Name: Castle on the Rise
ISBN: 9780718095499

Kristy Cambron

A storied castle. A band of rebels. And a nation chasing the centuries-old dream of freedom . . . What legacy will they leave behind?

Castle on the Rise

Mary Horton

Honestly pretty bummed about this one. There were moments of deep, heartrending poignancy . . . but they were scattered gems in an otherwise dull & sluggish plot. 

The last third of the book, though. *deep breath* I Felt Things. :P

I love Kristy Cambron's books, but this latest series of hers is just missing the mark for me. I think having three different timelines is just too confusing and disconnects me from the characters. I never really get to know them because I'm only spending about 120 pages with each set of characters. *sighs* 

Random things I enjoyed:

- Ireland!!! 
- The lush, atmospheric writing style. (Tbh, it sometimes felt clunky at times? For the most part, it was beautiful, but sometimes I had to read sentences over again because they didn't make sense.)
- Maeve basically ran an estate during the 1700s and is an actual #bosswoman. She uses freaking pistols and joins a rebellion but also takes care of her garden and cares for all the people in the village. I need a whole book about Maeve.
- All the vintage pianos make me unreasonably happy.
- SEAN + ISSY. They were friends for soooo long before they actually became a thing, and Sean's so respectful & understanding with Issy. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
- Issy is a photojournalist and is also a #bosswoman. I have mad respect for the women (and men!) in this story.
- May or may not have teared up over Certain Things.
- Laine adopted her daughter and went through a divorce and has had a super hard life. I just want her to be safe and protected forever, please and thank you.
- Sibling dynamics! ALL THE YES.
- Cormac making grilled cheese for Laine's 4-year-old daughter and being committed to loving both of them was very sweet :)))
- I haven't researched anything about the Easter Rebellion, but it seemed like the author really tried to show the good and the bad things about how it was handled. Unlike a lot of Christian fiction books, this one actually seemed to depict Catholicism in a relatively accurate light? (I'm not Catholic, so I'm honestly not a very good judge of this . . . but the author definitely showed that the Protestants were in the wrong about a lot of things. There some super awesome Catholic characters and some marriages between Catholics & Protestants, as well.)

Overall? This was definitely my least favorite Cambron book so far, but I don't feel like going into all the negatives. :P There were still a lot of things I really liked about this book, but it felt disjointed and even awkward because of the three separate timelines. I never felt a really strong emotional connection to it, and the political things bored me to tears at times. (Also thought that the Irish accents were overdone and distracting? Just not a fan of books that write out the dialect. *shrugs*)

3 stars

Castle on the Rise

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