Date Finished: November 14, 2017
Page Count: 280
Genre: Historical Fiction
Since the
last book I read was part of a trilogy (and I was simply curios about what was going
to happen to Isabel after Chains),
the next book that I just tackled was so obviously going to be the sequel, Forge. Another obviously historical
fiction novel as Anderson love her historical fiction (I think that may be the
only genre she’s written and if not it’s the genre she writes most of), and she
excels so much at weaving engaging stories based on dull historical events that
I happily tore through this book as quickly as possible. Sadly, the next book I’m
going to read won’t be the finale of the series as my school library doesn’t
have the book, so I’ll have to go to the public library or put the book on hold
but, I digress. This is a blog of book reviews, not my reading status so
without further ado, let me get into the review.
For a
change of pace, I’d like to talk about the format of the book rather than the
characters for this review as the book’s formatting and plot made more of an
impact on me than the characters this time in my opinion. So I was super hyped to
continue with Isabel’s story and was happy to see that it picked up right where
the previous book left off. On the first page however I realized something was
dreadfully different from the last book as it wasn’t being from Isabel’s first
person but Curzon’s instead. My first reaction was to burn the book and forget
about the rest of the series, for I had not signed up for the narrator change that
Anderson sprung on her readers nor did I think Curzon could support the story
like Isabel had. Such actions would be inhuman however, so I refrained from doing
such and chose to continue reading. That happened in just the prologue and the hopes
I carried for change were further dashed when chapter 1 took place nine months
after that and I learned Isabel had run away from Curzon to find her sister so
I was most likely stuck with Curzon for the rest of the novel. I was real
bitter towards Anderson after this, wanting to abandon the book, but we were
reading in class and I didn’t have anything else to read so I pressed on. Thank
God the chapters were super short otherwise I might not have reached chapter 4
where things stated to look up.
By chapter
4, Curzon was traveling to find work or Isabel or safety (one of those three,
or maybe even something else) when he accidentally wandered onto the edge of battle
of Saratoga and saved the life of a pale skinned, gap-toothed private named
Ebenezer Woodruff or Eben for short. Curzon was then mistaken for a freeman and
guilt tripped into joining the battle and after that rejoining the army. Curzon’s
time in the army was definitely a highlight in the book. The challenges he
faced such as pretending to be a free man, having to put up with prejudice and
unequal treatment and all the harsh condition of the winter at Valley Forge
(hence the book title) seriously expanded upon the cocky, patriotic slave we
saw clash with Isabel in the first book to a more determined, passionate and
skillful individual. I can’t even believe it but I may like Curzon’s narration
and character more than Isabel’s. The two share many aspects such as their stubbornness
and desires for freedom but what I like about Curzon more is how he takes
action rather than sitting back and going with the flow and the fact that he
simply seemed to have more control over his personality and goals in his life
(that might have been due to the stakes in his situation being higher though). Heck,
I enjoyed his tone so much and getting to know experience all the “fun” Curzon
and Eben and the rest of the troops had that I actually prefer Forge over Chains.
Of course
there were some downs in the book such as the roman numerals returning with
little snippets of information under them, but the thing I disliked the most
about the formatting of the book was the short chapters. Somehow with less
pages in it, Forge managed to have
far more chapters than Chains with a whopping
62 in total. Now I may not remember how many chapters in Chains, but I can guarantee you they didn’t go past fifty. Maybe
there were so many chapters because Curzon’s character was accustomed to short
and sweet updates on the important events in his life, or maybe Anderson was experimenting
with how long she could make the chapters and still make the story fluid and
well written. The only reason I was bothered by this was the fact that there
were more little blurbs of information to read as the story progressed onwards
as most in the third part of the book some of the chapters were four, three,
two and even one-page long. No way did I read all those little blurb thingies
as I wanted the story to progress smoothly between ever three to five paragraphs
rather than having to take a quick break and lose the feeling of the moment
sometimes. Other than that the chapters were executed fairly well and they
helped emphasize the dullness of life as a solider during the winter at Valley
Forge and were occasionally good at closing most of the loose ends in each
chapter but leaving you with just enough to keep wanting more, or fearing for
the well fare of Curzon due to his poor circumstances so that you could hardly
wait to keep reading.
As for the characters
in the book, I haven’t got much to say about them. The highlights of the story were
truly Curzon’s narration and the plot, though there are a few notable
characters that really help with the story. Of course there was the one and
only Curzon, but he would have hardly have even survived most likely if he hadn’t
had saved Eben in the beginning of the book. Eben had somewhat of a naïve nature
and fun-loving nature to him, but aside from Curzon he may have been my
favorite character. The two would watch out for each other but were hardly above
having little tiff among each other, such as weather slavery was good or not,
but their close friendship and brotherly bond, not to mention Eben’s habit of
calling Curzon “Master Stone Thrower” made the two my favorite together. Then
Isabel returned in part three of the book, though she was previously though in
parts one and two every once and a while by Curzon. I personally wasn’t too
fond of her personality change here in this book as she lost her bite to a
degree due to being caught after leaving Curzon, and abused by the man who
found her and sold her to Bellingham (implied sexual abuse?), and further
discouraged by her failed attempts to escape. While I commend Anderson for
keeping the character realistic with her transformation of the character and
still managing to keep somethings consistent, I prefer a hard-headed determined
Isabel than maid Isabel who’s lost all hope of freedom. Also, I totally called
it her and Curzon getting in a relationship which was disappointing but at the
same time totally anticipated/understandable and I’m over it now. Of course the
main antagonist of the book, Master Bellingham, was a great character too. I was
given the impression that he was a benevolent and merciful master towards
Curzon in the first book, but all that changes when he finds Curzon in part two
of the book and swindles him into being his save again after promising to free
Curzon for serving in the army. A character like his would normally be unlinked
by me as in the case with Madame Lockton and Isabel in the previous book, but I
thoroughly enjoyed his presence in the novel. Maybe it was because his was a
harsher master than Madame Lockton or perhaps it was because he and Curzon’s
relationship seemed less like a master taking abuse of a slave and more like those
anime fights where the main character doesn’t seem strong enough to beat the
guy but ends up overcoming the odds anyway (not that I watch a lot of anime). I
just felt like Bellingham and Curzon fit each other perfectly as advisories and
that the guy was a perfect obstacle for Curzon to overcome. The fact that he
was left alive in the end however makes me think he might make a surprise appearance
in the next book which peaks my interest for what happens next.
Overall,
this book was a fulfilling sequel and surpassed the first book in my opinion
with Curzon’s tone and the higher stakes of this book, but at the same time it
could also stand alone and capture the attention of many readers just as the
first book did. If you read the first book like I did, then you should totally
read this one as well for it picks up where the story was last left off and
adds on the characters you love while keeping thing fresh and loveable at the
same time. Even people who didn’t read the first book can just read this book
only as it brushes up on some of the previous events and stems from the first
book but it successfully weaves its own independent tale that doesn’t need
background information from the first book to read. Anderson’s writing doesn’t disappoint
and her diction makes even the most boring of history something worth reading
about. I look forward to getting around to reading the finale of the series in
the near future!
Review of Chains, the previous book in the series
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