Spirited (Once Upon a Time) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Mahlon F. Craft (Designer) "The forest was magical, a world Isabella Stevens could never have imagined, a land undreamed of..." (more)
Key Phrases: human nephew, white skin woman, spirit warrior, Great Bear, Major Whyte, Colonel Ramsland (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Holder's colonial "captured-by-Indians" romance is thoroughly dispiriting. She bills it as an homage to Last of the Mohicans (the book and the movie), and as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, suggesting that the hero's "Indianess" is a disfiguring spell. (Of course, the heroine finds that "His profile was rather . . . noble, actually.") Replete with "dark eyes" that "gleam" and women who scream a lot, the story sticks consistently to the bestial theme. Holder has combined cultural elements of several Indian nations, ending up with an unrecognizable mishmash. Her Makiawisug ("Little People" of Mohegan stories) are Shakespearean Tinkerbells, and her "shaman" is a cross between an ER doctor and a Unitarian minister leading a seance. In presenting such a blind, backward and degrading view of a culture, Holder undermines all other elements of her story, which include a predictable and slow-moving romance with ridiculous dialogue and a startling magical theme that crops up at the end. Readers may well experience this effort as the heroine experiences battle: "She couldn't believe what she was seeing-the cruelty, the barbarism. She was screaming, " 'Stop! Stop! but no one did.' " (Fiction. 12-16) (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description

War. Rage. Magic. Love.

In May 1756 war is formally declared between the British and the French. During this highly dangerous time, Isabella Sevens is travelling with her father to the British stronghold Fort William Henry.

In the forest, Wusamequin, the young and handsome medicine man, looks to avenge the death of his wife and child at the hands of British soldiers. When Wusamequin spots Isabella and her father, he alerts his warriors to capture them. But Wusamequin is quite taken with how bravely Isabella battles. He orders the warriors to spare her and her tfather, and they are dragged back to their village. However, many members of the Mohican tribe still want them to be killed. In a desperate plea to Wusamequin, Isabella vows to stay as his hostage if he lets her father go.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (November 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689870639
• ISBN-13: 978-0689870637
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #251,809 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Spiritless , December 23, 2004

By	Jennifer Mo "ailanna" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is a pity that Nancy Holder's Spirited is set in 1756, a good thirty years before Jane Austen wrote, "Beware of fainting-fits...Though at the time they may be refreshing and agreeable yet believe me they will in the end, if too often repeated and at improper seasons, prove destructive to your Constitution." Isabella Stevens, Holder's less than intrepid heroine, could benefit by such excellent advice. She spends the majority of the novel either screaming or fainting and awaiting rescue from her tall, dark, handsome, and brooding captor.

Oh dear.

Spirited attempts to be a romantic, historically set, fairy tale retelling. What it is is a tamed bodice ripper with an incongruously tasteful cover. As such, it is unlikely to appeal to anyone who picks it up expecting an insightful exploration of Beauty and the Beast or even a decent historical fantasy.

The few parallels that exist between Spirited and the fairy tale it retells are tenuous and oddly distorted. Isabella does offer to remain captive to Wusamequin's tribe in exchange for her father's freedom. However, she actually ends up staying because of a botched escape attempt in which she nearly impales herself upon a branch in the forest. If anything, Spirited uses the basic framework and fantasy of the fairy tale as an excuse for a bad romance with remarkably little awareness of its own absurdity. The fantasy elements are incorporated badly, making suspension of disbelief difficult, particularly in the ending scene, which unfolds with all the cheap flashiness of a B grade horror flick.

Spirited works no better as historical fiction, though Nancy Holder has clearly done some research into Native American names and traditions, and Isabella's initial prejudice towards the Native Americans as savages is understandable. However, the fairy tale parallel which makes Wusamequin (the quintessential noble savage) the beast is a disheartening echo of colonial ideology. Holder's portrayal, while sympathetic, is not sensitive. It is both a surprise and a relief that she does restrain from completely vilifying either settlers or Native Americans.

Any redeeming value of the novel stems from the fact that Spirited can be genuinely, laugh-out-loud, funny. Holder's overwrought prose and tendency toward melodrama make many of Isabella and Wusamequin's adventures unintentionally hilarious. Isabella and her appropriately tormented lover take themselves so seriously that they almost deserve each other. Still, it's difficult to recommend Spirited when there are so many books that succeed in what it fails, like Robin McKinley's two retellings of Beauty and the Beast and Jackie French Koller's YA colonial romance, The Primrose Way. The Once Upon a Time series is stylishly designed and occasionally charming, but Nancy Holder's Spirited is not amongst its better entries.

Ailanna

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spirited, January 12, 2005

By	Nightsky "wild soul" (Finland) - See all my reviews

I am speechless. This is such an gorgeous book, I could just sit there gaping after I'd finished it. Spirited is the only book I've ever read in one sitting. Holder's style of writing is just amazing.

Isabella is a proper young English-woman who comes to America pre-revolution, during the war between the British and the French. Captured by natives, she is struck by the handsome Wusamequin, who protects her from those in the tribe who wish to harm her. Wusamequin is also taken by the beautiful English woman, but full of rage towards the English for taking his son and former wife, does not know how to express it. Throughout the story, they heal through eachother, discovering their healing powers. But Isabella, now called Mahwah, still has to decide between her beloved father and Wusamequin, the one who showed her love and magic.

With sensual details, passion, and magic, Spirited is just amazing. Those who do not like this book, I imagine, simply cannot take the raw emotion that pulses through every phrase in this book. Such love, such rage, and such passion in both was almost too much for me to take at times. But this book is beautiful beyond belief--it transports you to another world altogether.

"He held her tightly and spoke in his language. It was the voice. Isabella... She took refuge in it, not so much listening as hanging onto it, knowing that if she stopped listening she would go mad..."

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere between OK, and good, November 9, 2004

By	shiara the witch "Leah" (Marietta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

Spirited is not the best beauty and the beast retelling I have read by a long shot. I far prefer both of Robin Mckinley's books, and Napoli's beast to a lesser extent. In Spirited, the threads to the fairy tale are recognisable, but few, the fantasy is at a minimum (though I still enjoyed it), and the plot (like most in the once upon a time series) is too rushed. Still, it was far better than the last in the series, Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguie, which was so inacurate I cringe to think about it. Although I don't know much about early colonial and native american life, I saw nothing blantantly wrong with the information in Spirited.

The book does not hesitate to get into the action. It starts with Isabella riding in the woods with her father (a doctor) and some soldier escorts, on their way to bring medicine to another town. A young shaman named Wusamequin learnes of their presence through the help of a spirit guid. English soldiers killed his wife and son, so he does not hesitate to get his village to attack.

While the indians attack, Isabella stays to fight. She is a truely brave and loyal girl, who proves herself again and again through the book. Although she acts childish on occasion (she is 16) she usually acts with maturity and practicality, taking in her new station with little complaint. She is attacked, but Wusamequin saves her, although he can not tell why.

After the dust of the battle settles, Isabella and her father are taken prisoner. Once at the village they are about to be killed, but Wusamequin again intervenes, claiming they should be randsomed. Isabella offers to stay while her father takes the medicine to the sick. This is one of the few parallels to beauty and the beast. And in this case uneccesary because they make an escape attempt, which the father succeeds in. Unfortunetly, Isabella gets cut while running. Wusamequin finds her, then nurses her back to health.

After that, most of the story is about Wusamequin and Isabella's developing relationship. Near the end the plot once again reverts to beauty and the beast (this time with more success). The end seemed a little forced, with prematurely ended plot threads. Both of which could have been fixed with a longer book

All in all, this was a pretty good read, good for a quick read during the weekend.