Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale in Pick-a-Shelf

Jan 27, 2011 Misty rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, juvenile-ya, folklore-myth-fable-fairy-tall-tale, retelling, read-in-2011

I'm not going to lie, I bought Hush on pure cover/title appeal (it was $3! 聽Why not?). 聽Gladly, I wasn't disappointed. 聽Hush聽expands on a very small part of an , filling it out and bringing it to life quite nicely. 聽It follows Melkorka, an Irish princess who is kidnapped by slave traders. 聽While being transported aboard their longboat, Melkorka refuses to speak; coupled with other circumstances, her silence leads the leader of the slave traders to think she has powers, and he both I'm not going to lie, I bought Hush on pure cover/title appeal (it was $3! 聽Why not?). 聽Gladly, I wasn't disappointed. 聽Hush聽expands on a very small part of an , filling it out and bringing it to life quite nicely. 聽It follows Melkorka, an Irish princess who is kidnapped by slave traders. 聽While being transported aboard their longboat, Melkorka refuses to speak; coupled with other circumstances, her silence leads the leader of the slave traders to think she has powers, and he both reveres and fears her. 聽This made for interesting interactions, and made Melkorka's whole journey more intriguing. 聽Not to mention, I seem to have a thing for silent characters. 聽It's such an interesting plot device, when done well.

What I liked most about this, I think, is that Napoli wasn't afraid to explore the harsher realities of Melkorka's life and the times she lived in. 聽This is not a sugar-coated story; bad things happen. 聽It felt very much like she was trying to truly explore and portray the life Melkorka-from-the-saga may have lived. 聽Things are grim; people are feudal and rampaging - but still people, and still capable of all that's good and all that's bad in human nature. 聽This is true of Melkorka, too. 聽She doesn't start out a very likeable heroine. 聽She starts out spoiled and haughty and not a very sympathetic character at all. 聽But she grows and learns; it's a very wheel of fortune (the philosophy, not the game show) type of story. 聽She starts on top, and like most people when they're at the top of the wheel, thinking they'll never hit the bottom, Melkorka looks down on those below her, and is sneering and if not cruel, then certainly not warm. 聽Her family owns slaves themselves, so when Melkorka becomes one, it is obviously quite an adjustment to her world view. 聽 But this in keeping with the times and the saga, and it makes for a really interesting read.

That being said, you have to get there to enjoy it -- Melkorka doesn't make it easy to read in the beginning because it's hard to find her enjoyable or to want to root for her. 聽This may turn some readers off and keep them from finishing, and it may make others never really care what she goes through. There were also a couple of things that I found to be too convenient and obvious plot devices, which may put readers off. 聽I also think that those unfamiliar with the saga it's based on (and therefore unprepared for the ending and the lack of resolution) will be quite angry at the end. 聽Especially聽those who are eternally on the hunt for happy endings.
But those who don't mind some struggle and harshness -- and a good dose of reality -- will likely be won over by this telling, though I do agree with Heather聽that I would have liked to see this done as an adult story, where we could really explore and dig our teeth in. 聽At the very least, I would have liked to see the story taken farther into Melkorka's life; though I understand the motivations to end it when Napoli did.
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