Book Review #3 Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson

I am taking a brief detour from my Pride and Prejudice reviews to post my thoughts on this novel, which I also discovered thanks to SurLaLune's wonderful blog.

Toads and Diamonds
by Heather Tomlinson

This book is a charming re-telling of Charles Perrault's Diamonds and Toads fairy tale, with a twist. It takes place in a fictional India, and their is no nasty stepsister. In this setting, both the gemstones and the frogs are considered to be blessings, albeit for different reasons. I loved the characters and their struggles to survive and stay themselves in situations they could never have expected. Tana, the toad girl, especially had to stay strong to protect those she loved, which is what had been her wish all along. I would recommend this story to anyone 12 and up.

There is no sexuality, but there is a brief scene near the beginning where there were soldiers harassing a young woman, so this story rates a 3 out of 10.

This book gets at least a 5 out of 10 for language, as some of the more unpleasant characters call the young ladies by a rude name multiple times.

There are scenes of violence sprinkled throughout Toads and Diamonds, including a brief scene where a character is beaten and one man who was killed in self defence, but none are particularly graphic.

                                                                          Lieder Madchen