3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, February 19, 2008
This review is from: Primavera (Hardcover)
The Italian Renaissance brings to mind beautiful images, paintings and sculptures, glorious and expensive brocades, string quartets in the garden; a rich texture of life indeed. But it was also a time of great strife and cruelty the likes of which we could never imagine in this day and age. Sprinkled throughout with Italian words and phrases, PRIMAVERA dips the reader into the Renaissance period.
Flora, the youngest daughter of the Pazzi, strives to find beauty and normalcy in a life that is anything but. Scorned by her own mother, she lives as little more than a servant while her older sister, Domenicia, is primped, plucked, painted by the famed Botticelli, and otherwise prepared for the wedding that will join the Pazzi to the Medici.
As Flora contemplates her mother's plan for her future, life in a convent, a member of her father's guard arrives with a missive from the Pope himself. The guard, Emilio, hangs around and becomes the friend and companion that Flora has never had. When Emilio and Nonna, the grandmother who's raised and protected her, convince her to train with the guard, Flora finds strength that carries her through the difficult months to come.
PRIMAVERA is a captivating read. I found myself rooting for Flora and Emilio. Ms. Beaufrand painted her characters so realistically that I felt their pain, their fear, their guilt, and yes, even their joy. True to great historical fiction, the author did not flinch when she described some of the tragedies that befell her characters. Be warned that some of the scenes are quite graphic and not for the faint of heart. Yet I hesitate to limit this book to those only in 9th-grade and up.
If you know nothing about this time period, yet enjoy historical fiction, you will love this well-written novel. If you are a fan of the Renaissance you will revel in all of the historical details Ms. Beaufrand has so expertly shown.
Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Primavera, March 22, 2008
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Primavera (Hardcover)
Primavera is a thrilling book that is written with such detail and emotion it is amazing that it is fictional. One is immediately transferred to the time of the Renaissance at the beginning of chapter 1, and is put into the place of the main character, Flora. The conflict surrounds the Medici family and how they mistreat others, even families of their own similar ranking. Primavera deals with love, hope, loss, fear, friendship, joy, and guilt. This book is a captivating read, and I would recommend it to anyone in 6th grade and up. I am a voracious reader in 7th grade, and I loved this book, and even though it has some quite detailed violent scenes, it is still appropriate. Primavera is fast paced and there aren't any slow parts. This book is also available on Kindle; however I would buy the real book due to the fact that the cover is so beautifully drawn with hidden depth.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, not Great, March 10, 2010
This book really wavers between 3.5 and 4 stars. Although the historical background is well-researched and presented, the writing is not 5 star. The plot seems rather contrived and the verbage reflects many of today's social mores. It cannot go down in the annals of classic children's fiction due to these limitations. There are passages that are inappropriate for younger children, so as a previous reviewer said, it should be recommended for readers of 8th or 9th grade and up.
I obtained this book from the library in a search for good children's Renaissance fiction, preferably based in Florence. So far, I have found only The Apprentice by Pilar Llorente, which is for a younger age group. I have rejected a few already and now add this one to that list. It is a shame that so many of them are really romance novels, which will hardly illuminate the time period for young male readers. This one is a mild romance novel. Romance is definitely a part of the story, but not the only thing that carries it forward.
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