Customer Reviews

The Innocent

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I take Elf's innocence as an occupational requirement of her chosen vocation along with her virginity. I had no idea that she was such a strong character, especially when she dealt with her evil sister-in-law Isleen. Elf was everything that Isleen wasn't, that's what made the story so interesting. Despite Isleen's schemes to ruin Eleanor and Aschlin, Eleanor always came out the victor. The story flowed easily, so easily in fact that I couldn't put it down. A must read for die hard Bertrice Small fans.

You will enjoy "The Innocent" if:

- you believe that a woman who has spent most of her life in a convent will react to an attempted rape by worrying over the condition of the rapist;

- you think that women who enjoy sex are by definition evil, and that evil women can be shown to be even more evil if they're shown to be sexually adventurous;

- you think a medieval virgin will become an instant sex kitten when her One True Love takes her to bed;

- you believe the word "innocent" means "dumb as a sack of hammers";

- you feel that the attempted rape and subsequent marriage and bedding of a fourteen-year-old girl *by the same man* is romantic and/or erotic; and

- you believe that an unrepentant attacker will suddenly turn into a tender, loving romance hero with one touch of a virgin's hoo-hah.

If you don't believe all these things, I advise you to stay far away from this insulting, misogynistic throwback of a book.

There have been some harsh criticisms of this book, and some I agree with. It is true that the heroine is only 14/15 years old for most of the book. I had a difficult time with that. Even though I realize that is probably realistic for the time period, I eventually had to just put it out of my mind to be able to get involved with the love story. It is also true that some of the scenes between the villain characters are unpleasant. I cringed at some of the more aggressive sex scenes, but I can also understand that they are meant to show the nature of these individuals.

But the reason I ultimately really liked this book was the main characters. I just really liked Elf and Ranulf. Some say that they are written "too perfect" and that is unrealistic and/or boring. I actually found the exact opposite to be true. So often in romance novels the hero and/or heroine make choices that are selfish, rude, and misguided. These two characters are genuine, patient, kind, loving, and gentle. More than once in the story, Ranulf did or said something that caught me by surprise with its sweetness because in a typical romance novel, the hero would have said or done the complete opposite. Something jerky or mean or antagonistic. I found that a refreshing change from most books of this genre.

Overall, I really liked this book. The good characters are really good, and the bad characters are really evil.... except of course for one of the main villains who shows that it's never too late for redemption.

This is the first book by Bertrice Small which I have read, having just recently picked it up at my favorite bookstore. Since I have not read books by her before, I wasn't sure how much I would like it. My views changed the minute I read the first page. Not only was the book captivating and beautifully written, but it's plot was like none that I have read in a long while. The breathtaking romance between Eleanore de Montfort, known as Elf, and Ranulf de Glandeville kept me from putting the book down, even in the early hours of the morning. The encounter with Elf's brother Richard de Montfort's evil wife, Isleen, the loving care of Reverend Mother and the nuns at the convent, and the spirit, yet innocence of Elf herself, all made me repeatedly wonder why I had never read this or any of Bertrice Small's books before. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to indulge in a romance like they have never read before.

The fact that Elf was 14 and her husband to be 30?! - a little too young and unbelievable. Also the sexual encounters between the evil pair was a bit overdone - too pornographic for my taste.

Small needs to focus more on dialogue and character depth than sexual chaos. - she's done better.

I read this book in one day. I could not put it down. Once again Ms. Small put her hooks in me and did not let loose until the book was over!! Elf was such a wonderful character, i enjoyed watching her grow from a shy quiet nun into a spunky lady of the manor! I have read a lot of the reviews for this book and other Bertrice Small books and have noticed people complaining about the age difference's being unbelieveable. I don't even pay attention to that. Come on people, these are "story books", use your imagination, if you are uncomfortable with the age make them anything you want! The only reason i didn't give this book 5 stars is that i would have enjoyed reading more of Ms. Small's lush and lovely love scene's...

This heroine was a bit of departure from Bertrice Small's usually fiesty women. Raised in a convent, Elf fought to see the goodness in people and influenced others with her kindness and generousity. She is a quiet woman, but commands presence nonetheless. Elf is not much of a fighter, but doesn't have to be. She stands with quiet grace and allows her enemies to do themselves in. I enjoyed this book immensely.

The Innocent is one of Bertrice Small's less descriptive stories. The story was not bad; it just did not have the attention to detail found in Bertrice Small's earlier novels. Throughout the story, I kept hoping for more insights into the characters' personalities. The story line was also similar to her other earlier novels.

I believe that Bertrice Small's agenda of two novels a year (one for Kensington/Zebra and one for Ballantine/Fawcett) has her resorting to formula story lines. I have been reading Bertrice Small for many years and her more recent novels do not have the same appeal as her novels written in the 70s and 80s. Other recommended books by Bertrice Small: The Kadin, Adora, Beloved, and of course Skye O'Malley. I was much more satisfied after reading the above mentioned novels.

I have loved and reread all of Bertrice Small especially Love wild and Fair, The Kadin, This heart of mine. The Innoncent was boring. I didn't like the story. I felt the characters were flat and uninteresting. I thought the characters were really stereotypes.

Having been a Bertice Small fan since 1978 ("The Kadin" is still my favorite book), I've seen her have ups and downs in the quality of her plots and characters. This book is definitely a down -- it could have been so much better. I guess what I missed most in "The Innocent" was the attention to detail one finds in most of her other books -- there just were not as many details about the clothes, food, lifestyles, politics and culture of the time. There were also several missed opportunities where confrontations between the characters could have been so much more intense. Yes, it took a little while for Elf and Ranulf to consummate their marraige but there was never any sense of sexual tension generated between the two. There could have been some real heat,even without sex, between Elf and Merin. Merin should have fought a little harder to keep Elf. And I would have loved to see a more "dangerous" confrontation between Elf and Isleen. Oh well, I can only help Small's next book, featuring the descendents of my beloved Cyra/Janet from "The Kadin" is back to her usual excellence.