Review: The Piper’s Pursuit by Melanie Dickerson
Pipers and rats and beasts-oh my! Melanie Dickerson’s “The Pied Piper” retelling is chock full of action and adventure with just the right dash of romance, and I truly enjoyed every minute of it.
Check out the beautiful cover below and then read on for the book blurb and the rest of my review!
A fairy-tale journey of intrigue and romance that reimagines the classic Pied Piper story.
A plague of rats. A giant beast outside the village walls. A host of missing children. And one young woman determined to save her people.
In 1424 Hamlin, Katerina faces threats from all sides. An outbreak of rats has overtaken the village, a mysterious beast is on a killing rampage of the village’s children, and Katerina’s evil stepfather is a dark presence inside the walls of her own home. Katerina is determined to hunt and kill the Beast of Hamlin herself before more lives are lost.
When Steffan, the handsome but brash duke’s son, comes to town seeking glory and reward, Katerina decides he might be the ally she’s been looking for—even though the only gentle thing about him seems to be the sweet music he plays on his pipe. But there’s more to Steffan than she suspects, and she finds herself drawn to him despite her misgivings.
Together Katerina and Steffan must stop the enemy from stealing the children of Hamlin. But their interference might create an even worse fate for the entire village.
Melanie always creates fun and exciting adventure-filled plots, but this one was especially clever to me. I had been wondering how exactly she would portray this rather odd fairytale, and I think Melanie ultimately found a good balance between the fanciful and the realistic. The villain, Burgermeister (isn’t that such a fun word to say?!) Hennek Grymmelin, and his cruel plot is perfectly evil, and the path that the heroes, Steffan and Katerina, must take to stop him leaves you eager to see what happens next. I also loved how she integrated the plague of rats and the piper’s luring away of the children with the story of the Beast of Hamlin, merging the two legends into one. I find it extremely interesting that these stories are actually based, at least partially, on real facts-there are historical accounts of many children in Hamlin actually disappearing!
I really liked the romance in this book. In the last two books in this series, I enjoyed the love story but did not feel as many happy-sigh emotions as I did while reading this one. Steffan is one of my favorite kinds of heroes-a bad boy turned good-and Katerina is a perfect pairing for him. And that first kiss scene is what fairytales are made of! 😉
I also enjoyed how Melanie tied in the “prodigal son” element in this story. Steffan started out, in the book before this one, as the “bad son”, always rebelling and going against his family’s wishes. But by the time he encounters Katerina in the troubled town of Hamlin, Steffan has reached the end of his wayward journey. He is tired of the life he has been living and longs to be the “good son” now, to start over and make something worthwhile out of his life. The way Melanie brought about this change in Steffan made him one of my favorite heroes of hers in a while.
As with all of Melanie’s books, I could not overlook the fact there is often a very simple or passive voice to the overall writing. Sometimes this bugs me, but when I remind myself that these books technically are written for a young adult audience, then I can let it go. The good thing about the simplicity of the writing is the fact that it makes Melanie’s books easy reads that you can just fly through. Plus, the fun, adventure, and romance of the storyline makes up for what the wording itself may lack.
Overall, I give The Piper’s Pursuit 4/5 Stars! If you are wanting a feel-good weekend read or looking for something suitable for your teenager to read, this book is the perfect choice-as is the rest of Melanie’s Hagenheim series, for that matter. To learn more about this series and the rest of Melanie’s books, check out the author of the month blog post I recently wrote about her!