Book Review: Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Song of the Sparrow, by Lisa Ann Sandell, is a retelling of the story of the Lady of Shalot. It is based in the time of King Arthur and follows the story of Elaine, a daughter of a soldier in Arthur’s army. 

I was surprised when I first opened the book and realized it was in free verse. I’ve read a few other books in this form, and while I enjoy how quickly I can tear through a novel in this form, I feel that I just can’t connect as well with the story. Throughout my reading of this novel, I never felt particularly attached to any of the characters. There was backstory on a few of the characters, which felt realistic and helped me to understand their situation more clearly, but even so, I found that at the end of the book I really didn’t  care who lived or died, or whether or not any of the characters fell in love, which is quite the bummer because this book has a strong romantic theme. I never once gasped, or cried, or had to reread a section because of how powerful it was. 

The writing was clear and flowed well, which assisted my understanding of the form. I’m not a fan of poetry, so reading novels in this form is often difficult for me, but Sandell wrote in a manner that allowed me to comprehend the story, and its form, with little difficulty.

Overall, I rate this book a 3/5 stars. It was well written and had an interesting basis, but didn’t reel me in the way I had hoped it would.