Aspiring: An appropriate title
I’m giving this listen 4.5 stars. The writing is lyrical, complex in what I believe is just the right way. The narration was beautiful as well. Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent listening to this book.
Not quite a 5* for me, mainly because I think I need more time with this novel to fully appreciate it. I’m not certain listing to this is the best way to consume it. At some point, I hope to go back and read it too. That may give me a better appreciation.
I’m going with 4* rating for a few reasons. First, while the characters, society, and world are well-realized, I think there were some aspects that didn’t quite come to fruition for me. For example, I was left with a vague impression of which fairy tale this was retelling. I thought maybe Cinderella, but I wasn’t sure. It left me a bit confused. I do see from the reviews that it’s perhaps based on another one.
Regardless, the story stands on its own. What is truly lovely about the story is watching Elisabeth overcome challenges to find herself and her way to her prince.
About the author
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Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author, Astrid V.J. was born in South Africa. She is a trained social anthropologist and certified transformational life coach. She currently resides in Sweden with her husband and their two children. In early childhood, she showed an interest in reading and languages—interests which her family encouraged. Astrid started writing her first novel at age 12 and now writes fantasy in a variety of genres, exploring her passion for cultures and languages. When she isn’t writing, Astrid likes to read, take walks in nature, play silly games with her children, do embroidery, and play music.
Astrid writes transformation fiction: incorporating transformation principles in novels, rather than writing another self-help book. She loves exploring the human capacity for transformation and potential to achieve success in the face of adversity. Astrid is interested in minority group questions, considerations on social standards of beauty and the negative consequences these have, and would like to make the fantasy genre accessible to people of non-white, non-Christian backgrounds. Astrid feels the fantasy genre has become too restrictive with limited representations of race, ethnicity and culture. She seeks to explore other paths on this writing journey, incorporating her background in anthropology and psychology to create engaging experiences, which also provide food for thought on the diverse topics she finds most important. These include: racism, minority rights, cultural diversity, culture change, intolerance, humanity’s environmental impact, the representation of people on the autism spectrum in among the general populace, the human capacity for transformation, and much more.