Books like Belle's Song

Belle's Song is one of the oddest young adult books I have attempted to read all year because of the issues presented in it. I felt like this author combined modern-day issues with a Medieval setting. Twas quite strange and rather disappointing. I really wanted to read the tale of a journey to Canterbury, filled with witty characters and tongue and cheek humor. I had read a section of Master Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and was excited to actually meet the people who told the famous tales. Alas...this book was not what I expected it would beWe start off with Belle in a deep, dark, depressed state of mind because she wasn't doing her job and her father got hurt from her actions. She becomes upset and anguished because she feels like it was all her fault, and she can't be a good housekeeper like her deceased mother was. Bell in the beginning is remorseful, depressed, and tries to "make things up" with God by counting things in multiples of three (three being a special number because of the Holy Trinity). Her guilt makes her feel like she should punish herself by rubbing her legs raw with a "pumice stone". I was uncomfortable with the topic of self-harm added into this book for several reasons. One, with self-harm is very common among teenage girls, they might be encouraged to cut themselves after reading about how "good it felt" for Belle to rub the skin off her legs. The second reason I did not like this topic in Belle's Song is that I don't think self-harm was an issue in this setting. Which brings me to another reason why I do not like this book. The problems faced here are too modern. People read historical fiction to escape present-day problems, and fantasize about a different time period. I was frankly feeling bored and disappointed in this book even before the gay guy was introduced. Homosexuals kept their true selves hidden back then because of the fierce punishments of the Catholic church, whose orders and laws were as strong as the king's. Anything that the Church counted as a huge sin would be deeply hidden from sight. Those who considered themselves "Christians" would be on the lookout for sinners, like the summoner. Belle's reaction to this announcement was also not accurate, I felt.I did not feel like Belle had a definite character. Her character that I saw in the first chapter was not carried on soundly throughout the course of the novel. She is trying to be pious and strike some bargains with God, right? So on the pilgrimage,she would have her entire focus on God so her father would be healed, correct? One would think. But no. Instead, Belle flirts with two boys, takes the names of the Saints in vain several times, and does not seem to really care about why she's taking this pilgrimage except for one reason-it got her away from the house and mostly away from her guilt.This book....I just can't do it. On to the next read!!