Lucinda is a Cinderella of sorts. Her parents died when she was a young child and she was raised by her uncle and resentful aunt. A mysterious woman leaves a wondrous purple stone with Lucinda’s uncle. As fate would have it, Lucinda comes into possession of the stone and subsequently it is stolen from her. The rest of the story is about Lucinda’s dangerous adventure to restore the stone to its owner and the evils she encounters along the way.
I had read some great reviews about this book before picking it up. Perhaps as a result I had higher expectations for the story then I should have. I had a difficult time getting through the whole first half of the book. I was skim reading as fast as I could just to get through it (Dan told me to put it down, but once I start a book, I have an internal code that makes me finish it). The end of the story was somewhat redeeming and much better than the beginning, but I’m surprised at how many people have raved about this book.
This book wasn’t bad, but I would probably recommend reading titles from Shannon Hale, Jessica Day George, or Gail Carson Levine before picking this book up.
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Overall Rating: 
Parent’s guide:
- Sex: none, there is some innocent flirting
- Violence: a girl is slapped and a fight scene of sorts but nothing that is too intense
- Language: none
