Review by electricapple -- The Prodigy Slave, Book One: ...
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electricapple
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- Latest Review: The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden by Londyn Skye
Review by electricapple -- The Prodigy Slave, Book One: ...
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden" by Londyn Skye.]
The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden by Londyn Skye, is a romantic historical novel about the relationship between Lily, a slave, and her master’s son, James. It is the first of the three novels in The Prodigy Slave series.
The story is heartbreaking from the very beginning. Set in the 1800s, Lily was separated from her mother, also a slave, by her white father, a slave owner. He sells nine-year-old Lily in a slave auction to Jesse Adams. Lily is put to work as a house slave and forms a strong friendship with Jesse's youngest son, James. The friendship between young Lily and James is beautiful and heart-wrenching at the same time. They tell each other almost everything and spend a lot of time together in secret. It turns out that Lily has another secret. She can memorize and accurately imitate every note that Jesse's wife plays on the piano. She practices on the piano whenever no one is around.
While James is the only person that makes Lily feel like an actual human being, this secret feels too dangerous to share with him. Lily and James's friendship only grows and strengthens over the years until they are teenagers. When their friendship is discovered, James starts to treat Lily terribly. Six years later, when James returns from medical school, he catches Lily playing the piano. As punishment, he convinces his father to allow him to take Lily to Ohio. What is this punishment? Has the sweet, kind, and gentle James completely disappeared? Or is there still some good left in him? And so starts a journey and adventure that completely changes the life of Lily, James, and some other characters that you will meet in the novel.
While this novel is an emotional rollercoaster, I enjoyed reading it. I love the way that Londyn Skye started each chapter with The Slave Code. It was very interesting to read various slave codes at the beginning of the chapter, and then read about that very same slave code being broken in the chapter. The slave codes helped with giving context, and also helped the reader understand the gravity of what was happening in the story. What I enjoyed most is the message that children are not born racists. They are not born hating skin colors that are different from theirs. They are taught to hate. I also enjoyed Lily's character. She is a strong, black woman who has suffered through so much at the hands of several white men. And yet she never gave up on life. Her unmatched talent, creativity, and kind heart make her a very lovable character.
I also enjoyed William's character. His character is genuinely full of love. I could see myself forming a strong bond with someone like that in real life. James' character is what I disliked most. I found myself questioning his love for Lily. In my opinion, his actions proved otherwise. His character came off as toxic and I did not appreciate his behavior on multiple occasions. The book ends in a major cliffhanger, but I do not find myself eager to read Book Two. I do not think I would enjoy the direction of the next book in the series.
As the novel is set in the 1800s, there are several racial slurs that might make some readers uncomfortable. The story also contains profanity and erotic scenes. Because of this, I would recommend this novel to only mature readers. The erotic scenes are not too graphic, but they are definitely not appropriate for readers below the age of 17.
The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden is very well edited as I only noticed a couple of errors. Overall I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. If I could, I would give it a 3.5.
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The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden by Londyn Skye, is a romantic historical novel about the relationship between Lily, a slave, and her master’s son, James. It is the first of the three novels in The Prodigy Slave series.
The story is heartbreaking from the very beginning. Set in the 1800s, Lily was separated from her mother, also a slave, by her white father, a slave owner. He sells nine-year-old Lily in a slave auction to Jesse Adams. Lily is put to work as a house slave and forms a strong friendship with Jesse's youngest son, James. The friendship between young Lily and James is beautiful and heart-wrenching at the same time. They tell each other almost everything and spend a lot of time together in secret. It turns out that Lily has another secret. She can memorize and accurately imitate every note that Jesse's wife plays on the piano. She practices on the piano whenever no one is around.
While James is the only person that makes Lily feel like an actual human being, this secret feels too dangerous to share with him. Lily and James's friendship only grows and strengthens over the years until they are teenagers. When their friendship is discovered, James starts to treat Lily terribly. Six years later, when James returns from medical school, he catches Lily playing the piano. As punishment, he convinces his father to allow him to take Lily to Ohio. What is this punishment? Has the sweet, kind, and gentle James completely disappeared? Or is there still some good left in him? And so starts a journey and adventure that completely changes the life of Lily, James, and some other characters that you will meet in the novel.
While this novel is an emotional rollercoaster, I enjoyed reading it. I love the way that Londyn Skye started each chapter with The Slave Code. It was very interesting to read various slave codes at the beginning of the chapter, and then read about that very same slave code being broken in the chapter. The slave codes helped with giving context, and also helped the reader understand the gravity of what was happening in the story. What I enjoyed most is the message that children are not born racists. They are not born hating skin colors that are different from theirs. They are taught to hate. I also enjoyed Lily's character. She is a strong, black woman who has suffered through so much at the hands of several white men. And yet she never gave up on life. Her unmatched talent, creativity, and kind heart make her a very lovable character.
I also enjoyed William's character. His character is genuinely full of love. I could see myself forming a strong bond with someone like that in real life. James' character is what I disliked most. I found myself questioning his love for Lily. In my opinion, his actions proved otherwise. His character came off as toxic and I did not appreciate his behavior on multiple occasions. The book ends in a major cliffhanger, but I do not find myself eager to read Book Two. I do not think I would enjoy the direction of the next book in the series.
As the novel is set in the 1800s, there are several racial slurs that might make some readers uncomfortable. The story also contains profanity and erotic scenes. Because of this, I would recommend this novel to only mature readers. The erotic scenes are not too graphic, but they are definitely not appropriate for readers below the age of 17.
The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden is very well edited as I only noticed a couple of errors. Overall I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. If I could, I would give it a 3.5.
******
The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
