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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Ben is a spoiled thoughtless kid without any interests of her own until she loses weight and learns to conform to her societally-prescribed gender role, at which point she finds True Love!
Barf.
This book could have been so great with some tweaks to the initial characterization of Ben and without the forced love story. As written, I thought it was pretty terrible.
Barf.
This book could have been so great with some tweaks to the initial characterization of Ben and without the forced love story. As written, I thought it was pretty terrible.
I loved this. It started slow enough that I almost gave it up, but about 1/3 of the way in it picked up and I couldn't stop. I love all the fairy tale hints: princess (prince) and the pea; jack and the beanstalk; sleeping beauty; rumplestilskin; and I know there are more that I missed. It was just a great read!
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I absolutely love this book. It is one I'm passing down to my children. It is such a perfect combination of mystery, magic, and enemies-to-lovers romance. So well written and so well combined. It has almost all my favorite tropes magic training, cleaning dirty rooms, pretending to be a boy, princess training, and fairytale retellings. The magic system is well flushed out, and even years later I am still impressed by the idea of the ex-rooms and secret passageways in the castle. To bad the sequel was so lackluster. I so dearly wish this author would write more fantasy like this. They definitely have the talent for it.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really like this book so far. Even though it's sort of sad and I feel so sorry for Benevolence.
More reviews on my blog!
Plot: Princess Ben, Benevolence, that is, is not your average princess. After leaving on a trip, her mother and father are killed and her princessly duties become more important. With her Queen aunt breathing down her neck about embroidery and dancing and locking her inside a wall. Princess Ben escapes and is captures by Prince Florian's kingdom. Held by the knowledge that his kingdom killed her parents and that he thinks her a sullen oaf, she mouths off and is almost killed, but escapes back to her kingdom. They fight a dragon and they fall in love. (Literally, see below)
Characters: I loved Princess Ben as a character and her feisty nature was always entertaining. Prince Florian was also the ideal arrogant prince. I think their relationship could have been awesome and a very memorable love story. (But, see below.)
Overview: I loved Princess Ben as a person and her adventures were exciting, but I thought that the book was a bit rushed and slowed. It was slow in places where stuff really didn't matter and it made me bored. It was rushed in places where details would have made it so much better, like Prince Florian and Princess Ben's romance. I mean, Prince Florian is dying and then he's up and says that he loves her without even a little bit of flirting before. Also I found it offensive that she had to lose weight before she could catch his attention and become the ideal princess.
Plot: Princess Ben, Benevolence, that is, is not your average princess. After leaving on a trip, her mother and father are killed and her princessly duties become more important. With her Queen aunt breathing down her neck about embroidery and dancing and locking her inside a wall. Princess Ben escapes and is captures by Prince Florian's kingdom. Held by the knowledge that his kingdom killed her parents and that he thinks her a sullen oaf, she mouths off and is almost killed, but escapes back to her kingdom. They fight a dragon and they fall in love. (Literally, see below)
Characters: I loved Princess Ben as a character and her feisty nature was always entertaining. Prince Florian was also the ideal arrogant prince. I think their relationship could have been awesome and a very memorable love story. (But, see below.)
Overview: I loved Princess Ben as a person and her adventures were exciting, but I thought that the book was a bit rushed and slowed. It was slow in places where stuff really didn't matter and it made me bored. It was rushed in places where details would have made it so much better, like Prince Florian and Princess Ben's romance. I mean, Prince Florian is dying and then he's up and says that he loves her without even a little bit of flirting before. Also I found it offensive that she had to lose weight before she could catch his attention and become the ideal princess.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely amazing. Ben is such a funny, interesting, and believable teenager, and the entire story is exciting and intriguing! Definitely worth the read.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Princess Benevolence, Ben for short, is left to deal with her moody aunt Sophia after the assassination of her parents and uncle, the reigning king. Sophia becomes the new queen, but since Ben is the only member of royal blood left Sophia wants to her to start acting like a real princess. From the horrible dancing lessons to needlepoint and eating like a lady Ben finds no pleasure in learning what it’s like to be a princess. When Ben learns that all these lessons are being used to make her more appealing to suitors she loses it. She is rude to her aunt and finds no joy in anything she does anymore. Hoping to put Ben into her place Sophia locks her up in a tower. As you can imagine Ben is furious, but it seems that she has fate on her side when she finds a secret door up into a magical tower. Ben hopes this room will be an escape from her horrid life of manners, curtseys, and potential suitors. Even better, the magic in the room may help her find out what really happened to her parents.
WOW!!! This was seriously an amazing book. I was literally speechless after finishing this book. I have always been a big fan of Murdock’s books, but this one now holds a special place in my heart. I mean you take magic, a princess with an attitude and Murdock’s brilliant writing style mix them all together and how can you not expect to get a phenomenal story? From the first sentence the book pulls you in and envelops you in Ben’s story, making sure you never want to leave. I think that this is actually one of my new favorite fairy tales. While it may not be your everyday fairy tale there is just something about it that makes you want to read it over and over again. Another amazing thing about this book is that it doesn’t leave you after the final page. You’ll want to keep reliving the book and thinking about what could happen next. As you can probably guess I highly recommend this book and suggest you run out to the bookstore or library and grab a copy. This is truly one of those books that you can just escape into.
WOW!!! This was seriously an amazing book. I was literally speechless after finishing this book. I have always been a big fan of Murdock’s books, but this one now holds a special place in my heart. I mean you take magic, a princess with an attitude and Murdock’s brilliant writing style mix them all together and how can you not expect to get a phenomenal story? From the first sentence the book pulls you in and envelops you in Ben’s story, making sure you never want to leave. I think that this is actually one of my new favorite fairy tales. While it may not be your everyday fairy tale there is just something about it that makes you want to read it over and over again. Another amazing thing about this book is that it doesn’t leave you after the final page. You’ll want to keep reliving the book and thinking about what could happen next. As you can probably guess I highly recommend this book and suggest you run out to the bookstore or library and grab a copy. This is truly one of those books that you can just escape into.