Share for friends:

Read White Jenna (2004)

White Jenna (2004)

Online Book

Author
Genre
Series
Rating
3.88 of 5 Votes: 1
Your rating
ISBN
0765343584 (ISBN13: 9780765343581)
Language
English
Publisher
tor teen

White Jenna (2004) - Plot & Excerpts

I read this and "Sister Light, Sister Dark" along with "The One Armed Queen" several years ago after finding them both in a second hand bookstore and they've all stuck with me. The story that Jane Yolen weaves is both magical and exciting beautiful. The story is told in three parts: First is the historical "sources" and theories written like evidence gathered from experts and historians and the like. The second is the lore, stories, songs and poetry passed from generation to generation written in the dialect of the people the tales belong to. The third is the actual story of Jenna and her life and it's written as the main story-story. Several times in the book there will be a poem/song or short tale that will match up to a scene a few pages on in the main story part of the book but with more detail and emotion. I used to wish I could call my own "dark sister" from a mirror and I took my very first online handle from a character in this series; Skada. Only I added a 'y' because in my mind the way I thought Skada was pronounced was Skayda. I once asked one of my best friends who played the piano if she would play the music in the back of the books for me. I would love for someone to make a recording of all the songs from these books.

I didn't like this quite as much as I liked the first book in the set. That's mostly to do with the fact that the "chosen one" aspect plays a much bigger role in this book and I'm not a fan of that trope.Yolen does acknowledge that Jenna's "destiny" relies as much on what the society expects from her as it does on anything to do with Jenna herself. The people's belief in the prophecies surrounding Jenna's birth are really more important than whether those prophecies are inherently true - and that aspect is certainly refreshing... But it wasn't quite enough to save the book for me.

What do You think about White Jenna (2004)?

I found the characters and story to be rather "meh," but the mode of storytelling to be fantastic! I read both books simply because I loved the format of "The Story," "The Legend," "The Myth," "The Song," or "The History." It's absolute genius. As a historian I couldn't help but be amused by the historical articles interspersed throughout the novel. I highly recommend White Jenna for this alone! Of course the world building was also quite fun...but the way the story is told definitely takes the front seat.
—Kimberly

I enjoyed this story, especially the way it was structured - each section told through "myth", "ballad", "song", "prophecy", "legend", "history", and "story" according to Yolen's whim, and the unfolding of the plot. I especially enjoyed the voice that the "history" sections were written in; the writer's clear distaste and even disgust at those who would allow any truth to the events of myths and legends. His - at least, I read his voice as male - outrage and petulant whining at the end of the book, when the historical society apparently give the legends even more credence, is priceless. I also thoroughly enjoyed the story and action, only occasionally feeling as if I were missing a bit of background (what is piiji?) , but feeling that it all filled in rather nicely... and then I realized, at the end, that I'd picked up book 2 to star with, instead of book 1. Oops. The fact that I never realized it, and enjoyed it as much as I did even so, speaks highly of Yolen's skill as a storyteller. I may even have liked it more, had I read it in proper sequence.
—Shilo

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Read books by author Jane Yolen

Read books in category Fiction