Customer Reviews

A Sweet Disorder

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a charming book for both teens and adult. The setting is Elizabethan England. The protagonist is a 16 yo girl, Miranda.

The prose if light and richly detailed at the same time. Once you start reading, you become immersed in the historical detail. This is historical fiction "lite". Enough detail to give the book authenticity and richness without weighing down the subject matter.

I enjoy a little romance with my fiction, and this book has a lovely, clean romance thrown in as well. I thought the ending was a bit rushed. The elderly suitor/bad guy was very stereotypical. But this minor issues were not enough to detract from my enjoyment.

I would say this is a G rated take on Philiipa Gregory's Elizabethan novels.

Dripping with historical detail, true love, a court full of ghastly gossip, a demanding queen, and lovable characters, A Sweet Disorder had me captivated from the very first page. I had a wonderful time reading this book and I forgot how much I love historical fiction set in the courts of England. Kolosov made the English palace, with all its splendor and danger, come to life. Not only do you get to relive lively jousting tournaments, dodge sneaky courtiers, but experience the height of tradition-arranged marriages. Since Miranda is a good seamstress, my favorite parts of the book was hearing about the elaborate dresses and wardrobes worn by the courtiers and the Queen. Besides the drama of the courts, A Sweet Disorder mentions many figures in history and is a great example of how we lived back in the Elizabethan Era (1558-1603). With her poetic easy to-read writing style, Kolosov has captured the true light of the sixteenth century and best of all, created a sweet disorder of high society, fashion, scandals, and innocent romance.
A Sweet Disorder is sure to make you fall in love with the past.


Jacqueline Kolosov is the author of two books for young adults, including The Red Queen's Daughter, and several volumes of poetry. She is a professor of creative writing at Texas Tech University.


Age Group: 13+ Content: None
Recommend? Yes

After her father dies in December 1579 while on a trip to Ireland for Queen Elizabeth I, shortly before her sixteenth birthday, Miranda Molyneux must face unpleasant changes in her life. Her hope for a possible engagement to Henry Raleigh is ended because of the debts her father left behind. And worst of all, she must leave her family, for she is sent to live with her father's relative, the earl of Turbury, and his wife, the countess. The countess is a very strict and religious woman, and Miranda finds little joy in her life there. The countess even disapproves of her embroidery, believing that wearing only simple clothing is part of living a godly life.

Life again changes for Miranda when the countess brings her to Elizabeth I's court. Life at court, with its banquets, festivities, and elegant clothing is a welcome relief in many ways from the monotony, dreariness, and religious severity of life at Turbury. But she quickly learns that court is a complicated place full of people looking out for their own self-interests and who will do whatever is necessary to gain wealth and influence. Miranda quickly makes both friends and enemies, and is reunited with Henry Raleigh. The reunion makes her long even more that things didn't have to change and they could still marry. But the countess wants to marry Miranda off to Lord Seagrave, a man whom Miranda instantly dislikes and knows she would have a miserable life with.

Jacqueline Kolosov brings to life the world of Elizabethan England in this elegant novel, Her writing style is lovely and detailed, with great attention paid to the clothing, food, and other aspects of life at the time. Miranda is a sympathetic heroine and readers will feel for her plight and hope for her to get her happy ending. I highly recommend A Sweet Disorder to readers, both teen and adult, who love historical fiction.

I have an interesting relationship with A Sweet Disorder. For what seemed the longest time, it was on my "to read" list, but I could never seem to hunt it down anywhere for a decent price -such is the life of a bookworm. I was cleaning out my to read list a few months ago and I decided to dump this one and go with other books on the list. I nearly forgot about it, but something about the cover still haunted me. I kept seeing on the shelf at Barnes & Noble and wondering what fascinating world the pages contained. Since I'm trying out a reading challenge this year for YA historical fiction, I decided to put A Sweet Disorder back on the list, and was finally able to hunt it down at my library.

Life for Miranda changes completely when her father passes away and she is left with no dowry and no marriage prospects. After being sent far from home to be the ward of a distant relative, Miranda finds her way to the court of Elizabeth I, where she soon finds that court life is a complex web of politics and marriage games -which Miranda wants no part of. She would rather use her blossoming skills as a seamstress to become her own.

In some ways I felt rewarded, in others, a little cheated by A Sweet Disorder. First, Jaqueline Kolosov is a fabulous writer. She has the talent to craft a fascinating tone with meticulously-chosen words that convey story and character better than many other writers out there. In particular, I was drawn to Kolosov's dialog, which, though not exactly a completely accurate representation of the period, felt realistic and was easy to enjoy.

As for the cheated part -it felt like there were a few aspects of A Sweet Disorder that had the potential to become amazing but just never quite were realized. First, the characters aside from Miranda tended to be a little flat, and I was a little disappointed in the lack of characterization of Elizabeth I, who could have been a great character. Also, there were several points where it felt like the period was a little fuzzy, as if there wasn't enough detail or, with all of the marriage games afoot and the way it was written, sometimes the characters felt like they were constantly being sucked into a Jane Austen era-esque setting, rather than the Elizabethan period.

A Sweet Disorder is a decent book. It's a quick, easy and fun little read that's great for YA historical fans, but I wouldn't say it's the best one I've ever read. Kolosov is really a talented writer who has so much potential to create compelling stories, but she just isn't there yet.

This second novel by Kolosov is much better then her first (The Red Queen's Daughter), but is not as good as it could have been. There is certainly plenty of potential, but the story falls short.

A Sweet Disorder follows main character Miranda Molyneux through her adventures at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Unlike Kolosov's previous novel, there isn't a supernatural aspect to this plot. At first, I was relieved, but then I was bored to tears. Being that this novel is set at court, there are so many plot twists the author could have come up with involving the politics, religious struggles, or conspiriacies of that period in history, but the great "intrigue" of the novel involves sewing. Even that falls flat.

I realize that women in that time were concerned with what sort of marriage they would make for themselves, but this story uses that fact almost as an excuse to have the main characters exchange catty dialogue throughout the novel. The so-called romance between Miranda and Henry is tame. More time is spent on discribing how Miranda tries to detangle herself from a betrothal with the nasty Lord Seagrave then building up the chemistry between the lovers.

I understood Miranda's plights throughout the novel, but it seemed to take FOREVER to get to the point. Even then, the conclusions fell flat and were tied together a bit too neatly.

Out of the two so far, A Sweet Disorder is the better novel by Ms. Kolosov, but is was not satisfying in the least. I would say one might want to read it for some historical detail, but I think a lot of the historical points were a bit off. There are much better YA novels out there that deal with the Elizabethan era.

A Sweet Disorder is about a young girl living in Elizabethan England trying to overcome the dreadful situation her father's untimely death. Although A Sweet Disorder is by no means the worst book I've ever read it certainly doesn't win any points for its unoriginal plot, 2 - dimensional characters and unrealistic "history". The plot - a girl loses her father and must deal with a new guardian who does not understand or respect her talents, her new-found status as a poor girl, and the spurning of a would-be lover. These, not to mention the back-stabbing "friends" and the "true" friends, propel this story in a direction I could see from 30 pages into the story. The characters lack substance and only wish they were in a better situation which they continually whine about. The character of Miranda especially lacks definition neither earning the respect nor the sympathy that is clearly meant to be felt by the reader. Her would-be beau is the picture of Robert Pattinson - high cheek-bones, strong jaw, incredibly desired by every girl around him (in other words, he is Edward Cullen) - with no personality. Finally, Kolosov attempts to bring a world of Elizabethan England to life without the research she should have done about that era. The characters talk as if they exist, not in 1580, but in 2009 and continually make comparisons and references that should not be made. One example is Miranda's reference to "Beowulf" the epic poem written thousands of years ago. A referenced author would know that although "Beowulf" was first created before most other fiction, it was unavailable to the world until long after the death of the Virgin Queen as well as the following generations. The names of the characters themselves should be clues to the inaccuracies presented throughout A Sweet Disorder. Miranda Molyneux, Agnes Sherringham, and Chidiock Kyd are just examples of the ridiculous monikers which Kolosov gave her characters. An author writing about a time in history had best do her research! Don't waste your money or your time with this merely mediocre novel. If you are truly interested in historical fiction, pick up a novel by Phillipa Gregory or the Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman.

There were many things to like about this book and a couple of things not to like, but my overall feeling as I closed the book was that it was a good book and worth the time.
Ok so things I liked: The main character was well developed and great. I really liked her and wanted her to get what ever she wanted,whatever that was. I couldn't think how it would all work out for her, which is another good thing about this book, I really could not figure out what was going to happen next. The sweet romance was great and the cleanliness of the novel was appreciated.The imagery and writing were great! Very well done, I had a good picture in my head of everything. It was like reading a faster paced Austen Novel. Because once it did take off I couldn't put it down. All the court intrigue and how things could change in a blink, great!
Ok so the things I didn't like: Man it took awhile for the book to get going. She was at a boring house way too long and it halted the book and I almost put it down.The descriptions of all the clothes got to be a little much, how long were they in the queen's closet? I think a lot of that took away from the story and the pace of this book. Our leading man, I felt like I didn't even know! The whole book is from her point of view so I felt there should have been more interaction between our two main characters. I think they only had 5 conversations! But by the end it leaves you sighing and saying ok that was a good book.