In a day and age where stories about Vampires, Werewolves and Falling Angels are wildly accepted, I know that my following suggestion will seem a bit daft but here it goes...
Suspension of Disbelief: A willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment.
Get to know this definition and love this definition. You really won't be able to read and enjoy this book without going into it just the acceptance of everything that is happening. Caterina, Cat to everybody, finds herself transported back to the Sixteenth Century by a gypsy she meets in Florence. She doesn't speak Italian before she goes to the past but once there she understands and speaks it perfectly. She finds it hard to not speak in her 21st Century slang but passes this off as being from London where things are different. It is all very Big (the Tom Hank's movie from the 80's) but if you go in with an open mind you will find it enjoyable and a really good read.
"Powers that be, powers of three, let Caterina's destiny be all that I see."
The time spent in Sixteenth Century Florence was fun. Cat is a huge lover of Renaissance art so this timeframe is perfect for her and she even gets to meet one of her favorite artists. The person whose body she has taken over is Patience D'Angeli and she soon discovers that the family she is staying with are actually her ancestors. Cat does a lot of growing up as the story progresses and is able to make some decisions that will affect her own life, the one back in the 21st Century.
Her Sixteenth Century surrogate family are lovely. Her aunt and uncle were sweet but my absolute favorites were her cousins, Cipriano and Alessandra. Cipriano becomes quite protective of Cat and Alessandra easily becomes a close friend and they even call each other sister. Cat does not allow herself to get close to others in her 'real life' so the feelings she starts to have for them takes her by surprise.
Of course no young adult book would be complete without a love story and this does not disappoint. Cat quickly begins to have feelings for a local artist and friend of the family, his name is Lorenzo Cappelli. He was so very sweet. I am sure the setting had a lot to do with how much of a gentleman he was and how sweet their interactions were with each other. He falls for Patience/Cat hard and is willing to change his entire life in order to be with her... so swoonworthy.
My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century is the first in the series and the second book, A Tale of Two Centuries, is due to be published in August 2013. I have to be honest when I had got to around 80% I really could not see how it was going to end or even carry on with another book but then the end came and I was pleasantly surprised with a bit of a twist. Cliffhanger? Yes! But it was a fun one and left me very much wanting to carry on with Cat's story.
"Lorenzo gently places his hands on either side of my face, lowering his head to stare directly into my eyes. His voice is barely above a whisper as he says, "Patience D'Angeli-Cat-you are my dream now."
Christine
Rainy Day Reads
