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The Royal Diaries
Lady of Palenque : Flower of Bacal, Mesoamerica, A.D. 749
Anna Kirwan, best-selling author of THE ROYAL DIARIES: VICTORIA, MAY BLOSSOM OF BRITANNIA, offers a riveting look at Mayan culture, A.D. 749, through the eyes of Princess Green Jay, Lady of Palenque.
A political marriage is arranged between the thirty-three-year-old king of Xukpip and Princess Green Jay, the thirteen-year-old daughter of the king of Lakamha. The two are paired because of similar horoscopes -- and Green Jay possesses skills that will be valuable to her husband-to-be: She can read and write. Author Anna Kirwan relates fascinating aspects of ancient Mayan culture as she shares the young princess's physical and emotional state from the betrothal, with its distressing rituals, through her arduous journey to a foreign land and people, and a husband who is a complete stranger.
A political marriage is arranged between the thirty-three-year-old king of Xukpip and Princess Green Jay, the thirteen-year-old daughter of the king of Lakamha. The two are paired because of similar horoscopes -- and Green Jay possesses skills that will be valuable to her husband-to-be: She can read and write. Author Anna Kirwan relates fascinating aspects of ancient Mayan culture as she shares the young princess's physical and emotional state from the betrothal, with its distressing rituals, through her arduous journey to a foreign land and people, and a husband who is a complete stranger.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2004
17 people are currently reading
2278 people want to read
About the author
Anna Kirwan
13 books20 followersAnna Kirwan is the best-selling author of two titles in The Royal Diaries series, Victoria, May Blossom of Britannia. She is an accomplished poet as well, and her work has appeared in a number of anthologies, including The Alchemist"s Retort and Alphabestiary. Anna Kirwan lives in Sunderland, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
March 18, 2024
This should have been fantastic, what with a strong, clear narrative voice and a vibrant setting too little used in historical fiction. Instead, it turned out to essentially be a "roadtrip" story, and a boring one at that. More time should have been spent on the relationships and the impending marriage, since those were the primary propulsive forces of the story. (To be clear, though, obviously, the marriage was inappropriate despite its historical accuracy. Gross. :))
{2.5 stars}
<< fourth book read for my 2024 Royal Diaries self-challenge >>
🎧 "The River" by AURORA (idk, the vibes kinda fit?)
{2.5 stars}
<< fourth book read for my 2024 Royal Diaries self-challenge >>
🎧 "The River" by AURORA (idk, the vibes kinda fit?)
August 30, 2015
A disappointment. This book was almost impossible to get through, and nothing seemed to have happened during the story. Even when the protagonist had her obligatory epiphany, the author had to tell us she had because otherwise the reader would never have known it. Additionally, the protagonist seemed to have no historical significance, which made reading the book even more of a chore--there wasn't even a sense of irony, since she isn't known for anything (as opposed to Marie Antoinette or Elizabeth I). The author herself admits that little is known about the Lady of Palenque, but whatever liberties the author took while writing this book did not serve to create a rounder, more dynamic character. The only saving grace of this book was that it's short and discusses a culture often ignored in childrens literature.
1/5 on here, 2/10 for myself
1/5 on here, 2/10 for myself
April 29, 2023
I was disappointed in this particular Royal Diaries. The author did have skill, and I appreciated the detail she was trying to bring out concerning this culture and historical era, but it was...extremely boring. And there was so much trying to be explained that I was unable to keep any of the characters or events straight. It was very frustrating to try and get through, and I doubt I'll ever read this one again. The romance at the end was sweet, though, and a nice twist on an arranged marriage trope.
February 26, 2011
Lady of Palenque / 0-439-40971-3
I'm a big fan of the Royal Diary series, and I particularly enjoy reading about the princesses from cultures different from my own. "Lady of Palenque", however, is particularly disappointing, especially on the heels of the superbly-written "Lady of Ch'iao Kuo".
I should start by noting that it's always difficult to write about different cultures, particularly ones with vastly different languages than the target readership. The author must decide whether to maintain the spelling of, say, the main character's name (Shahna K'in Yaxchel Pacal) or to provide the translation (Princess Green Jay on the Wall). Personally, I prefer the translation approach, as seen in "Lady of Ch'iao Kuo" where we read about, for instance, her brother "Little Tiger". With "Lady of Palenque" however, the author has decided on a rather bizarre 70/30 approach where 70% of the time she uses the "real" spelling and 30% of the time, she switches to the translation. Sometimes she will use both which breaks up the narrative badly with sentences like, "I, Shahna K'in Yaxchel Pacal, Princess Green Jay on the Wall, will go to the baths today," or similar phrasing, which is quite an eyeful for a reader to take in.
This makes it very hard to keep track of characters and the reader is hampered by the fact that names of random people and places are thrown out almost constantly. It doesn't help that the author flat-out refuses to provide helpful clues to relationships within the writing - if you don't remember that "In'Ta" and "In'Na" are the princess' mother and father, you won't be reminded with any helpful "I'm going to see my father, In'Ta today" lines. No, it's all "I'm going to see In'Ta today" and you have to remember who she is talking about. In a novel with, at a rough estimate, twenty-five or thirty characters, that's an unnecessary burden on the reader. The naming issue is so frustrating, in fact, that I venture to guess that 9 out of 10 young adults reading this book probably won't attempt to finish it.
The story centers around the young princess' journey to her new husband's home, a great distance away. The journey is perilous, with frayed rope bridges, deadly currents, harsh enemies, constant rain and hurricanes, and dangerous animals. Several people die as part of this journey, yet the narrative is so incredibly boring as to defy belief. The dangers never feel real, and the narrator always seems detached and somewhat uninterested in the journey around her, as if she is somehow unaffected by the whole thing. Really, the tales of her distaste for her designated chaperon are recorded with more passion than that of the hurricane they barely manage to live through. It takes talent to turn this story into such a bore, and it is a sharp contrast to the other Royal Diaries which have often transformed the most boring daily life of a princess into an interesting and compelling narrative.
Sadly, there is not as much cultural insight as one could hope for in this novel, largely because the bulk of the narrative occurs on the road and we see little into the "daily life" of either the princess or her companions. There are some lovely stories and fairy tales presented here, but their presentation made me a little uneasy. The narration of the stories is clipped and choppy, and clipped, short sentences usually fail to convey the complexity and beauty of the source material and instead can unintentionally confer a pejorative simplicity onto the story.
For instance, one of the stories reads something much like: "Jaguar went into the fields. He saw that the fields were unplowed. Jaguar was filled with anger. He ate up the loud brothers." Now, I'm extremely ignorant of the fairy tales of the pertinent region and time period, so that may be a faithful rendition, but it sounds very childlike and simplistic. It seems more likely to me that the real source would have been more fluid, along the lines of, "When Jaguar went into the fields and saw that they were unplowed, he was filled with anger. His anger was so great that he turned on the boasting brothers and ate them whole," or something like that. The clipped sentences make the story sound childish, simplistic, and barbaric, and has been used historically to marginalize the culture of many people. I don't know that the author meant to do that here; it just left me a little uncomfortable.
I would not recommend buying this Royal Diary. I understand wanting to complete the collection, but this one is simply a chore to read, and I did not feel that there was enough redeeming value to make it worth the effort. Reading and learning should be fun, not painful.
~ Ana Mardoll
I'm a big fan of the Royal Diary series, and I particularly enjoy reading about the princesses from cultures different from my own. "Lady of Palenque", however, is particularly disappointing, especially on the heels of the superbly-written "Lady of Ch'iao Kuo".
I should start by noting that it's always difficult to write about different cultures, particularly ones with vastly different languages than the target readership. The author must decide whether to maintain the spelling of, say, the main character's name (Shahna K'in Yaxchel Pacal) or to provide the translation (Princess Green Jay on the Wall). Personally, I prefer the translation approach, as seen in "Lady of Ch'iao Kuo" where we read about, for instance, her brother "Little Tiger". With "Lady of Palenque" however, the author has decided on a rather bizarre 70/30 approach where 70% of the time she uses the "real" spelling and 30% of the time, she switches to the translation. Sometimes she will use both which breaks up the narrative badly with sentences like, "I, Shahna K'in Yaxchel Pacal, Princess Green Jay on the Wall, will go to the baths today," or similar phrasing, which is quite an eyeful for a reader to take in.
This makes it very hard to keep track of characters and the reader is hampered by the fact that names of random people and places are thrown out almost constantly. It doesn't help that the author flat-out refuses to provide helpful clues to relationships within the writing - if you don't remember that "In'Ta" and "In'Na" are the princess' mother and father, you won't be reminded with any helpful "I'm going to see my father, In'Ta today" lines. No, it's all "I'm going to see In'Ta today" and you have to remember who she is talking about. In a novel with, at a rough estimate, twenty-five or thirty characters, that's an unnecessary burden on the reader. The naming issue is so frustrating, in fact, that I venture to guess that 9 out of 10 young adults reading this book probably won't attempt to finish it.
The story centers around the young princess' journey to her new husband's home, a great distance away. The journey is perilous, with frayed rope bridges, deadly currents, harsh enemies, constant rain and hurricanes, and dangerous animals. Several people die as part of this journey, yet the narrative is so incredibly boring as to defy belief. The dangers never feel real, and the narrator always seems detached and somewhat uninterested in the journey around her, as if she is somehow unaffected by the whole thing. Really, the tales of her distaste for her designated chaperon are recorded with more passion than that of the hurricane they barely manage to live through. It takes talent to turn this story into such a bore, and it is a sharp contrast to the other Royal Diaries which have often transformed the most boring daily life of a princess into an interesting and compelling narrative.
Sadly, there is not as much cultural insight as one could hope for in this novel, largely because the bulk of the narrative occurs on the road and we see little into the "daily life" of either the princess or her companions. There are some lovely stories and fairy tales presented here, but their presentation made me a little uneasy. The narration of the stories is clipped and choppy, and clipped, short sentences usually fail to convey the complexity and beauty of the source material and instead can unintentionally confer a pejorative simplicity onto the story.
For instance, one of the stories reads something much like: "Jaguar went into the fields. He saw that the fields were unplowed. Jaguar was filled with anger. He ate up the loud brothers." Now, I'm extremely ignorant of the fairy tales of the pertinent region and time period, so that may be a faithful rendition, but it sounds very childlike and simplistic. It seems more likely to me that the real source would have been more fluid, along the lines of, "When Jaguar went into the fields and saw that they were unplowed, he was filled with anger. His anger was so great that he turned on the boasting brothers and ate them whole," or something like that. The clipped sentences make the story sound childish, simplistic, and barbaric, and has been used historically to marginalize the culture of many people. I don't know that the author meant to do that here; it just left me a little uncomfortable.
I would not recommend buying this Royal Diary. I understand wanting to complete the collection, but this one is simply a chore to read, and I did not feel that there was enough redeeming value to make it worth the effort. Reading and learning should be fun, not painful.
~ Ana Mardoll
August 10, 2017
The entire Royal Diaries series is near and dear to my heart as I grew up reading most of them. Recently I discovered that there were four that were published after I moved on from the series, and I have acquired them to read for nostalgia's sake (and, as a member of the Pokemon generation, have the compulsive need to complete my set). That said, I was disappointed in this particular novel.
It is important to note that the premise of the book is that it is the diary of a historical figure from the past. This novel follows the story of Shana'Kin Yaxchel Pacal ("Green Jay on the Wall"), a Mayan princess who later becomes Queen of Copan through marriage. The story takes place just before and throughout her journey to her husband-to-be, an important King of another Mayan territory or tribe (how the political structure is never fully explained in the book, which is one of the problems I have with it). Lady Green Jay travels from her home in Lakamha to Copan and discusses the wondrous things she sees and experiences, as well as the people she travels with and the difficulties they face, along the way. This book offers a creative look at what it would have been like to live in mesoamerica during the golden age of the Maya, however, because of the premise of being the diary of someone who is currently living in said time, many questions are left open for the reader. This is aided by the nonfiction appendixes in the back which clarify many things, which is great, but tedious to read the novel as a novel instead of as a history textbook disguised as a novel.
I would recommend this book to its intended age-group; that is, elementary through middle school aged readers. No graphic language or sex; there is some violence but none of it is particularly graphic. Two stars.
It is important to note that the premise of the book is that it is the diary of a historical figure from the past. This novel follows the story of Shana'Kin Yaxchel Pacal ("Green Jay on the Wall"), a Mayan princess who later becomes Queen of Copan through marriage. The story takes place just before and throughout her journey to her husband-to-be, an important King of another Mayan territory or tribe (how the political structure is never fully explained in the book, which is one of the problems I have with it). Lady Green Jay travels from her home in Lakamha to Copan and discusses the wondrous things she sees and experiences, as well as the people she travels with and the difficulties they face, along the way. This book offers a creative look at what it would have been like to live in mesoamerica during the golden age of the Maya, however, because of the premise of being the diary of someone who is currently living in said time, many questions are left open for the reader. This is aided by the nonfiction appendixes in the back which clarify many things, which is great, but tedious to read the novel as a novel instead of as a history textbook disguised as a novel.
I would recommend this book to its intended age-group; that is, elementary through middle school aged readers. No graphic language or sex; there is some violence but none of it is particularly graphic. Two stars.
May 13, 2010
I could have read the last five pages in this book and new what happened. It was very very slow and nothing really interesting happened in the book.
May 29, 2018
I was excited to read this book because I know nothing about the Mayans except that they have ruins in Mexico. But I felt like I really didn’t learn anything about them from this book aside from the fact that the empire was in more than just Mexico but it doesn’t seem like the people really ever left their homes much at all. I also learned that they have really confusing names and I think using these Long names and the Mayan words took away from the story instead of adding to it. It just made it confusing and I wasn’t able to keep track of who any of the characters were at all. The journey they went on was not exciting and anti climactic and we know nothing about what happened to her after she made it to Copan. This book was just lame. And even the about the author didn’t tell us really much at all why she decided to write a book about this subject and why she was interested or excited in her writing. Disappointing book overall.
November 15, 2020
1.5 stars?
Other reviews of Lady of Palenque have stated this much more eloquently, but this book is dull. As well-researched as it probably was, it lacks the ordinary, human details of its era that bring the best of the Royal Diaries to life. It all feels so monotone and impersonal. When I skipped ahead to see the ending it looks like the heroine doesn't even meet the man she has traveled to marry until two pages from the end. Then she says he's nice and reasonably attractive, and was impressed by the stuff she wrote. The end. I remember finding this book boring years back, and I guess that original assessment still stands. To be fair, it's definitely not a mindless or pandering book. It's reasonably intelligent, but has the fatal flaw of being extremely slow and lacking in interesting personalities.
Other reviews of Lady of Palenque have stated this much more eloquently, but this book is dull. As well-researched as it probably was, it lacks the ordinary, human details of its era that bring the best of the Royal Diaries to life. It all feels so monotone and impersonal. When I skipped ahead to see the ending it looks like the heroine doesn't even meet the man she has traveled to marry until two pages from the end. Then she says he's nice and reasonably attractive, and was impressed by the stuff she wrote. The end. I remember finding this book boring years back, and I guess that original assessment still stands. To be fair, it's definitely not a mindless or pandering book. It's reasonably intelligent, but has the fatal flaw of being extremely slow and lacking in interesting personalities.
September 8, 2011
To be honest, most of the chapters is about her husband-to-be. She did nothing but rant and dream what he would be like. Although I admire her courage but still that won't make me give her another star point for the review.
April 24, 2009
Barely finished as it was so boring and tedious. the characters weren't developed enough and it wasn't a very interesting storyline.
August 1, 2011
I did not like this one. The story moved SO slow and there were blood sacrifices in awkward ways and just some very weird things.
November 11, 2021
Must go research :D
October 22, 2024
My library didn’t have this one when I was a kid but I found it on eBay!
March 27, 2022
That rating is probably my fault since I took so long to read it. Still, it seemed nothing had changed each time I picked it up.
February 14, 2014
All I really have to say is meh. Lady of Palenque was a book that had so much potential that was unrealized; I should have loved it. I have visited 3 different Mayan cities, two of which are mentioned in the book and was fascinated by even the little bit of history I learned while there. So when I saw that Lady of Palenque was written in the point of view of a Mayan princess, I practically jumped with joy. Here was a great opportunity to learn more about the Classical Mayan Period and their culture!
Um, not really. Sure, I learned a few things, but Anna Kirwan didn’t really seem to know how to explain all of the exotic customs and items from daily life to readers. It seems like she just assumed readers would know about these things. Well, no. Despite the Mayan Doomsday scare of 2012 perpetuated by an idiotic media, not much is actually known about the Mayan culture in the mainstream. Even someone like me who has visited multiple Mayan sites really has next to no background in their history in the relative scheme of things. So I didn’t really learn as much as I did from other books in The Royal Diaries.
Part of the problem was the names. Oh my word, the names! When the main character introduces herself as ShahnaK’in Yaxchel Pacal, Princess Green Jay on the Wall, you know things are going to be complicated. And that really isn’t the Lady of Palenque’s name because Anna Kirwan had to make up her personal name. Her real name was “Chac Nik Ye, Yax Ahau Xoc”. Now, I’m a huge advocate for being as realistic as possible in historical fiction, but with all of the insanely long, complicated names (to a Westerner with a frankly pathetic background in language) I had a hard time following the story itself. As far as I can tell, it mostly features the thirteen-year-old Lady travelling to her husband-to-be in Xukpi.
There has to be a better way to keep the names straight without completely dumbing down the book, right? Right?!
I give this book 2/5 stars.
Um, not really. Sure, I learned a few things, but Anna Kirwan didn’t really seem to know how to explain all of the exotic customs and items from daily life to readers. It seems like she just assumed readers would know about these things. Well, no. Despite the Mayan Doomsday scare of 2012 perpetuated by an idiotic media, not much is actually known about the Mayan culture in the mainstream. Even someone like me who has visited multiple Mayan sites really has next to no background in their history in the relative scheme of things. So I didn’t really learn as much as I did from other books in The Royal Diaries.
Part of the problem was the names. Oh my word, the names! When the main character introduces herself as ShahnaK’in Yaxchel Pacal, Princess Green Jay on the Wall, you know things are going to be complicated. And that really isn’t the Lady of Palenque’s name because Anna Kirwan had to make up her personal name. Her real name was “Chac Nik Ye, Yax Ahau Xoc”. Now, I’m a huge advocate for being as realistic as possible in historical fiction, but with all of the insanely long, complicated names (to a Westerner with a frankly pathetic background in language) I had a hard time following the story itself. As far as I can tell, it mostly features the thirteen-year-old Lady travelling to her husband-to-be in Xukpi.
There has to be a better way to keep the names straight without completely dumbing down the book, right? Right?!
I give this book 2/5 stars.
April 6, 2009
ShahnaK'in Yaxchel Pacal, or Green Jay on the Wall, is a thirteen-year-old Mayan princess in the year 749 AD. As the daughter of the king of Lakahma, she has been chosen to marry the king of another Mayan kingdom, a man much older than her. Green Jay begins a diary upon learning of her future, and describes the home she grew up in, the customs of her people, her long journey to the land ruled over by her future husband, and the many dangers faced along the way.
I have read The Royal Diaries series since I was a young teenager, and truly enjoyed most of the books in the series. However, I really struggled with this book. I thought it would be interesting to learn about the culture of the lost Mayan civilization through the eyes of a young girl. However, the author tried too hard to give the narrator a distinct voice, rather then writing in a more modern style, and as a result the "diary" felt very detached and impersonal, making it difficult to care about the main character or what happened to her. The details of Mayan life didn't feel very smoothly integrated, and it was difficult to keep all the characters straight due to the confusing names the author used. I am older than the intended audience for this book, and even I had a hard time with it - preteens and young teenagers would probably find the book even more confusing.
I would only recommend this book to the most devoted fans of The Royal Diaries who want to read every book in the series for completion. The author did do her research quite well and put a lot of work into the book (hence the two stars instead of one), but ultimately I think the style she chose to write the book in was a poor choice, especially given it was written for young readers.
I have read The Royal Diaries series since I was a young teenager, and truly enjoyed most of the books in the series. However, I really struggled with this book. I thought it would be interesting to learn about the culture of the lost Mayan civilization through the eyes of a young girl. However, the author tried too hard to give the narrator a distinct voice, rather then writing in a more modern style, and as a result the "diary" felt very detached and impersonal, making it difficult to care about the main character or what happened to her. The details of Mayan life didn't feel very smoothly integrated, and it was difficult to keep all the characters straight due to the confusing names the author used. I am older than the intended audience for this book, and even I had a hard time with it - preteens and young teenagers would probably find the book even more confusing.
I would only recommend this book to the most devoted fans of The Royal Diaries who want to read every book in the series for completion. The author did do her research quite well and put a lot of work into the book (hence the two stars instead of one), but ultimately I think the style she chose to write the book in was a poor choice, especially given it was written for young readers.
January 26, 2013
Out of all the "Royal Diaries", this one definitely is the weakest. I had difficulty getting through it when I first received it, and that hasn't changed much over the years. I've tried coming back to the book, approaching it from new angles, but the book is no less difficult to get through. I didn't feel as if any of the characters were real. The story arc of the book has potential (a young princess being shipped off to a husband she has never laid eyes on), but the book doesn't live up to it. To be fair, the author did a good job describing the fauna and flora of the region. One can tell that she researched this book extensively. The main issue with this book is that the source material that the author uses is already limited, and much of what we know about Mayan civilization has been carefully gleaned. I understand the difficulty of crafting a story under such circumstances. Nonetheless, there are superior books in the series that had the same problem. I commend her effort, and I was glad that she chose to focus on Mayan culture. But I didn't feel as if I learned anything new or fascinating, or gained some deeper insight, as I did with the other "Royal Diaries". I'll probably come back to it at some point in time, but it could have been better.
June 26, 2010
While definately not as good as the other books in the "Royal Diaries" series, it is by no means as bad as the other reviews make it out to be.
The story follows ShahnaK'in Yaxchel Pacal (Princess Green Jay on the Wall, to those of us who don't speak Mayan) who at thirteen is promised in marriage to a man her father's age who lives on the other side of the continent. Almost all of the story takes place on her journey to meet her husband. I did really like how the author emersed us in the ancient mayan culture, however it was sketchy at best. Some things were explained so in depth it was tedious to read, while things that were potentially of great interest were skipped over.
Overall, not stellar. If I could have given this book a 2.5 I would have.
The story follows ShahnaK'in Yaxchel Pacal (Princess Green Jay on the Wall, to those of us who don't speak Mayan) who at thirteen is promised in marriage to a man her father's age who lives on the other side of the continent. Almost all of the story takes place on her journey to meet her husband. I did really like how the author emersed us in the ancient mayan culture, however it was sketchy at best. Some things were explained so in depth it was tedious to read, while things that were potentially of great interest were skipped over.
Overall, not stellar. If I could have given this book a 2.5 I would have.
September 28, 2011
I read around fifty pages before I decided to quit. The story was rather boring and the numerous names were confusing, so I had a hard time keeping everyone straight. I think the main problem was that the author got bogged down with historical details - names, descriptions, what was going to happen, and even things that didn't really matter and forgot to tell the story. I think there probably is some interesting stuff in here, but frankly, I don't care to wade through the rest of the book to find it. However, I did read the epilogue and historical notes, and found them very interesting. That is the best part of the book.
January 1, 2018
What I Liked
Few children's novels I've found that are written about the Mayan culture, so I was intrigued and excited to see this addition to this series. I appreciate that this largely unknown culture can be explored by young readers.
What I Didn't Like
Lady of Palenque is slow and dense. As an adult reader, I had trouble getting through each paragraph and often had to re-read paragraphs or even turn back pages to try to remember characters or even what is happening. The plot-line is almost incomprehensible (or maybe doesn't exist), there is no depth to the characters, and the protagonist really has little to no character arc herself.
Few children's novels I've found that are written about the Mayan culture, so I was intrigued and excited to see this addition to this series. I appreciate that this largely unknown culture can be explored by young readers.
What I Didn't Like
Lady of Palenque is slow and dense. As an adult reader, I had trouble getting through each paragraph and often had to re-read paragraphs or even turn back pages to try to remember characters or even what is happening. The plot-line is almost incomprehensible (or maybe doesn't exist), there is no depth to the characters, and the protagonist really has little to no character arc herself.
March 15, 2015
This is a particularly interesting addition to the Royal Diaries series as it depicts a time and an area that is not as well documented as many of the other books in the series. It is particularly interesting how Anna Kirwan pieced together the story in areas where the history is not as well known. The book is also interesting as the main character is a little older than some of the royals in the series which in some ways changes her understanding of what is happening around her. She also goes on a dangerous journey to reach her future husband so this book has quite a bit of adventure.
May 28, 2014
Kirwan's writing is pretty, but not super accessible.
ShahnaK’in Yaxchel Pacal was not all that relatable or well fleshed out.
The whole book was really kind of distant, and overly mysterious in a way that seemed to expect a level of preknowledge of Mayan culture that most adult don't possess.
This had the potential to be much better, but all together it was an alright way to burn 2 or 3 hours. A resounding Meh.
ShahnaK’in Yaxchel Pacal was not all that relatable or well fleshed out.
The whole book was really kind of distant, and overly mysterious in a way that seemed to expect a level of preknowledge of Mayan culture that most adult don't possess.
This had the potential to be much better, but all together it was an alright way to burn 2 or 3 hours. A resounding Meh.
December 13, 2015
I just finished reading this book and I'm not sure what the heck this book was about. There are WAY too many characters and none of them are especially interesting including the titular character. I felt like it was mainly a list of Mayan sounding names with a hint of culture. It could have been SOOO much better and I'm left feeling pretty underwhelmed.
August 29, 2008
See my review for "Anastasia". I liked this book the least of the four "Royal Diaries" I read, perhaps because so little is actually known about this time period. The majority of the book followed her trek through Mesoamerica to meet up with her intended husband.
August 30, 2020
Because there are so many characters and they tend to have long names and titles, it is hard to keep everyone straight. The story is hard to follow. The title is also a bit redundant, as Palenque and Bacal are two names for the same area.
December 26, 2011
This book was not only a look at ancient South America, but was also a remarkable adventure as well.
August 29, 2018
This book is truly an enigma. I’m proud of myself for finishing, but it was definitely not fun to get through. I feel bad because it’s obvious the author is very passionate about Mayan culture and ancient customs, but this read more like a very thick history textbook than a diary.
The plot is fairly simple - Princess Yaxchel is on her way to meet her future husband - and there are so many different ways Anna Kirwan could have taken this. She chose to depict the princess’s journey as the longest road trip ever, complete with nothing to do and a few detours that should be terrifying but come off as minor inconveniences. Princess Yaxchel has little to no personality, and as a result, she seems detached and disinterested in the things going on around her. She barely shows emotion when she and half her party are stranded on uncharted islands in the middle of the ocean! It was frustrating because I wanted to care about what was happening, but I couldn’t bring myself to. How am I expected to show emotion when the main character never does?
The numerous names of people and places has been brought up in other reviews, and I feel very torn on this issue. I think it’s important that the author is authentic as possible when portraying a real person and a real civilization. I also think it’s important not to bombard the reader with so many characters and then give them almost no characterization that it’s impossible to tell them all apart. I liked that there was a glossary in the back, but after a while even that wasn’t helpful; half the time I tried to look up a word, it wasn’t listed. This book would have benefited from a character list, like Lady of Ch’iao Kuo; even though I hadn’t needed it then, it was nice to refer back to now and then. If I forgot who a character was in Lady of Palenque, I was out of luck, and had to keep reading.
Anna Kirwan is really good at researching Mayan civilization. She was very thorough in her work and it shows. She needs a lot of work writing a compelling narrative, however. I’m hellbent in reading all the Dear America books, so I stuck this one out. I don’t think I would have done so otherwise. And that’s really the only situation I can recommend this book: if you’re a completionist and want to read all the Dear America books, or all the Royal Diaries. I’m sure with work this book could have been fascinating, but as is, it was nearly impossible to get through.
The plot is fairly simple - Princess Yaxchel is on her way to meet her future husband - and there are so many different ways Anna Kirwan could have taken this. She chose to depict the princess’s journey as the longest road trip ever, complete with nothing to do and a few detours that should be terrifying but come off as minor inconveniences. Princess Yaxchel has little to no personality, and as a result, she seems detached and disinterested in the things going on around her. She barely shows emotion when she and half her party are stranded on uncharted islands in the middle of the ocean! It was frustrating because I wanted to care about what was happening, but I couldn’t bring myself to. How am I expected to show emotion when the main character never does?
The numerous names of people and places has been brought up in other reviews, and I feel very torn on this issue. I think it’s important that the author is authentic as possible when portraying a real person and a real civilization. I also think it’s important not to bombard the reader with so many characters and then give them almost no characterization that it’s impossible to tell them all apart. I liked that there was a glossary in the back, but after a while even that wasn’t helpful; half the time I tried to look up a word, it wasn’t listed. This book would have benefited from a character list, like Lady of Ch’iao Kuo; even though I hadn’t needed it then, it was nice to refer back to now and then. If I forgot who a character was in Lady of Palenque, I was out of luck, and had to keep reading.
Anna Kirwan is really good at researching Mayan civilization. She was very thorough in her work and it shows. She needs a lot of work writing a compelling narrative, however. I’m hellbent in reading all the Dear America books, so I stuck this one out. I don’t think I would have done so otherwise. And that’s really the only situation I can recommend this book: if you’re a completionist and want to read all the Dear America books, or all the Royal Diaries. I’m sure with work this book could have been fascinating, but as is, it was nearly impossible to get through.
May 25, 2018
Okay so I may not have read this one previously. I don't remember anything of it, but that's okay! I wanted so much to enjoy this one, as the culture it follows is super interesting and I know little about it. However, this was very dry.
It felt as if I were just reading fact after fact after fact, with no creativity put into the world or characters. The main character and narrator of the book felt as if she were simply the eyes through with we see the world and nothing more. The entire story only followed a journey and didn't do much to build up the city/family the main character was leaving behind, and didn't do enough to wrap it up once she got to her destination.
I was a little disappointed with this one. It may have been just because there was so little known about the Lady of Palenque, so it was difficult to build up her character, but I still feel as it a better execution could have been made to make this a little less like reading a textbook.
It felt as if I were just reading fact after fact after fact, with no creativity put into the world or characters. The main character and narrator of the book felt as if she were simply the eyes through with we see the world and nothing more. The entire story only followed a journey and didn't do much to build up the city/family the main character was leaving behind, and didn't do enough to wrap it up once she got to her destination.
I was a little disappointed with this one. It may have been just because there was so little known about the Lady of Palenque, so it was difficult to build up her character, but I still feel as it a better execution could have been made to make this a little less like reading a textbook.
June 20, 2023
2/5.
Continuing my mission of reading all the Royal Diaries books I never got around to reading as a child with Lady of Palenque, I have to say I'm not as impressed with this one as I am with some of the others. I honestly had to skim some parts of it because it felt a bit like a story that went nowhere. The main plot of the story is that Princess Green Jay, a Mayan princess is on a journey to her new husband's land ... and that's it. It doesn't feel like there was a climax or twist or any sort of character development in this story and that made for a rather mundane read. The only plus point of the book was that younger readers might learn a few things about a civilization that's otherwise overlooked in school curriculums but compared to some of the other stories in this series, the Lady of Palenque deserved better.
Continuing my mission of reading all the Royal Diaries books I never got around to reading as a child with Lady of Palenque, I have to say I'm not as impressed with this one as I am with some of the others. I honestly had to skim some parts of it because it felt a bit like a story that went nowhere. The main plot of the story is that Princess Green Jay, a Mayan princess is on a journey to her new husband's land ... and that's it. It doesn't feel like there was a climax or twist or any sort of character development in this story and that made for a rather mundane read. The only plus point of the book was that younger readers might learn a few things about a civilization that's otherwise overlooked in school curriculums but compared to some of the other stories in this series, the Lady of Palenque deserved better.
July 26, 2018
It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but it wasn't completely terrible. I had a lot of trouble pronouncing the names, and at the start, she just kept saying how they were going to do their journey and I kept thinking they had actually left, until it mentions a place that it familiar to her again. I got it figured out after a while. My favorite part was when they told the story of Quiet Tup because found it a good old story. My least favorite part was when she was picked to marry someone she hadn't even met, and didn't complain about it as much as I would have, or anyone that I know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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