Melanie Dickerson

Frederick, a peasant farmer's son who dreams of earning a living using his God-given talent as a woodcarver, falls in love with Adela, a duke's daughter who yearns to prove herself as an artist. Includes discussion questions.

The Peasant's Dream

valentina 🕯️

Este libro lo encontré por pura casualidad en uno de mis viajes por la app donde escucho audiolibros (bookbeat) y me llamó bastante la atención. Seguramente fue porque, como (casi)arqueóloga todo lo que tenga que ver con novelas históricas me llama la atención y cuando lo vi me dije ¿por qué no?

Antes de empezar con mi opinión sobre el libro creo necesario comentar que aunque es el libro once de una serie llamada Hagenheim, siento que no es necesario leerse todos los otros para entender lo que pasa en la historia. Durante toda la lectura se hacen referencias a los hermanos y hermanas de Adela (siendo muchos de ellos protagonistas de libros pasados) pero su historia no tiene una importancia relevante en la historia, mas allá de inspirar a Adela a vivir una aventura como la de ellos. 

Personalmente, este es el primer libro que le de Melanie Dickerson y me pareció hermoso. Disfrute mucho de la lectura y, al ser un audiolibro, la forma en la que era narrado influyó mucho en esto. Aunque me tomó mucho leerlo (inicialmente porque estoy escribiendo mi tesis y honestamente dejé tirados todos los libros que estaba leyendo) siento que la historia te atrapa bastante. Al ser una historia sencilla de leer, estuve atrapada desde el primer momento en que la empecé, y creo que esto estuvo influenciado principalmente porque es la primera vez que leo una historia de éste tipo, en el que la protagonista es la persona con lo que podríamos llamar un alto rango. 

En cuanto a los personajes, debo decir que me gustaron, aunque honestamente esperaba mucho mas de ellos. Adela es una chica que quiere tomar sus decisiones, pero sigue muy permeada por la sociedad en la que vive y por la crianza que tuvo: vive para complacer a sus padres y se replantea constantemente si en verdad quiere casarse con Frederick ya que este es un simple trabajador. Aunque esta historia tiene un aire de Cenicienta, siento que pudo ser mucho mas explotada, ya que tenia muchos elementos para jugar y hacer que el lector no pudiera dejar de leer. 

Este libro lo recomendaría si están en busca de algo ligero, entretenido y sencillo. Es una historia tierna y fluida, pero a la que le faltó (en mi opinión) un poquito mas.

Ashton Reed

2.5/5 stars

I’ve got to be honest… this book barely did anything for me 😬 I hate to be a hater, but this review is definitely a rant review.

The Peasant’s Dream follows a young girl named Adela. All she wants for her life is to go on an adventure, albeit a safe one, and explore the world to paint. Her kind parents wish for her to marry though, and she begins a courtship with Lord Barthold. But when a young, poor wood-carver named Frederick catches her eye in town, she tests the limits of her heart.

Honestly, the blurb sounds way more exciting than the book actually is. From the get-go, The Peasant’s Dream is boring. BORING. I trudgeddd through this book. The two main characters, Adela and Frederick, have no personality. The plot is surface level, way too predictable, and extremely anti-climactic. I was beyond excited to finally dive into Melanie Dickerson’s work. Christian fairytale retellings?? Sounds amazing!! Right? Yeah, I was looking forward to seeing my favorite fairy tales as YA romance within Christian parameters, as a model for how romance really is for those who follow Jesus.

But what I got was a stuffy, overly polite semi-relationship. WHAT?? I feel bad for young Christian girls who might read this book and think danggg this is what love is when you’re a Christian? It’s really this boring? Count me out. 

Ok, I appreciated the elements of God, how the characters pursue Him in their lives everyday and trust Him with everything; in that way, they are good role models. But dang, those who follow God are still allowed personality. Yeah this book is boring, but beneath that is the idea that to follow God one has to be suffocatingly polite. I promise that when I like a boy, I’m NOT going to agree with everything he says and compliment his every move and tell him his name is masculine and strong because I’m a submissive Christian girl. Not like Adela does. No, sir, that’s not how we roll, and it’s frustrating to know this book promotes that. And don’t even get me started on Frederick’s role in this - I’m all for a gentle, handsome hero love interest, but he was equally as boring and I guess has a thing for submissive girls?? I don’t know.

Maybe her other books are better - I have a couple more that I’ll try. But as a Christian book, I’m sure there are better out there (at least, I hope so), and girls reading this, you’ll have a more interesting love story!! 😆 

Thank you so much, The Fantastic Flying Book Club and Thomas Nelson for providing me an ARC copy for the blog tour. If the blog tour was still occurring, I probably would have held off on the rant… but I couldn’t help myself. This is an honest review, all opinions are my own.



If you enjoyed this review, feel free to follow me here on Goodreads and on my Instagram/Twitter @ashton_reads! Love ya!

Reese Kuck 

In this reverse Cinderella story, a poor farmer’s son, who dreams of using his talent as a woodcarver to make a better life for himself, falls in love with a duke’s daughter and must fight for a chance to win her heart. Adela is the youngest daughter of Duke Wilhelm of Hagenheim and is never allowed outside of the castle walls. She loves her family, but she sneaks away one day to the market in the town center. There she meets a handsome young man and wonders what it might be like to fall in love with a poor farmer with a kind heart instead of marrying the man her family is suggesting for her. Frederick earns the income for his family and defends his mother from his father’s drunken rages. He also uses his talent and creativity to carve figures, animals, and scenes into wood, and he's asked to carve these scenes into cathedral doors when his talent is noticed. Frederick is inspired by the sweet and beautiful Adela, but he has no knowledge of her true identity. When he gets swept up into a plan to kidnap the duke’s daughter, both are shaken by what they learn about the other. With the heartbroken Adela resigned to an arranged marriage with her noble suitor, Frederick must decide what he’s willing to risk for love.

The Peasant's Dream

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