Changeling by Philippa Gregory - OPTIONAL

Gregory, Philippa  Changeling, 256 pgs. Simon Pulse, 2012. $18.99  Content: Language: PG-13 (15 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13. 

Luca Vero has an inquisitive mind, which moves him from the monastery he grew up in, and places him, at the age of seventeen, as the church’s inquisitor.  He is ordered to roam Europe and investigate the goings-on in villages that lead people to believe in supernatural elements.  His first mission places him at an abbey where he meets the beautiful Isolde, a lady whose brother swindled her out of her holdings upon her beloved father’s death and had Isolde placed in the abbey.  Luca and Isolde, working separately, begin to learn that the wealth of the abbey is coming from questionable means and the person who is benefiting the most from the circumstances is willing to go to great lengths to keep the secret.  Uncovering the abbey’s secret is the beginning of Luca and Isolde’s adventures. 

I was really excited to read this book because I have read other books by this author that I loved.  It’s hard to pin point what I didn’t like about the book, but I didn’t feel like either character was that endearing.  The storyline was fantastic and interesting, but sometimes repetitive.  Also the book felt divided between two adventures-almost like two short stories put together.  This is the first book in a new series and so the ending, although it did have resolve, left the characters fates unfinished.  I would probably read more of the series because the storyline is interesting and well thought out, but I’m not sure young adults would stick with it because, at times, the story seemed geared towards adults. 

MS, HS-OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.