Juniper

I have no complaints about this book. It was well paced, there were no obvious plot holes, it was well edited, and it held my attention. It was similar to "Wise Child", which I appreciated, but different enough not to feel redundant. I was happy to learn more about Juniper's past and how she became a doran.

I'm a guy (you know the drill - testosterone has me rooting for the robots in the terminator movies) with 3 young daughters and so story time for me can be it's own kind of hell, overpopulated with too many thoughtful ponies, joyous princesses and other terrors from the Id.Juniper at least is a story that can engross a child while being satisfying to the adult reader. I never once had the urge to plunge my head through the sheetrock in the bedroom whereas when forced to read stories like the Pony Pals, that's all I can think about. The wise women in Juniper are are a bit too knowing and all seeing, the plot a bit formulaic but other than that, it's a story of growing up, persistence against adversity good and evil, courage and adventure and some things in between. Same holds through the rest of the trilogy: Wise Child and Colman though they're not written in order.I suspect that these stories catch the mind of young girls more than boys and are aimed more at a female audience. I don't know if I would have read it by myself, but with mission to read to my daughters, it was an enjoyable journey. I could see adult women enjoying this for it's own sake. In any case the books of this trilogy are well above the average children's fare for girls or for boys. Definitely worth the price of admission.

This is a touching coming of age story about Ninnoc, a Princess of medieval Cornwall. Here she studies to become a Doran (good witch). She must battle against a relative/antagonist and save her beloved family, friends and home. The pacing is rather slow, but the characters are realistic, amusing and likeable. There's a lot of pleasant daily life scenes, and the children were rather sweet. I liked the glimpse into Juniper and Finbar's childhood, and how they met. This is book 2 of the Wise Child series. I preferred Wise Child, but this was still a good book.

Fast shipping and great condition. I got this for my teenager and I look forward to hearing her review. Thank you!

As one who enjoys fantasy, I found Juniper a fairly satisfying and magical read. I thought the beginning third of the book was very strong. The characters were well developed, the plot had all the traditional elements of good vs. evil and the magic of the dorans is well laid out.As the book progressed, I found myself being somewhat critical over certain aspects of the story, in particular the characters. They just started to seem two dimensional to me, a bit stereotypical. For example, the evil sorceress Meroot was rather predicable in her actions. Actually, many of the characters were very predicable a la fairy tales of their behaviors.As one who has read many magical fantasies, the initiation scene with Juniper and Trewyn in the hut naked breathing in green wood smoke just didn't work for me. Then suddenly they could move things all over the room. It seemed "over the top" regarding believability, even in a fantasy. At times, it seemed that the author, who clearly did her research especially in the art of spinning and weaving, threw many different elements of fantasy into the cauldron. Some of it worked;other aspects just seemed as if they were put in just because. There were many loose ends that either came together far too easily and conveniently, or conversely were left up in the air.Although I enjoyed the first half of the book, the ending was disappointing to me. I am looking forward to reading Wise Child.

My daughters love this book 20 years ago, and my granddaughter enjoyed it this summer.

This book is absolutely magical !! Would highly recommend for children and adults alike ! :)

I read this book a long time ago, and I wanted to get a copy. I finally found it here, and will be reading it again soon. It came quickly, very well shipped. Thanks

I sort this book out. I read it as a child in school but I couldn't remember the name. An image from the book haunted me (in a poetic positive way) so I tracked it down and reread it. I'm very glad I did - I found myself relieving the magical experience of reading it as a child. Furlong is a beautiful story teller and considering its for younger readers I found it quite a profound book full of spiritual wisdom. A wonderful, comforting read and I would also recommend the second book Wise Child.

Well written, wise, intelligent, compassionate, uplifting. I loved the insights into relationships of kindness and tolerance, characters willing to offer understanding without prejudice. What a wonderful character Monica Furlong created in Juniper. To find a book like this, that relies on goodness rather than evil as its sustaining theme, is treasure indeed.

lovely short story

I re read this book recently - it was a childhood favourite. And, its still pretty amazingly captivating as a grown adult!I recommend for sure!

Thank you to Monica Furlong for writing this. The last in the series, with the same cast of characters, trials, lessons, but so much more to cover. A final gift for her readers.