Lavinia

This is my kind of book. It's the best intersection of the historical fiction I grew up loving and the ancient references I know since studying Greek and Roman history and culture from elementary school up. It's told from the point of view of Lavinia, who is more than just Latinus's daughter and Aeneas's bride. She deeply considers what marriage and piety and justice for her land mean.
The writing style- some might find it dry. I liked it. It just takes a little getting into. Once you've been reading for a while, it feels natural to read straightforward narration and poetic descriptions.
Le Guin may not be trying to write a poem in any sense, but her words carry a rhythm of their own. This is a woman who reads A LOT. I love that.
The characters can seem bland on the surface. But all their discussions about the gods and duty didn't seem at all contrived.
The story isn't told in order at first, which gets confusing if you're reading in short spurts. I understand why the author made the choices she did, though.
Overall this book is appropriate for any age (but reading level is certainl middle school or above [maybe I'm overrating reading levels- I who studied Greek and Roman history and mythology could've gotten through this in middle school, I who read Paradise Lost as a high school freshman]). There are however a couple spots that will make people uncomfortable. There's two or three non-graphic sex scenes. Also a couple instances of obscenity that seem really random. I don't think there's reason why the monkey needs to handle its penis or pee on Lavinia, but Le Guin apparently disagrees. None of this has any bearing on the plot so if a parent wanted to “censor” the book before their child read it by blacking out those parts, they could do that.
I'm guessing a lot of people are unsatisfied with the ending. It's not really there. But I think it's beautiful. Vergirl gave Lavinia a name. Le Guin gave her a story and a life.
Lavinia lives on.