth of Heroes, treat the beginning as an appendix you can skip through at will and a lesson in how not to do world building in a novel. ( )

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's got so many things that I like - interesting systems of magic! A series of worlds some of which resemble our own but none of which are exactly ours! Commentary on the dangers of overzealous psychiatrists and suggested memories! - but in the end it feels like an incomplete mess. It's hard to tell who the main character is. Is it Christine, the princess who grew up hidden in a false world more similar to our own than to the magical kingdom she belongs to? Quentin, the knight sent to rescue her? Melogian, the apprentice sorceress stuck trying to save the kingdom on her own? None of them have a real character arc; Melogian gets closest, but she's not even introduced until well into the story. The characterization is thin, the worldbuilding is good, this should have been at least three 600 page bricks instead of whatever it was because it's missing too much. ( )

Not bad, but I'm not finding myself staying up nights wondering, "what happens next," either.
Our protagonist has been raised in near-isolation since early childhood by an uncle. Her therapist, with the aid of recovered-memory therapy, has convinced her that she was a victim of long-term sexual abuse at the hands of her father, which was why she was taken away from her family.

Then - a handsome young man appears. He tells her that he is a knight, who has been seeking her for years, and that all she has known is a lie. In actuality, she is the princess of the one true realm, kidnapped from her loving father and hidden in an artificial 'made world.'

Running off and questing ensues. The princess is returned to her home, but not all is happy ever after, since she's got major mental issues, and enemies of the realm are still at large. More running about and questing.

The whole thing with the therapy sounds a bit cheesy, but I actually thought it was handled well, and convincingly.

The weak point in the book is the characterization. Characters tend to be either good or evil, not very complex, and rather flat.

The most interesting aspect of the book, I thought, was the whole 'made worlds' concept. According to the theory, the 'real world' is stultifyingly tiny. It's a physically small, homogenous, quite boring speck without much history - or anything. In contrast, the 'made worlds' are infinite, diverse, and encompass literally everything that could be imagined - universes and dimensions. They include places much like our own world. But they are - supposedly - not real. It's a fascinating reversal of expectations - but it's really quite an unpleasant and disturbing concept on a very deep level, and I suspect that it is why many people have reacted in a negative and emotional way to this book.

The concept also isn't fully explored - instead, much of the plot is taken up with typical-fantasy sorcerous battles and such. I assume sequels are taking it somewhere... but I'm not sure I loved it enough to follow them. ( )

Chrysanthe
By
Yves Meynard

My "in a nutshell" summary...

A very big amazing book about a kidnapped princess who is the heiress to the world of Chrysanthe.

My thoughts after reading this book...

Ok...here we go...little Christine has no mother. She has sort of hazy dark memories of another happy world and a lovely happy life but that's not where she is right now. She has an imaginary rabbity buddy named Tap Fullmoon...who may not even be that imaginary...and now lives with the mean uncle/wizard who put her in this place in the first place.

Ok...apparently a "doctor" in this alternate world Christine is in convinces her that she has been raped and brutally assaulted over one hundred times! Ick!

Not quite where I thought this was going...Ick...

After not believing and then finally sort of believing a story about her past life from Quentin...a knight who has come to rescue her...she escapes with him. But the wizard knows she escapes and everyone is after her...Quentin can change the way the world looks but it doesn't seem to help that much.

There is lots of magic and excitement and weirdness as Quentin and Christine make their way out of this world and back to the one where they really belong. Wallets with tons of money that really is just an illusion, demons, weird magic hedges, sky ships, and more and then they are back in the kingdom...sigh!

The rest of the story is weird and complex...old grievances surface...wars...more weird magic...and a quite amazing ending...

What I loved about this book...

I enjoyed the author's writing and I loved the idea of this story. I enjoyed the adventure and the quest!

What I did not love...

Oh my...I wanted to love this book but I did not. I couldn't connect with the characters. I couldn't imagine this world and I really wanted to!

Final thoughts...

I think that readers who loved adult fantasy...if that is even a genre...will really enjoy this book...but for me there was just something missing. It is well written. There is not one thing that is really wrong with Chrysanthe...it just was not a good fit for me. ( )