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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Book gifted to me through first reads contest in exchange for an honest review.
I had fun turning back the clock to read this one.
This is a great summer read for a middle grader that likes to read about strong heroins, dashing Heros and finding your inner strength all with a touch of magic. I liked the twist of the ugly princess.
I saw the writing style progress as the story went on and there is a hint that a second book may be following. I think we will see even more growth in the characters there.
I do have to slip in that the way the animals spoke grated on me a little bit. The 'grrrr - owling' kind of took away from the story, though I guess it would make it fun to read outloud to little ones ;)
I had fun turning back the clock to read this one.
This is a great summer read for a middle grader that likes to read about strong heroins, dashing Heros and finding your inner strength all with a touch of magic. I liked the twist of the ugly princess.
I saw the writing style progress as the story went on and there is a hint that a second book may be following. I think we will see even more growth in the characters there.
I do have to slip in that the way the animals spoke grated on me a little bit. The 'grrrr - owling' kind of took away from the story, though I guess it would make it fun to read outloud to little ones ;)
I won a copy of this book in the Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
Review to come :)
3.5
So this book is about an ugly princess as you may have guessed. Olive is the last Winnowwood and she has choosen her wonderful powers that can help her kingdom over beauty unlike her Mother and sister. And with that comes challenges as her Farther hates her for it and everywhere she goes she is constantly getting teased and snickered at.
Olive has the True kind of beauty and that is really inspiring. I thought that this book had a really good message. Although I don't know how I felt about her turning beautiful at the end because I kind of thought it defeated the purpose of this book (even though I was kinda shamefully hoping for it the whole book). I also thought the fact that she only turned beautiful because Bart truly loved her was a whole other issue as I didn't like the fact that the only way she would be beautiful and keep her powers laid in someones elses hands and more specifically a MAN'S (I don't mean to sound sexist at all, I just thought that with the whole principle of this book that aspect would have been different).
Other than that I enjoyed this book and liked the message that it sent out. I would recommend for girls ages 12-17 but I think the message can be valuable for everyone.
Review to come :)
3.5
So this book is about an ugly princess as you may have guessed. Olive is the last Winnowwood and she has choosen her wonderful powers that can help her kingdom over beauty unlike her Mother and sister. And with that comes challenges as her Farther hates her for it and everywhere she goes she is constantly getting teased and snickered at.
Olive has the True kind of beauty and that is really inspiring. I thought that this book had a really good message. Although I don't know how I felt about her turning beautiful at the end because I kind of thought it defeated the purpose of this book (even though I was kinda shamefully hoping for it the whole book). I also thought the fact that she only turned beautiful because Bart truly loved her was a whole other issue as I didn't like the fact that the only way she would be beautiful and keep her powers laid in someones elses hands and more specifically a MAN'S (I don't mean to sound sexist at all, I just thought that with the whole principle of this book that aspect would have been different).
Other than that I enjoyed this book and liked the message that it sent out. I would recommend for girls ages 12-17 but I think the message can be valuable for everyone.
'The Ugly Princess' tells the story of a young Princess named Olive who is the last of her kind. The Winnowwood are magical beings who have the power to talk to animals, heal animals, transform into animals and control the weather. The catch being that each time they use their powers they become uglier. Both Olive's mother and sister have made the choice to sacrifice their powers and become beautiful leaving Olive as the last of the Winnowwood.
This was such a wonderful story with a great message. Olive refuses to give up her powers just to become beautiful, and in doing so she saves her whole kingdom. The story is so unique and original, but has that epic classic fairy tale feel. I fell in love with the characters and the plot.
I found this book to be a very enjoyable read and I loved that the ending implies that there may be a sequel. I really hope that lots of young girls read this book and hear the message that it's ok to not be beautiful, as long as you are happy as you are :)
This was such a wonderful story with a great message. Olive refuses to give up her powers just to become beautiful, and in doing so she saves her whole kingdom. The story is so unique and original, but has that epic classic fairy tale feel. I fell in love with the characters and the plot.
I found this book to be a very enjoyable read and I loved that the ending implies that there may be a sequel. I really hope that lots of young girls read this book and hear the message that it's ok to not be beautiful, as long as you are happy as you are :)
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was an utterly delightful read that reminded me of first discovering fantasy novels as a young teen. By far it is the best book I've received as a free read and I would have gladly paid for it. I devoured it in one sitting and couldn't put it down! The sad thing is that I nearly didn't read this book, because it sounded a bit weird and boring from the blurb. But it is an amazing book and reminded me quite a lot of Tamora Pierce's writing style, although the content was different.
Olive is such an interesting and complex character. She is tempted by the opportunity of beauty, and horrified to find herself jealous of her sister and desperate for her father's affection, but she holds true to what she knows is important. Rosaline was a terrifying character, demonstrating the shallowness of physical beauty, but at times it was clear that she had some love and affection for Olive. Bart was earnest and a great love interest in the tale, never taking center stage and being saved by Olive as often as he saved her. I loved their interaction too as it was hilarious and innocently sweet.
Primarily, this is a coming of age story, focusing on the magic of childhood and what we choose to sacrifice for as we become adults. Olive's discussions with her mother on what is valued about women was so sad, but a true commentary on modern society in many ways. I was enchanted by the sweetness and genuine feel of the book, I will be delighted to read the next one. I'm not a fan of cliffhanger endings, but this one didn't feel too forced and I still felt like I got a suitable conclusion.
This was an utterly delightful read that reminded me of first discovering fantasy novels as a young teen. By far it is the best book I've received as a free read and I would have gladly paid for it. I devoured it in one sitting and couldn't put it down! The sad thing is that I nearly didn't read this book, because it sounded a bit weird and boring from the blurb. But it is an amazing book and reminded me quite a lot of Tamora Pierce's writing style, although the content was different.
Olive is such an interesting and complex character. She is tempted by the opportunity of beauty, and horrified to find herself jealous of her sister and desperate for her father's affection, but she holds true to what she knows is important. Rosaline was a terrifying character, demonstrating the shallowness of physical beauty, but at times it was clear that she had some love and affection for Olive. Bart was earnest and a great love interest in the tale, never taking center stage and being saved by Olive as often as he saved her. I loved their interaction too as it was hilarious and innocently sweet.
Primarily, this is a coming of age story, focusing on the magic of childhood and what we choose to sacrifice for as we become adults. Olive's discussions with her mother on what is valued about women was so sad, but a true commentary on modern society in many ways. I was enchanted by the sweetness and genuine feel of the book, I will be delighted to read the next one. I'm not a fan of cliffhanger endings, but this one didn't feel too forced and I still felt like I got a suitable conclusion.
**I received a free copy of this book through GoodReads to review**
"The Ugly Princess: The Legend of the Winnowwood" follows a young lady named "Olive." Olive is the Princess of Rosemount, her father being the King. However, what is unique and different about Princess Olive is not that she's a Princess, it is that she is ugly... Let me rephrase that, Olive is very beautiful, indeed, but it's in her heart where nobody but only her closest can see. You see, Princess Olive is last of the Winnowwood, the magical beings that could heal, talk to and control animals. However, nothing ever comes without a price and this magic is not an exception. Every time one of the Winnowwood use their magic, a wart, bump or boil appears. That seems like a rather small price to pay to have hundreds of animal friends, the true friends who see you as you are in your heart and the ones who truly care about you wouldn't care about those silly boils. At least, that's what Olive thought so.
As Olive turns 18, one of the most important days of her life, disaster strikes. Her father has been captured by the King of Alganoun, their neighbor kingdom and it's up to Olive to save him, no matter how much he hates her and is out to destroy anything important to her. Join Princess Olive as she comes to rescue with her friends Bear, Side Stripe, Mouse and ...a Highwayman...??
This book is certainly something different. The story-line, plot and the characters were all very unique, indeed.
I haven't read anything like this in a long, long while and in my opinion, this was quite a good change. Sure, there were flaws with this book and if GR allowed half stars, I would have given this book a 4.5 stars but GR doesn't and so this book now deserves 5 stars. ;)
I enjoy the plot as I had mentioned before, it is something very unique and different. 5 stars for the plot!
The characters... I enjoyed Olive I guess, but she's a hypocrite. She always goes on about how her father is a fool or how her sister is a fool. How her father is too self-absorbed and conceited, however, she herself is also very self-centered. Though, I guess she needs to have something to boost her confidence, but she is still overly conceited, in my opinion. Too much. However, other than that, she was the perfect protagonist! (Which is saying a lot coming from me because I have a tendency to not like the main protagonist all that much... It's weird... But if I say that I like a main protagonist, it means that I really did like it!)
Also, her sister... I didn't like her at first, which was okay, since I think that was the point. However, I think that the sister should just stick to one personality. It's not that big of a spoiler...One moment she's being mean to Olive, and the next, she's hugging Olive and crying. I think she should either be mean or nice, choose one and not jump around every second. I'm okay if it happens gradually, like she's evil and mean at first and then gradually learns and becomes nice to Olive...
I actually liked the King. Well, not the king but how his character was the same throughout. Like, he stuck with what he believed. I wouldn't have minded a bit of character-development and him learning some things, but I'm okay with this as well. So, that was good. The Queen was also a good character that Ms. Smith has created. The Queen surprised me and it's not as much that I like THE QUEEN but more how her character's secrets are developed and spilled.
One thing that bothered me about this book is the sentence-structure. It didn't seem like a middle-grade book, much less YA. The first 50-ish pages of this book had poor sentence structure and that effected my reading mood a bit. I had to push through those pages but I am glad that I did because by the end of the book, the sentence-structure had improved wonders and I applause Ms. Smith for that. I really enjoyed the last part of the book for various reasons... Which I'm not allowed to say because of SPOILERS!
I read the review over and it seems as if I didn't like the book. However, I DID give it 5 stars, didn't I? I would recommend it, especially to middle grade lovers and also YA-fanatics who need a break from all the drama and big books and stuff. It's a fairly small book, 200 pages, and you can finish it in one sitting. It's fast paced and interesting. And the thing is, I started liking it even more closer to the end but I can't give the ending away... :( Why I was giving constructive criticism throughout this review is because there's a huge chance that there'll be a sequel! (Well, I really do hope so because you cannot just leave it at that!!) I hope Ms. Smith will consider some of these points and hopefully make the sequel even better! I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel and I now know which book to re-read if I need a break from all the other dark, drama-filled books that I read! XD
"The Ugly Princess: The Legend of the Winnowwood" follows a young lady named "Olive." Olive is the Princess of Rosemount, her father being the King. However, what is unique and different about Princess Olive is not that she's a Princess, it is that she is ugly... Let me rephrase that, Olive is very beautiful, indeed, but it's in her heart where nobody but only her closest can see. You see, Princess Olive is last of the Winnowwood, the magical beings that could heal, talk to and control animals. However, nothing ever comes without a price and this magic is not an exception. Every time one of the Winnowwood use their magic, a wart, bump or boil appears. That seems like a rather small price to pay to have hundreds of animal friends, the true friends who see you as you are in your heart and the ones who truly care about you wouldn't care about those silly boils. At least, that's what Olive thought so.
As Olive turns 18, one of the most important days of her life, disaster strikes. Her father has been captured by the King of Alganoun, their neighbor kingdom and it's up to Olive to save him, no matter how much he hates her and is out to destroy anything important to her. Join Princess Olive as she comes to rescue with her friends Bear, Side Stripe, Mouse and ...a Highwayman...??
This book is certainly something different. The story-line, plot and the characters were all very unique, indeed.
I haven't read anything like this in a long, long while and in my opinion, this was quite a good change. Sure, there were flaws with this book and if GR allowed half stars, I would have given this book a 4.5 stars but GR doesn't and so this book now deserves 5 stars. ;)
I enjoy the plot as I had mentioned before, it is something very unique and different. 5 stars for the plot!
The characters... I enjoyed Olive I guess, but she's a hypocrite. She always goes on about how her father is a fool or how her sister is a fool. How her father is too self-absorbed and conceited, however, she herself is also very self-centered. Though, I guess she needs to have something to boost her confidence, but she is still overly conceited, in my opinion. Too much. However, other than that, she was the perfect protagonist! (Which is saying a lot coming from me because I have a tendency to not like the main protagonist all that much... It's weird... But if I say that I like a main protagonist, it means that I really did like it!)
Also, her sister... I didn't like her at first, which was okay, since I think that was the point. However, I think that the sister should just stick to one personality. It's not that big of a spoiler...
I actually liked the King. Well, not the king but how his character was the same throughout. Like, he stuck with what he believed. I wouldn't have minded a bit of character-development and him learning some things, but I'm okay with this as well. So, that was good. The Queen was also a good character that Ms. Smith has created. The Queen surprised me and it's not as much that I like THE QUEEN but more how her character's secrets are developed and spilled.
One thing that bothered me about this book is the sentence-structure. It didn't seem like a middle-grade book, much less YA. The first 50-ish pages of this book had poor sentence structure and that effected my reading mood a bit. I had to push through those pages but I am glad that I did because by the end of the book, the sentence-structure had improved wonders and I applause Ms. Smith for that. I really enjoyed the last part of the book for various reasons... Which I'm not allowed to say because of SPOILERS!
I read the review over and it seems as if I didn't like the book. However, I DID give it 5 stars, didn't I? I would recommend it, especially to middle grade lovers and also YA-fanatics who need a break from all the drama and big books and stuff. It's a fairly small book, 200 pages, and you can finish it in one sitting. It's fast paced and interesting. And the thing is, I started liking it even more closer to the end but I can't give the ending away... :( Why I was giving constructive criticism throughout this review is because there's a huge chance that there'll be a sequel! (Well, I really do hope so because you cannot just leave it at that!!) I hope Ms. Smith will consider some of these points and hopefully make the sequel even better! I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel and I now know which book to re-read if I need a break from all the other dark, drama-filled books that I read! XD
I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book as part of Goodreads 'First Reads' giveaways. I'm extremely glad that I did as well as I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The concept is wonderful, a young girl with magical powers has the power to heal and converse with animals. There's only one catch with this - each time she uses her powers she gains a wart, boil or cut making her appearance increasingly unsightly. The rest of her family, who are all Winnowwood, choose to abandon their powers to regain their former beauty. This is an enchanting tale which reminded me why fairytales are marvellous things. I look forward to a sequel of this novel which the ending of the story hints at... No spoilers, you need to grab a copy of this book and read it for yourself. Initially I thought this book wouldn't be brilliant from looking at it's front cover. It just goes to show - never judge a book by its cover!
The concept is wonderful, a young girl with magical powers has the power to heal and converse with animals. There's only one catch with this - each time she uses her powers she gains a wart, boil or cut making her appearance increasingly unsightly. The rest of her family, who are all Winnowwood, choose to abandon their powers to regain their former beauty. This is an enchanting tale which reminded me why fairytales are marvellous things. I look forward to a sequel of this novel which the ending of the story hints at... No spoilers, you need to grab a copy of this book and read it for yourself. Initially I thought this book wouldn't be brilliant from looking at it's front cover. It just goes to show - never judge a book by its cover!