Aleksandra's Corner: "The Storyteller" by Antonia Michaelis

Dec 9, 2013

"The Storyteller" by Antonia Michaelis

Posted by Aleksandra at 9:12 PM

Title: The Storyteller

Author: Antonia Michaelis

Translator: Miriam Debbage

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book read from November 12th to November 30th, 2014, for a read-along.)

Summary:

A good girl.
A bad boy.
A fairy tale that's true.
A truth that is no fairy tale.

It begins the day Anna finds the child's doll on the floor of the student lounge. When it's claimed by Abel, the school drug dealer, Anna becomes determined to learn more about this mysterious boy with the military haircut and deep blue eyes. She follows him after school and discovers a secret: Abel is caring for his six-year-old sister, Micha, alone. Anna listens in as he tells her a fairy tale, the story of a little orphan queen pursued by hunters across the oceans for the treasure she carries: her pure, diamond heart.

It's a story with parallels to reality. Social services and Micha's abusive father could take her from Abel if they discover the truth.

Despite friend's warnings, Anna is drawn to Abel and Micha, and falls under the spell of the story of the little queen and her desperate voyage.

But when people Abel has woven into his tale turns up dead, it's Anna whose heart is in danger. Is she in love with a killer? And has she set out on a journey from which there is no return?

Antonia Michaelis has written a spellbinding tale of suspense, danger, and transformative love.

My Thoughts on the Book:

The Storyteller is one of those rare & beautifully captivating books, that will stay with you long after you've finished them. The last sentence in the description above is perfect - The Storyteller is definitely a spellbinding tale full of suspense, danger & love, but also mystery & heartbreak, and although it's a contemporary book, it's actually quite magical, too.

How is that possible? Because of the writing style. It was magical, and beautiful, and captivating, and addicting, and the way Antonia Michaelis managed to bring the atmosphere of the book to life with her words was so, so perfect, and I loved every second of it. Also, I have to mention the translator, she definitely did a wonderful job. I know for a fact that a great book can be destroyed by a bad translation, but thankfully this wasn't the case, because none of the magic was lost by the translation from German to English (this is only a guess, I haven't actually read the original, my German is not that good).

As for the story, to be honest, I don't really want to talk about it, because you have to experience it for yourself, but I loved it. I mean, sure, I predicted almost everything, (for one thing I was in total denial, because I didn't want that to be the case), but it wasn't that predictable, the mystery was actually executed in a wonderful way, as well as the way all the pieces of the puzzle were revealed, so it was actually a great mystery story & I definitely enjoyed the journey, and I loved the way the author interwove the fairy tale with the real life, it was amazingly done.

As for the characters, I adored Micha, Abel & Anna. I don't think that anyone will be able to stop themselves from caring for them, so they carved themselves a special place in my heart.

I can't recommend The Storyteller enough! It's actually the perfect read for the cold winter nights, and it's now one of my favorite reads, and I'm definitely looking forward to trying Antonia Michaelis's other books!