The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Piper’s Pursuit

Series: Hagenheim #10

Author: Melanie Dickerson

Genre: Young Adult, Clean Romance, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Retelling

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

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 Dickerson delivers another exciting fairy-tale journey of intrigue and romance in this reimagining of the classic Pied Piper story. – summary from Goodreads

The Piper’s Pursuit was a fantastic retelling of the Pied Piper!

I loved this book and the characters! Steffan is such a wonderful character and Katerina was amazing, and the storyline was intriguing!

Steffan was such an intriguing character to me, especially after the last book. I loved his entire storyline and growth. He has really grown up since the last book. He was learning that his parents and family loved him, and that no one thought he was a bad person. He was also working on making better choices, as well as turning to God. One of the better choices he makes is not drinking as much, and through this book you come to learn he is an alcoholic. This truly isn’t the biggest part of the book but was something I noticed. I did enjoy how fun he was; he reminded me of Gabe a little bit.

I loved the growth Steffan had pertaining to his family. He came to realize how much his family cared for him, and I loved the reunion scene. Wilhem was in this book a little more than in other books, and I loved seeing his relationship with his son. Wolfgang wasn’t in this book, but I did enjoy seeing what Steffan thought of his brother.

Katerina was an amazing character! She was tough and strong, and cared so much for people. Part of her storyline was learning to trust people. I enjoyed this storyline and how it affected her relationship with Steffan. Katerina had actually gone through a lot of horrible things. I loved this character and how determined she was to do the right thing!

I loved their relationship! It was incredibly sweet, and I liked how much they grew together. Steffan showed Katerina that she could trust people and that not everybody would hurt her. Katerina helped show Steffan that he is not a bad person.

This storyline was intriguing, and I was engrossed with it. It really spun the Pied Piper tale in such a unique way. There was some action, but it was tamer than some of the other books in this series. There were some large stakes, but it really only affected one small town. I think this fit the characters really well, and it allowed the characters to have more inner growth. I liked how the rats were involved but weren’t the biggest part of the storyline. The way and why the children went missing was also so intriguing!

The Piper’s Pursuit was an intriguing, twisty retelling of the Pied Piper with a sweet romance, family explorations, learning to trust, and action!

Quotes:

‘”You aren’t worthy because of what you’ve done, son, because no one can ever do enough to be truly worthy. You’re worthy because God gave His Son to make us worthy.’”