I really enjoyed this epic tale set in medieval England. It was full of unrequited love, adventure, tragedy, friendship, angst, honor, treachery, battles, losses—and finally—victory and happiness, though it was hard-won, not without its own loss, and not wrapped up as tidily as I'd wished. But it sure made for an interesting story with an ending that satisfied me. I loved the medieval settings; this is my favorite time period. The author clearly did her research on the people, places, customs, and societal classes of the time period, and every time I was lucky enough to sit down and read for a spell, I was quickly and completely transported to this time and place, which was a wonderful escape (my favorite thing about reading!). The romance was squeaky clean, if you like to steer clear of trashy romance.I didn't give 5 stars because there were some flaws that kept me from absolutely loving the book. I read the Kindle edition (it was a freebie), and the errors were plentiful and annoying. Not just spelling/grammatical errors, but glaring errors like missing words, and even sometimes entire phrases were missing. These were not few and far between, but common occurrences that had to be dealt with every few pages, it seemed. As for the writing, I was frustrated by the lack of character development, especially in the main characters. Afton, especially, was hard to really "feel" and understand. I often had no idea why she did (or thought) some of the things she did. I still pulled for her and wanted desperately for her to have happiness instead of the almost constant heartbreak she had to bear, but on the other hand, some of her heartbreak was her own doing, and I still can't figure out what her reasons were for her foolish actions and decisions at those times. Foolish pride was the supposed answer, but she made the same bitter mistakes over and over again, to the point I wondered why I was even pulling for her. The same goes for the other main character, Calhoun. Although I felt his character was a bit more understandable than Afton, he, also, was a victim of his own overblown pride time and again, and never seemed to learn from these foolish mistakes. Otherwise, there was something about the "voice" of the novel that seemed a bit amateur, especially at the beginning. Upon reading about the author, I saw this was her first novel (20 yrs ago), and she's written many since then, so I assume it is a bit amateur. But it certainly didn't cause me to want to stop reading, and this seemed to improve quite a bit as the novel progressed (or maybe I just got used to it, or wrapped up in the story, or both). But overall, the story was quite interesting and enjoyable to read. While it was a bit slow to start (I found the first 20% of the book to be a bit slow—though not boring), once it got going, I found it hard to put down, and it kept me up late into the night several times. There were many twists and turns, and I found myself on the edge of my seat on more than a few occasions. 4 solid stars.
This is a review of the 4th ed. release of the book. I had read this story in junior high school after reading the second book in the series. While it didn't leave as much as an impact on me as The Troubadour's Quest had, I did love it enough to remember it until now. On a whim, I bought the series and decided to reread them to see if they were as good as junior high school me thought they were. I was not disappointed. Reading this story now as an adult, I can appreciate the historical accuracies of the book much more and exactly how much they suffered. I have seen it described by someone else as a "slow-burning romance" and that would be the way I wish to describe it as well, with love spanning years and trials that all of us could face -- frustratingly bad timing, pride, bitterness, and unexpected disasters and changes in the two character's life plans. I loved reading this again, and will continue to recommend it to any people interested in a classy work of historical fiction with a satisfying conclusion. Plot aside, I have to say that I was not impressed with this edition of the book. It was rife with typos and blatent misprints, including a doubly printed paragraph on the second page and a chapter in the middle of the book named "0 CHAPTER NAME". I wish more care had been taken to proof this copy, which I bought unknowingly. tl;dr - The story is an excellent historical fiction/clean romance which deals with contemporary relationship and life problems. Get an older edition for a cleaner reading experience.
What do You think about Afton Of Margate Castle (1993)?
A lot of people have a special book that they claim 'changed their life'. The only book to have changed my life thus far is God's Word. However, there are books that I have come across, few and far between, that have changed my perspective. This is, without a doubt, one of those books. I read it in three days because I had to find out what would happen to the characters next. I didn't want to know what would happen to them next, but I had to know. Hunt doesn't leave anything out. The suffering and evil tendencies of human nature are laid out without any gushy cover-ups to make us feel good. This is not a feel good book. This is a book that tells it how it is. This is a book that tells the truth. And it's eye opening, really. It makes you cry, it makes you laugh, it makes you smirk, but most importantly... it makes you think. It makes you understand how good you've got it. And, yes, I know this is set in Medieval England, but there are so many parallels that you can't help but realize how much suffering there really is in the world. It makes you wonder what you can do to help those who suffer. It makes you realize that compared to so many people in the world, you haven't suffered yet on an unspeakable scale. This book is one of the most dangerous books I've ever read. It's one of the worst, but one of the best. Nothing is left out. Your feelings will not be spared. The fragile world inside of you will not be spared. You will come out seeing something different. And it's definitely worth it.
—Rachel Lester
Overall, I loved the rich historical setting and Angela's obvious research to be faithful to the era.Occasionally the plot felt forced or awkwardly advanced, like the section about Agnelet where the chapter opens, "The next two years passed smoothly at the convent." The rest of the paragraph doesn't actually support that statement well, and considering Hunt's generally lush writing style, phrases like these felt glaringly pedestrian. Another reviewer expressed frustration with the last half of the book, wanting to slap the characters for being so stupid. It's true, the character development kind of unravels at the end and the denouement is a bit too sudden and predictable and doesn't leave me hanging enough to rush out and get the next book. A couple more thematic threads should have been left untied. That said, I did enjoy this book as diversion and literary/historical journey.
—Colleen
I love historical stories and romances but I hate to be reminded ofa time when women were valued mostly as a childbearing tool.This novel was very well written and, though full of intense violence,was unfortunately a story of the ups and downs of many people's lives.I hated the reality of results from vain, foolish choices, the wickedness thatare in many upon earth, how evil often prevails, and the injustices thatoften occur. There is romance, action, adventure, loyalty and betrayal all portrayed within these pages. This can safely be read by YA and Adults too.
—LAWonder10
