Grade: C+
Release Date: June 15, 2011
Thanks NetGalley for my advanced read of this book!
Queens of All the Earth is the debut novel from Hannah Sternburg that takes its title from a gorgeous E.E. Cummings poem. This is a story about a Cornell freshman named Olivia who has a complete mental breakdown upon starting college and finds herself in a catatonic state for some time. Once Olivia starts to come around, her older sister Miranda thinks that a vacation is in order to help ease Olivia back into reality. The two sisters take off on a European vacation to Spain to see Barcelona. Once they arrive Miranda realizes that there has been a mistake with their reservation at a hostel and a hodgepodge of characters enter the story like a Baptist minister and his lost soul son. This book is a pretty portrait of Barcelona scenery and gives a good look into what one might experience traveling abroad and especially staying in a hostel. Queens of All the Earth is a coming of age story with a touch of mental illness thrown in and set in the lovely background of Barcelona.
I wanted to love this book from the NetGalley description and the GoodReads description but ended up just liking the story. My issue was that I wanted more of an ending and felt that the one we are given was a bit too brief. I wanted more closure between certain characters. What I did really love about the story is the prose and the descriptions of various places in Barcelona that made me feel as if I were seeing these sights myself. The book is rather short, clocking in at under 200 pages and likely will be finished in one sitting. Once this book is released in June I will definitely give this a second read to see if the second time around is better. Hannah Sternberg is an author that I will most definitely read again as I enjoy her style of writing. Overall this book is escapism at its finest and perfect for those who want to go to Spain via a novel for a few hours.
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