What is the author's style in The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal?

The story is presented in a straightforward manner and the language is typical of modern speech patterns though the story is set a century ago. The author makes no attempt to match the speech patterns that might have been typical of that time period which makes the book an easy read. The reader with an average vocabulary will find few unfamiliar words and the meanings of most of those are easily discerned through context. The names of the characters and places are sometimes difficult to pronounce but most of these are so unique that the reader will have little trouble remembering the people or places associated with each. The action of the story moves fairly quickly though the author does spend time on details and descriptions that are not always necessary to the story. For example, there is a great deal of discussion about Sinda's life during her time with her aunt. Her life over this period is brutal though Sinda tries to accomplish the tasks she's assigned without complaint. She is hurt deeply by the false friendship of a boy in the village and it seems this should have made Sinda more skeptical of other friendships but that is never seen. The overall tone of the story is one of danger and intrigue though there is an undercurrent of hope present from the beginning. There are important moments in the story in which it seems life might not turn out well for Sinda but most readers will be expecting the happy-ever-after ending the author provides.