This book wasn't for me. I like action, adventure, and magic in far-off lands with lots of sword swinging. But for what it is, it was a good novel. Ariel is our protagonist, who is from a Jewish family who runs into financial trouble. This impacts her, and we see how she and her family have to struggle through this.
One thing I found really interesting was the second-person perspective. This made it really hard for me to get through. I had trouble connecting to Ariel and the other characters, and it pulled me out of the story more than pulled me into it. In fact, I almost didn't finish this book several times, but the themes it teaches were important enough for me to push through. However, I would much have preferred a classic third-person perspective. It would have kept me in Ariel's world instead of constantly being jarred by the new perspective.
One thing I found really interesting was the second-person perspective. This made it really hard for me to get through. I had trouble connecting to Ariel and the other characters, and it pulled me out of the story more than pulled me into it. In fact, I almost didn't finish this book several times, but the themes it teaches were important enough for me to push through. However, I would much have preferred a classic third-person perspective. It would have kept me in Ariel's world instead of constantly being jarred by the new perspective.