Malve von HassellCritiques

This book is an enjoyable read with an easy pace and unpredictable twists and surprises. Set in 12th c. Europe and Jerusalem, the title character Alina, has been raised by unconventional parents who allowed her to study music and didn’t quell her hopes to be a musician like her father – an unlikely prospect when women’s roles were so restrictive. But following her parents’ deaths, Alina’s future prospects drastically change, as do those of her brother. Together they escape a detestable situation by finding a way to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to pray for their father’s soul.
I don’t typically read historical fiction set in the distant past but von Hassell’s eye for detail gives life to those times. Also, considering her background, I'm confidentI that her details are as accurate as can be. I quickly related to smart, spirited, determined Alina through her simple recognizable gestures, and enjoyed the relatability of the characters as well as the accessibility of the story and themes.
I liked how von Hassell touches on social issues of those times that resonate today, particularly the descriptions of the restrictions of class and sex. Alina questions the morality of her fellow traveler Templar knights who are anything but chivalrous and seem to be taking advantage of the status allowed them by the church. I also appreciated the reference to the Muslim influence in Europe, through some of the musical lyrics. Above all I’m pleased that von Hassell gave a woman’s voice to a time long silent about daily 12th century domesticity.

Historical fantasy? Wow, sign me up. I’m a big history fan, and I like a well-written fantasy every now and again; as a combo, it sounds pretty much irresistible. The Amber Crane is that combo, mixing both genres in a graceful, poignant way

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Strange things start to happen now that he has this amber he carries with him at all times, as it could be found by anyone even if he hid it. This stone has seemed to transport him to a different time, a time in the future and there is a girl that is always in need of help it seems. But he doesn’t understand half of the words she uses. They don’t make any sense. What are the Russians doing? Where is he? What is a train, it is powered by steam? A tank? So the war is still going on?

Peter continues to get transported for moments of time to the midst of WWII, while Lioba is trying to figure out how to escape or where to go. The two have learned to look out for each other, and soon enough they realize that there may be a reason why they keep connecting up after all, and it might have to do with what Peter found.

This was a different type of time travel, in that it is time travel from 1644 to 1944. I learned a lot about amber, and had no idea it was so coveted and regulated for a while. The folklore stories were interesting to read about as well. Thank you to HFVBT for the invite, and to the author for sending me a free book!

Alina: A Song for the Telling is a wonderfully told story set in the Christian court of Jerusalem during the Crusades.

During his lifetime, Alina and Milos de Florac’s father, Guy, had been far more interested in his family and music than estate management, and the holdings, as well as the retainers that depended on its success, had all suffered due to its neglect. And when his beloved wife, Beatriou, and eldest daughter, Maria, tragically succumbed to the sweating sickness, he sank into immovable despair, and things only got worse. Not long after, he was found drowned, a suspected suicide, and his brother, Garsanc, and his wife, Marci, arrived, determined to set things right and repair the damage to the family name.

The brother and sister felt increasingly stifled, trapped under their new guardianship. Milos was constantly in trouble for one scrape or another. He was young and undisciplined; their father had been lax with the boy’s education in estate management much as he had been. Nor were there the funds to send Milos as a page to the household of a knight where he could learn and trained as a squire before returning home to take up his duties when the time came.

Although bright and musically-talented like her father, Alina was not considered a great beauty, and lacking an attractive dowry, her prospects for an advantageous marriage were dim. She dreamed of becoming a trobairitz, a female troubadour, traveling the country, perhaps the world, playing her lute, and singing songs of her own devising. She became alarmed by the parade of unsuitable men her aunt keeps thrusting in her path, and the threat of the convent starts to look more desirable.

As the tension at home mounted, the siblings formed an escape plan: they would join one of the parties of knights, merchants, and pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land on the pretense of praying for their father’s endangered soul. Aunt Marci and Uncle Garsanc agree, glad to have the pair out of sight for a while as they continue to mend the damage to the estate all the years of neglect had wrought. Uncle Garsanc knows of a group preparing to depart soon and led by a reputable knight from right there in Provence, Baltazar de Aurignac. With money from Uncle Garsanc in their pockets and Alina’s lute carefully wrapped for the journey, the young brother and sister set off for Lyon to join their new companions and head off on the trip of a lifetime.

Author Malve von Hassell has written a wonderfully immersive tale set in 12th century France and Jerusalem. Set during the time of the Crusades, the long journey by horseback is interesting and exciting and so descriptive that I felt I was right there with Alina and Milos. The arrival in Jerusalem was full of sights and smells, dust and heat, color and antiquity. There are mystery and political intrigue galore that kept me turning the pages as I soaked up the atmosphere the author so skillfully and effortlessly crafted. "ALINA" is historical fiction, so real people and events are included in the story, and fact and fiction fit together flawlessly. It is amazing to me thinking about the massive amount of research this author did in completing this wonderful story. This realization only came to me later after putting the book down because I never felt like I was reading history; the story was so lively and entertaining.

I enjoyed that the book was told from Alina’s point of view, and the thoughts and feelings of the young teenager felt true and natural. I also liked that she’d learned how to behave properly from her mother and had enough self-discipline to control her emotions and reactions to how she was treated at the court in Jerusalem. I felt this enabled her in her role as an onlooker of the various political schemes and drama. Well-behaved and a proper lady, she was useful yet overlooked and dismissed at times, allowing her the freedom to move about without being missed.

I recommend "ALINA: A SONG FOR THE TELLING" for readers of historical fiction, especially those that would enjoy the 12th century setting of the Crusades, France, and the history of the Christian court in Jerusalem. The book is suitable for YA and adult readers, and I could see this as a read-aloud book for middle grades and younger and something the entire family would enjoy.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through France Book Tours.

By weaving the story of real life historical people and events with her fictional characters, Malve von Hassell has created a brilliant coming of age tale. Alina and her brother Milos, along with their sister Maria, were part of a close knit family living on their estate in medieval Provencal France. The brother and sister lived a relatively carefree life. While Milos was easily distracted during lessons, Alina eagerly participated in learning all she could. Both were accomplished musicians, Alina exceptionally so, following in her father's footsteps. Her dream was to become a trobairitz., a female troubadour. Their life was tragically changed, when their mother and Maria died suddenly from the sweating sickness. Their father, always a dreamer and not so successful in financial affairs, became extremely depressed. One night, he wandered away from their home and was discovered drowned. Neighbours started rumors. The father's reputation was tarnished, because he was thought to be a suicide. Next, whispers claimed, perhaps the mother and Maria practiced witch craft.
Since Alina and Milos were minors, their uncle and his wife came from a neighbouring estate to put the farm in order and to take the brother and sister under their wing. However, Uncle Garsanc and his wife were not as lenient as their parents. Uncle Garsanc considered Milos ill-trained to run a farm. After the aunt tried to marry 14 year old Alina to an elderly suitor, Alina, who had no interest in chores of a housewife, was horrified. When the siblings suggested to undertake pilgrimage to Jerusalem to pray for their father's honour, the uncle and aunt were actually relieved, that the children would no longer be their problem.
Their adventure begins. Through encounters with many characters, both fictional and real, pilgrims, merchants, Templar knights going to Jerusalem, camp followers and even slaves, Alina and Milos learn about injustices in life. People and situations are not always what they seem. Even those, to whom you take a dislike, can turn out to be helpful friends. Those, who you trust, can be unworthy of that trust. Through hard work, your dreams may come true. Though this book is written with younger people in mind, it appeals to all ages. Even adults will find it an enjoyable read.

I received this through the Librarything.com Early Revewers program. It is an Ebook. This is not a book I would highly recommend. I felt that the author was giving a history lesson, and added the characters just to make it a little easier for the reader to follow the timeline.

I received a free copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers, one of the best I even won.
The writer takes you on the journey of Alina and her brother Milas from England to Jerusalem. Alina, like her late father - a man of nobility - is passionate about the music and songs of the medieval troubadors.
The story takes place at the time of the crusades, in the 12th century.You meet a whole series of well-portrayed figures, part fiction, part non-fiction. You have an insight into the lives of pilgrims and fellow travelers
You can read the book as Alina'scoming of age story. On the last pages you meet an independent young woman,a talented troubairitz.
I enjoyed the reading. And ... there is still room for a sequel.

I had problems with the kindle file. The font was so small I could not read the book. The option to increase font size was grayed out. Since I was unable to read the book, I do not intend to publish a review.

I received a free reviewer’s copy of this book in exchange for a review.

After reading the other reviews of this title before actually reading the book, I was surprised how enjoyable the book was and unlike one reviewer, had no trouble finishing. Although the main characters might have had a little more depth,Alina's strength, the sibling relationship between Alina and her brother seemed real, as did the level of their maturity exhibited in their experiences and relationships, and appropriate for the period of the book. The historical setting was interesting, but it may have been enhanced with a map to refer to and visualize the extent of Alina’s journey.

Alina's desire to continue with the music she learned from her father, her realizing her musical gift and her decision to make sharing this gift a part of her future made this book one I would recommend.

I received a PDF copy of this for free from July's batch of LibrayThings Early Reviewer Program.

I agree with the previous reviewer, something didn't really gel for me with this book. I didn't enjoy the first-person narrative, the writing felt flat and passive, there were a lot of conveniences, something happened 'fortunately' or 'all of a sudden'.

I thought the starting few pages were quite strong, describing the death of her family members and the decline of the estate but then it turned into an uninteresting description of the journey.

Again, like the previous reviewer, I felt like I wasn't reading a book about Alina, she seemed quite a 2D character and I never felt invested in her or her story.

I don't like to be critical and usually historical fiction is my jam, but this really didn't do it for me, and if it were not for the fact I received this in exchange for an honest review, I wouldn't have finished the book.

I received a free, electronic copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers (June 2020 batch).

This book was an enjoyable read, but something is amiss and I’m having a hard time figuring out what exactly that is.

Let’s start with the positive aspects of this book, of which there are many. Von Hassell has done an excellent job by incorporating historical events in this story of fiction. I especially appreciate the chapter “Historical Notes” that I did not only find highly interesting from an educational perspective, but also justified my assumption that Von Hassell has actually done a lot of researching.

I loved the different characters that were presented in this book, especially Alina. By the end of the book she has changed into an independent young woman who is determined to never give up on her passion: music. In my opinion, there should be more books like this with strong female protagonists since they might inspire young girls and women.

Although the writing could maybe have been slightly more descriptive, I was still able to envision the different scenes without any difficulty. Just a tiny detail that had maybe aided my understanding of some terms in this book: a glossary is incorporated at the end of the book but I did not find out about that chapter before reaching the end of the story. I would have preferred some kind of reference to the glossary in-text.

So where did it go wrong?

This book does not contain any obvious misses; instead there are some more subtle things that I disliked. First of all, the first part of the book (before Alina and Milos reached Jerusalem) was rather slow-paced without any main events. This also contributed to the fact that it took a long time before I had figured out where exactly this story was going. Furthermore, I sometimes felt that Alina was making a fuss about nothing; there were many different (and easier) ways to resolve some of her problems. Combining this with the rather illogic events that evolved during the last chapters of the book, I sometimes felt frustrated and annoyed. I should have had the feeling of wanting to find out what would happen with Milos and Alina, but I did not feel any suspense. When I had finished reading this book I just sat there in my armchair and picked up the next novel I felt like reading, forgetting all about Alina. I guess that this is the main problem: in just a matter of days I will have stopped thinking about this book; it is not a story that I will cherish and reread in due time.½