The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Peasant’s Dream

Series: Hagenheim #11

Author: Melanie Dickerson

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

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

In this reverse reimagining of the Cinderella story, secrets and dangerous enemies threaten a fairy-tale romance.

Adela, daughter of the Duke of Hagenheim, is rarely allowed outside the castle walls. But one day, longing for freedom, she sneaks away to the market disguised as a peasant. There, she meets a handsome young woodcarver named Frederick.

Frederick, a poor farmer, is the sole provider for his family, and he often has to defend his mother from his father’s drunken rages. He dreams of making a living carving beautiful images into wood, and he is thrilled when the Bishop of Hagenheim commissions him to carve new doors for the cathedral. As Frederick works on the project, he and Adela meet almost daily, and it doesn’t take long for them to fall in love. Yet her true identity remains hidden from him.

When disaster separates them, Adela and Frederick find themselves caught in the midst of deceptions far more dangerous than innocent disguises. As the powerful lords set against them proceed with their villainous plans, secrets emerge that put Frederick and Adela’s future at risk. – summary from Goodreads

The Peasant’s Dream was an adorable reversed-Cinderella retelling!

I was a little hesitant going into this book because I wasn’t sure what a reversed-Cinderella retelling would entail. I was pleasantly surprised, though I think it would be more accurate to call this a gender-swapped Cinderella retelling. Even then, it only had some components of Cinderella’s tale.

I enjoyed this book, and I am sad to say goodbye to this family and world. I quite enjoyed this series, and this book was a nice send off. This book was… simpler than the other books in this series. It wasn’t bad and I did really enjoy it, but it could have been better. Something about it just couldn’t get me fully involved with the story.

This story followed Adela and Frederick. I was a little nervous Adela was going to be the Cinderella character because she is Rose and Wilhem’s daughter, and I couldn’t bear if she was the Cinderella character. I was pleased she was not. I did enjoy how protective her parents were of her, and how it connected to the previous books. Adlea was a cute character, but almost immature. I enjoyed her and she was sweet, and I loved that she was an artist, but I have come to enjoy more of a weight Dickerson’s FMCs have that was missing here.

I did like Frederick. He was the Cinderella character, and he actually had a really hard life. Nothing was too graphically depicted, and you really felt for him. I enjoyed his storyline and how all he really wanted to be was a woodcarver and it allowed for some wonderful bonding between Adlea and him.

The majority of the book was told from Adela’s point of view, and I think it should have been Frederick’s point of view that dominated. He was really the main character, I wished I got a little more of his perspective.

The relationship between Adela and Frederick was cute and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t my favorite romance of the series, but I still rooted for them. There was a certain instant attraction between them, which is never my favorite, but I think it worked out in this case. They also took the time to get to know each other, which always wins points for me.

I loved all the different perspectives and side stories we got. The storyline was a lot of fun to follow, and I enjoyed how everything played out. I loved Rose and Wilhem, and how they participated in the story.

The Peasant’s Dream was a wonderful reversed-Cinderella retelling, with a sweet romance, artists, and an intriguing storyline. A beautiful sendoff to this family and world!