Reviews

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine

lcgerstmann's review against another edition

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2.0

I'm not sure what age group this is targeted for but I think it is too violent for young girls that would be interested in a Tinkerbell story. I was reading a chapter a night to my 4 year old and found I had to do a lot of paraphrasing to help her understand and also to edit age inappropriate material. If I could rate the artwork seperately I would give it 5 stars, the illustrations are beautiful!

sierra_color's review against another edition

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5.0

God— I first read this book over ten years ago. I grew up with it. It’s so.. amazing and wonderful to reread, or in this case listen, since I listened to the audio book. I can’t begin to describe the feelings that came back to me while listening— flashes of my childhood, of sitting in a lonely apartment, late at night, looking though a pile of books as the TV flashed blue, and finding this gem. Me, reading it for the first time, dipping into a world far my own. Me, breezing through it, addicted, reaching the end.

This was the first book I reread. I used to have this ridiculous rule of never rereading books or novels, but this one broke it.
It was summer, hot outside, I lived in a cramped house now with my grandmother. I didn’t have the greatest childhood, having a druggie of a mom and a drunk of a grandmother prevented that.

This book, with its purple hard cover lured me in again, whispering words of a different world, one where Prilla heard me, understood what it felt like to be alone. Knew how hard it was to not fit in.

I always reread this book, to the point where I’d even reread it in class, it was my favorite. Looking back, fairy dust and the quest for the egg got me into writing, made me understand the power of words. When Prilla was lonely or being scolded for messing up, I felt that. I heard that. It resonated with me. My mother and grandmother would say similar things to me. And Prilla was the one who understood it all, who didn’t find me and my reading weird, who just.. was a friend.

I haven’t read this gem in years, mainly because I lost my copy. But when I found the audiobook I was hesitant, because I’m not used to the medium, and this one was (ironically, in a way) my first audiobook. When I began listening, I was transported into neverland again, flickering through stages of my life— a lonely fourth grader, a curious fifth grader with a hunger for knowledge, a passionate middle schooler with a love for fairy tales. This book was one of the truly good things from my childhood, it kept wonder and hope alive in me, told me that even though I’m weird, or different, or lonely, there’s someone out there, beyond the lonely bedroom window, who’ll love me just for me.

I can’t thank this book enough for that lesson, because lonely little me needed that in her heart. I hope whoever reads this review and has children passes this blessing of a book onto them, or whoever’s feeling lonely goes to their library and finds this gem, because they’ll feel the same way I did after reading it over and over— they’ll feel loved.

maygannb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

tokki_dokki's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was my favourite book as a child, and now, reading it as an adult... it is still so good. It shows a darker side to the fairy lore of that universe, which I found quite intriguing. The illustrations are also very gorgeous.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

shaina's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

kiwi_the_cat's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

authorjbr's review against another edition

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4.0

I accidentally read the second book in this series first, so a lot of the mystery was lost on me. Still, I think this was a better story than the second book. Whereas that one dragged on and on, this one had a good flow throughout and the story was interesting. Nothing really outstanding, but it is an interesting fairy tale.

innastholiel's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? No

3.5

aburchard's review

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5.0

Adorable

bluebookroad's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0