Customer Reviews

The Healers Apprentice

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have to say that I wasn't expecting a Christian story. If it alluded to that on the description I didn't notice. Some will say "thats a Christian publishing house"...well I don't know all the publishing houses and what the publish. I assume most others won't know that either. I also want to state the fact that I am not anti-Christian at all. I believe in God and the Bible and the commandments although my church attendance fluctuates. I have read all the Left Behind books so I am not against a religiously themed fiction tale.

And I really love a good fairy tale. This was a good fairy tale and its based (loosely) on the Sleeping Beauty tale. It is the story of a poor woodcutter's daughter who is now an apprentice to the court's healer woman. Rose gains the interest of two brothers. The eldest, Lord Hamlin, is next in line to the throne. He is kind and has a great love of God and his people. Rupert, the younger brother, is a cad with a horrible reputation of loving and leaving the ladies. Although Rose loves Hamlin, she knows he is betrothed to marry a quality woman who is in hiding from a wicked man who threatened her with a curse. Lord Hamlin also fights his attraction to Rose.

In the meantime, Rose tries to convince herself Rupert is the one for her. Because he isn't in line for the throne, it is feasible that he may ask her to marry him. And what girl wouldn't want this catch?

There ends up being a lovely mystery involved, easy to solve, but still quite charming. Rose is a delightful character. She prays throughout the book and I really liked this about her. There were a few nice little twists, or side stories, that kept the book flowing. I didn't want to stop once I had started the tale.

I did find it somewhat annoying at the end of the book at how things were resolved. I thought the book ended up a little too much on the preachy side when the theme of God and his path for your life was perfect through the first portion of the story. It was there but it wasn't too preachy. The end was out there. The last third or fourth of the book was weird. The fabulous characters really didn't take action. Others have said it on their reviews and I hoped they were exhauggerated but nope. They just prayed and prayed and didn't take any kind of action.

I talked about this with my husband and he said it reminded him of the story that tells about a stranded man at sea. He could drown or starve but he has much faith in God to save him. Two or three boats come across the man and ask him if he wants a ride and the man declines saying "Nope, God will save me". So the man drowns. When he reaches Heaven he said "God, why didn't you answer my prayers?" and God says "Well I sent three boats to save you!".

I believe God is a guiding hand in our life, as the book states. However, its ridiculous to not work with God and use our free will to help ourselves.

Even with this complaint I can't give the book less that four stars. I truly found it deightful. And of course its clean and sweet and perfect for your younger teens to enjoy as well.

I got a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. This looked like a wonderful book, a great historical romance with a bit of fantasy flare to it. It was okay, in fact the beginning of the book was pretty good, but it declined from the middle of the book on. Keep in mind I approached this as a historical fantasy, I was not aware that the publisher was a Christian fiction publisher....so when characters started setting aside action to wait for God to save them and then the Duke of the realm used his divine right as a leader to banish demons I was confused and irritated.

This is the story of Rose. Rose is apprenticed to the Healer of the realm. When the Duke's sons come for a visit; both of them are drawn to her beauty. Rose knows her place in the realm and, as a Healer's Apprentice, does not want the attention of either brother. When one of the brothers, Wilhelm, is injured Rose heals him. Wilhelm and Rose are drawn to each other's personalities, but it cannot be. Wilhelm is betrothed to a Princess whose identity will not be revealed until the evil mage is defeated. Meanwhile Wilhelm's younger brother, a rogue of sorts, has started courting Rose. Wilhelm struggles to keep his feelings for Rose under wraps while trying to hunt down the evil mage that plagues the realm.

This book started out pretty good. It had a lot of a fairy tale feel to it, with a definite German tone. You can't help but love the characters in the beginning they are all so sweet, pure, and innocent. Rose is determined to be good and to have a life as a healer. Rose can get to be a little much at points; she is pure to the point of not exposing her arms, not touching a man's hand, or wearing makeup. But that seemed to be mostly cultural, so went well with the story. The writing is fairly well done and engaging; there are beautiful descriptions but the dialogue between characters is a bit stilted. I was really enjoying this as a sweet historical romance with a bit of a fantasy flare to it...then we get to the second half of the book.

Keep in mind I did not know this book was released by a christian fiction publisher, so readers beware. As the book continues God is mentioned a lot (I mean a lot a lot) and scripture is quoted. Wilhelm is especially religious; all of which I don't have a problem with. The problem comes in when the characters decide to stop taking action and sit on their bums praying for God to save them. I was like "what is going on here?"..."Why are these wonderful characters waiting around for God to do their work for them rather than taking positive action themselves?"

Then suddenly things get even stranger; Rose is haunted by demons and speaking in tongues. Wilhelm enters to save the day by using his power as a Duke to cast the evil forces out of his realm in God's name. It all got very weird, was very predictable, and made me very uncomfortable. I couldn't figure out why the author would drop such a sweet positive story and turn it into some weird parable of religious text.

Overall I loved the beginning of this book. The characters are positive, sweet, and likable. The romance between Rose and Wilhelm is well-founded and they have great chemistry together. I hated the ending of the book, I thought the overpowering use of God as a solution to the characters problems and Wilhelm's sudden ability to make use of divine intervention were strange and distasteful. So just be warned; this is a Christian fantasy and gets very preachy towards the end of the book. If that's not your thing pick up a different book with sweet characters and wonderful romance; I recommend Crown Duel (Crown Duel / Court Duel) by Sherwood Smith or The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. This book is appropriate for all young adults and older.

I am not a huge fan of historical fiction but I had agreed to read and write a review on this book. Imagine my surprise when I read the first line and realized the book was set in 1386. But I boldly went forth and began to read the book. Two hours later, I'd read approximately one-third of the book and the only reason I put it down was to sleep. This book went with me everywhere for the next two days (if I had not had to work, I would have finished in one day). I have just finished "The Healer's Apprentice" by Melanie Dickerson. Spell-binding. Page-turning. Can't-put-it-down. I am now hooked on early historical romance fiction.

Although this book is considered YA, adults will enjoy reading it, too. I give this book my highest recommendation.

Rose has begun her training as the healer's apprentice. She hopes to learn the job well so that someday she can be the healer of Hagenheim Castle and not have to marry any aging bachelors. But the mere sight of blood makes Rose swoon. Still, she is determined to make this life work for herself.

One day, when the master healer is away, Lord Hamlin, heir to Hagenheim Castle, is brought in with a grievous wound. Rose is the only one who can help. As she struggles to do a good job, she cannot help but notice how handsome and kind Lord Hamlin is. But she is a mere peasant, and Lord Hamlin is betrothed to another. Rose must fight against her attraction and focus on becoming a healer. For that is her destiny, is it not?

Melanie Dickerson writes a wonderful fairy tale romance. Her characters are noble and good, yet struggle with doing the right thing and sometimes fail. She paints a realistic medieval world from the beauty of Hagenheim Castle to the laws that governed society then. I was drawn in from page one and read the whole book in one day. If you love medieval stories, fairy tales, and romance, you must read this book. I'm so excited about Melanie Dickerson's writing. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. Highly recommended.

I love retellings of fairytales. Beastly by Alex Flinn (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), Spindle's End by Robin McKinley (Sleeping Beauty), Ice by Sarah Beth Durst (East of the Sun, West of the Moon) and Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George (The Twelve Dancing Princesses) are just a few that I've read and loved.

The Healer's Apprentice is a Christian retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The premise sounded promising to me, instead of the hidden princess languishing away in a cottage deep in the forest with her fairy caretakers (like in the Disney film of the same name), she's been raised by a poor wood cutter and his vindictive and needlessly scheming wife.

When Rose, the heroine of the story is old enough, she is chosen as an apprentice to the local healer, a woman of rare gentility and wisdom. For some strange reason, the healer lives in the castle and is sometimes invited to balls and parties, Rose goes with her.

Now enters the hero of the story, Lord Wilhelm, the oldest son and heir of the duke, Rose's employer.

Wilhelm and his younger brother have been away at school and on the day they return Rose and her funny, upbeat (tarty) friend wait alongside the road with the other peasants to watch the noble duo ride past. In a fit of lustful frenzy her goofy friend calls out to the guys and they think it was Rose calling out (the cheeky hussy!). Rose, so shy and virtuous blushes the color of her namesake and berates her friend for getting fresh with the nobility.

This scene, along the road, was seriously the last truly fun part of the story. I hate to be so hard on the book, but from here on out this book reads like an afterschool special made by the Church Lady of SNL fame, very dull and full of preaching about abstinence and faith.

Wilhelm is a very gentle man, he reads the bible, gets gored by wild boars and never curses, he thinks pious thoughts about others debauching village girls, he laments his failure to fight evil sorcerers and offers jobs to homeless, starving children. He spends most of his free time looking for Moncore, an evil sorcerer who has made life so difficult that Wilhelm's betrothed has been in hiding since she was a child. Moncore and the hidden fiance are the main mystery of the story, but for me the mystery was why Wilhelm was hunting Moncore. He hadn't done anything and worse, poor Wilhelm was only searching around his own castle. Like some moronic version of hide and seek, Wilhelm rode out with a bevy of stalwart knights practically every day, they made a few circuits around the castle and then would go back home, ostensibly to pray for divine help in tracking down the dastardly Moncore.

Meanwhile, Rose is falling in love, with Wilhelm. She loves his manly form, the way he didn't cry when she bandaged his leg, the way he lurks around staring up at trees (okay, she was in the tree he was gazing at). As a Healer's Apprentice, Rose has a lot of free time on her hands, enough to write boring morality plays, The Nagging wife, etc. She also hangs with her friends and has been taught to read and write in latin by her kindhearted Healing Master, Frau Geruscha.

The details on life in a germanic village are slim, there's some water fetching and the obligatory boar hunting but that's about it.

I don't want to ruin the ending and since it's been almost a week since I finished this book, I can't remember much of it myself (weird, right?).

I think, to sum up this review that has gone on longer than I anticipated, this book is a Christian Fantasy. I've not read one before so I can't say if this is more or less the same as any others out there, but for me, this book had too much message and not enough story. The characters seemed less real and more like cardboard figures used to illustrate a Christian fable. I can't recommend this book to someone looking for romance, adventure, a fairytale retelling or a historical novel, because I think it fails in all those, but if you are looking for a book about faith and bible study, then this could be the book for you.

A nice little period story that reads well to about 60%. A bit heavy on the God this and that but within limits for the times. At 80% it's all God Jesus Jesus God Jesus. And throw in another Jesus. This devolves to "Demon I cast you out in the name of Jesus". Really it does. And no more story after it starts in.

Jesus serves as a super d x machina to finish the book. This is not about religion but a poorly finished story. Label and you will reach your target audience and not get these poor reviews, unless it's too contrived for them too. Started well and ended poor.

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
Zondervan, 2010
243 pages
Fairy Tale; YA; Historical; Romance; Christian
3.5/5 stars

I did not realize that this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty so that was a pleasant discovery for me. I also did not realize how much Christian content there was, a not unpleasant discovery but the way it was deployed was less pleasing to me, more on that later.

Rose is the daughter of a poor woodcutter but has been fortunate to be taken in by Frau Geruscha as her apprentice in the healing arts. She has also caught the eyes of Lord Hamlin and his younger brother Lord Rupert. Sadly Lord Hamlin is already betrothed to a duke's daughter who is under threat from an evil magician but he struggles with his feelings toward Rose, knowing they are inappropriate as he is unavailable. I approved of his efforts to forget Rose but far too much time was spent on that struggle. Instead Rupert pursues her, attempting to overcome his womanizing ways. Rupert's wooing did not appeal to me, especially in light of the strong character of his brother.

The Christian content comes in to play as the characters pray to God and rely on His providence for the future. The climax of the story is that Rose ends up afflicted by demons and the solution is found in God; that answer paled in epicness to, for example, Disney's "Sleeping Beauty."

Overall: An interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty but not my favorite.

Cover: I picked this book solely because of the cover (I especially love the font for "Healer's" and the dress) so obviously I think it's pretty solid.

I wasn't aware when I purchased this book that it was a christian book. If you don't want to read something with strong christian references, this isn't the book for you. That being said, I really enjoyed reading it. It isn't strictly a romance novel. There is a small bit of mystery even though it is pretty easy to figure out in the early part of the book. What I enjoyed the most is that it wasn't one of those typical sappy romances. It had a little more substance than that. I am not a reviewer who like to give a synopsis for the books that I read so I will simply say that if you are looking for a good, clean romance/mystery novel, this is an excellent choice.

This story started off great! I loved the characters! I couldn't put the book down. However, at the end of the book, the author must have decided that the story needed more action because she started throwing things in there that didn't seem to flow with the story. Not only that, but half way through the book it turned into a "Christian" book. This story is supposedly set in medieval Germany, before the Protestant Reformation (1517). That means that the ONLY 'christian' religion that people would have been practicing would have been Catholicism. I am not positive, but am fairly certain that medieval Catholics would not have been praying to Jesus. And if they had been confronted by anything the least bit 'demonic' they would have sent for the local priest rather than cast it out themselves. I wish that I had back the time I wasted on this book.

Have you ever dreamed in color? Have you ever fantasized about forbidden love? This fairy-tale retelling was a bold and beautiful tale with a spectrum of characters, places and plot twists which gave me a great escape inside its pages.

Colorful characters make up the cast. Lord Hamlin is the quintessential noble and handsome hero, and Rose is the sweet, unassuming heroine with a steel backbone. Secondary characters like Hildy, who I'd want as my best friend, and Frau Gerusha, a wise and caring mentor, added depth to the foreground plot of romance. The dark villain Moncore sent chills down my spine and kept me in suspense. And the contrast between the chivalrous Lord Hamlin and his cavalier brother Lord Rupert added dimension to the plot.

Set in medieval Germany with wonderful period detail of clothing, food, architecture, and dance, the book transported me the way a good dream does--making me feel like I'd been there and shared the experiences. I could feel the cold stone of the castle, smell the rich pine scent of the woods, hear the hoof beats of the knights' chargers on the road. Medieval feasts and festivals, music, and townspeople hawking wares in the Marktplatz all delivered me to an authentic story world.

But above all, I was drawn by the yearning between two hearts embroiled in forbidden love. Rose is the daughter of a lowly woodcutter, but has gained the favor of Frau Gerusha, the town healer. Serving as her apprentice, Rose must tend Lord Hamlin's hunting injuries one afternoon. Despite their mutual love at first sight, both are too honorable to pursue their longing for the other, knowing that Lord Hamlin is betrothed to Lady Salomea, a mystery figure kept in hiding from the evil conjurer Moncore. Rose feels she could never hope to be worthy of royalty with her low-born status. What happens made me believe in the impossible--that Fairy Tales can come true.

Filled with the grandeur of knights and ladies and epic romance, this heart-warming story will charm both young and old.