Customer Reviews

Sovay

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I usually love Celia Rees's work. This plot seemed especially intriguing, what with France in Revolution and spies and Sovay posing as a man and all. But there was no way to distract from Sovay's complete Mary Sue-ness!!

Almost all the men who she meets fall in love with her, and the only ones that don't are the villains. She is perfect, beautiful, rich, intelligent, and has all the guys wrapped around her little thumb. The plot seemed to have good potential, but the perfect Sovay character quickly got annoying.

Rating: 3/5

Review:

I am one of those people who is drawn to a book by it's cover. So, if I had never read anything by Celia Rees, I still would have wanted to read this book.

As it is, I am a big fan of hers, and so I wanted to read this book even more.

Sovay started out fairly decently. There's this girl named Sovay who is basically getting revenge on her fiance... so she dresses as a guy, pretends to be a highwayman, and steals all of his money. Which is good... an interesting and intriguing start to a novel. Right away I realized something about Celia Rees and why I like her books so much: she always has a strong female main character. At least out of all of her books I've read. And so I instantly liked Sovay: she was strong, and fascinating to learn about.

As the story progressed, I found myself... somewhat less drawn to it. Don't get me wrong, it was still good. But it was all over the place for me. One second it's about the revolution, the next it's about this guy or that guy, then it's about the revolution again, then it's about Sovay's most recent cross-dressing and robbing adventure. All of that in one book doesn't bother me, but it seemed like there was no decent transition. The point of the novel was lost on me... was it to emphasis the horrors of the French Revolution? Or was it a story about Sovay and a brief period of her life?

It didn't make much sense to me. It wasn't a bad book, by any means... and who knows, maybe I'm just being picky and judgemental. The book just didn't do it for me, sorry to say. So, if you're looking for a Celia Rees book to read, the one I would recommend would be Pirates!. It's definitely way better than Sovay.

Sovay, the new book by Celia Rees, is a bucket load full of good old-fashioned spunk. Sure the plot is predictable, and the protagonist way too perfect, yet this was an adventure that kept your wanting more, even at its bad parts.
Sovay Middleton is your average rich girl. Well, not exactly. Although she has it all: beauty, rank, and class, she still hungers for more. Adventure, that is. To test her fiancée's love for her she dresses up as a highwayman and robs him, clear in the sight of the road. Soon Sovay becomes somewhat of a serial thief and won't hesitate to steal whatever she desires. This time, its letters, letters that call her missing father treasonous. Sovay, along with her new friends, must navigate the tumultuous world of politics in order to find her father and brother.
One thing that annoyed me about the book was how many characters there were, and how they seemed to all love Sovay. Every chapter told us how beautiful and charming she was, and I didn't like her whole highwayman thing, which the author took great pains to enlarge. I also didn't like how the book began; it didn't really hook me. James and his father disappeared with no explanation, and so did Fitzwilliam. The writing was hurried at parts and not very well planned I think. One thing that I did appreciate was the possible allusion at the end of the book to A Tale of Two Cities, when Virgil took Leon's place. Very much like the classic novel.
Overall, this book may satisfy you need for adventure, but the romance isn't very good since the apparent "right guy" comes in at the end and we don't know very much about him. This had great potential, but because it was so abstract it didn't really hit its mark.

I love Celia Rees work, truly. So I picked up this book in eager anticipation, and the first part of the book did not disappoint. But then, it changes. The perspective switches constantly, sometimes in the same paragraph and it is sometimes hard to follow who is thinking what. Characters disappear and their plot is left unfinished: Gabriel, Lydia, Stanhope, Jack, Oldfield, Greenwood... whatever happened to them? Not to mention Sovay's father. Sovay's father being the whole reason she set out on her adventure. All in all it is a book filled with plot holes, pointless characters, and of course characters who disappear.

I would recommend Celia Rees as an author, just not this book.

It's England, 1783. America has recently won independence and a revolution is going on in France. Anyone and everyone in England is suspect for treason, and spies are everywhere.

Sovay Middleton donned a man's cloak and posed as a highway robber in order to prove her lover disloyal. But when she stumbles upon papers that belong to one of England's most powerful and dangerous men, she finds her family's life at stake. Her father and brother are being accused of treason, and Sovay is the only one who can save them.

No one is who they seem and not everyone can be trusted. Danger, intrigue, deception, and secrets fill this richly historical novel.

Author Celia Rees' newest historical novel is full of detail and lots of mystery. There are many twists are turns throughout the book. I did find the amount of characters to be confusing at times, but stick with it and you will be rewarded. If you enjoy historical fiction with strong female characters, you'll love SOVAY.

Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

Was there a point to this book? Maybe, but I had a really hard time finding it.

I felt bad, because I LOVE Witch Child and Sorceress by this same author but the entire first part of this book is about conspiracies, and then it seemed that the last part just focused on Sovay herself. Plus Sovay had A TON of love interests. At first I thought, "Ooh. Love triangle." But then it turned into a love square, then a love hexagon, then it jumped to an octagon! And finally she picked a guy I DID NOT like, and I didn't understand why she liked him.

Judging by the summary you'd think it was about her being a bandit, right? No! It's all about her trying to escape this corrupt government.

Anyway, it's not a book I'd recommend. It's not "bad" it's just pointless.

When I saw the cover I instantly picked it up. The premise sounded really great and even though I usually don't enjoy historical fiction Sovay just looked too good not to read. Wrong. Sovay was one of the most annoying main characters that I have ever come across. She tries to kill her fiance when he isn't willing to die for a ring she gave him. Every single male character falls instantly in love with her and she likes most of them back. I spent almost the entire novel not really sure who the real love interest was. Sovay wasn't just stubborn, it was like she chose to do things she knew would worry and anger people the most. And when she refused to reconsider any action or choice what so ever, everyone was basically like "Oh that Sovay. Silly silly girl. Lets support her decision to do something in which she has a 5% chance of actually surviving. She is so beautiful that she must know what shes doing." Her beauty is brought up at least every 10 pages, if not more. I didn't see her as a strong female character, I saw a spoiled, hard-headed girl who could do whatever she wanted because of her beauty and wealth. That's not really a character I can relate to or even like.

I had to force myself to finish this book, holding out for some redeemable quality. There was none. Seriously, don't even try to read this book.

Sovay becomes a highwayman in order to test her betrothed, but, instead, soon finds herself embroiled in political intrigue involving class struggle, the Illuminati, a plot to throw England into revolution, and even the French Reign of Terror. Rees is a capable writer, weaving her characters and historical events into an exciting adventure plot that is a mix of The Three Musketeers and The DaVinci Code, but, unfortunately, lacking in mystery, suspense, or character. The plot and adventures meander and wander too long for young attention spans (the book ends abruptly, and yet, should have ended hundreds of pages sooner), and the flat side characters tend to blend together. Sovay herself lacks any sort of depth beyond her beauty and brave actions. Rees is daring in her writing and her premise is strong, but she isn't quite able to carry it off. Grade: B-

The description of this book was the first thing that pulled me into squeezing this book in between more serious reads - I also liked the prospect of a fast paced read. And while the description makes you think it is mostly about Sovay as a highway robber - that isn't the primary focus - only a part of it. This novel is based on a traditional ballad of the same name - and one of the very early scenes in this book plays out very close to that ballad. After that, the story takes on a life of its own - set during a time of great upheaval in England and France. You get a strong sense of the Reign of Terror happening in France and how those events are sparking unrest and turmoil in England itself.

I thought that this was a very well done YA novel. Lately a lot of what you get is love triangles - with a primary focus on the romance, and lack a great adventure thread. This novel had the right measures of romance and adventure. Right from the first few pages you get caught up in the drama of highway robbery and the story keeps going from there - it doesn't really ever slow down. The romance aspect is slight - you catch a glint of Sovay's interest in several of the men she encounters and of course she ends up with someone by the end - but it doesn't hit you in the face and make it a primary focus. The romance is really more of a side note. The historical is also well woven in - you get the setting and the feeling of the era while most of the characters are fictional.

The only thing that I didn't like about this novel - and the reason it isn't a perfect 5 for me - is her choice of man at the end of the book. It sort of came out of thin air and didn't feel extremely believable. Other possibilities were built up more and would have made more sense. Other than that, I really enjoyed this quick, light, adventure romp.

Even after I saw the reviews here, I figured I'd give this book a try. Alas, although I managed to read the entire thing, I just couldn't get into it. I had three main problems with Sovay:

1) The narrator repeatedly comments on the astounding beauty of our heroine, up to three or four times a page -- which would annoy me anyway, but in a story that is supposed to be about a strong, independent female who breaks all the rules, it got old very fast.

2) The narrator likes to list the admirable traits of the heroes, but these are usually at odds with the character's actions. Sovay often makes obvious (but understandable) political mistakes, which is appropriate for her character, and the narrator will immediately launch into a celebration of her brilliance and canniness. It didn't make the characters more likable ... in fact it had precisely the opposite effect on me.

3) The characters are perfect. None of the problems they face cause any kind of internal dilemma: the heroes, convinced of their righteousness, weather all storms, sometimes saving themselves, sometimes riding the crisis out; but all the problems are posed by the "bad guys," who of course are completely "bad." I personally don't find this kind of storytelling interesting. I like characters that are realistic, that have flaws and shortcomings. In short, interesting characters.

It wasn't the worst book I've ever read or anything, but my overall feeling was: "So what?"