Reviews

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

brendaclay's review against another edition

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3.0

This novel is deeper than it appears. It's about a society in which most people have a personal fairy that gives them a specific ability. The protagonist, Charlie, believes that her good-parking fairy is ruining her life, and will stop at nothing to get rid of it. It's lighthearted and funny, but also raises discussions about faith, personal rights, the grass being greener on the other side, etc. Not my favorite of JL's books, though - I still think Liar is her best work.

crystal_reading's review against another edition

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2.0

Tweens may like this amusing book, but it had too much slang and tween type romance for me.

huitthuitt's review against another edition

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3.0

I thought this was a cute read! My dad got it for me for my birthday (which makes it that much special).

In the moment it seemed like really childish compared to the other books I was reading during that time frame. But after reading it, I liked it.

Overall it was a cute story about navigating school, friendships, and finding yourself.

arafaye's review against another edition

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

4.0

dlberglund's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a fun, light read, set in a barely futuristic, different sort of society. Kids are heavily tracked into their interest and talent areas in New Avalon, which is run on a sort of cult of personality/achievement. I definitely wanted to know more about the other cities in this universe, and why New Avalon was the way it was. Charlie's quest- to get rid of her special fairy because too many people want to use her because of it- is kind of annoying. The writing, the world building in particular, was nearly excellent. Worth picking up for sure.

sandraagee's review against another edition

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3.0

Fun concept with moderate execution. I had kind of a hard time getting into the alternate universe the story was set in at first, and it was sometimes hard to take this setting seriously because it was so out there. But even if it isn't always believable (in the way that fantasy has to be developed enough to make the reader believe it exists, which does not fully happen here), a lot of the ideas, from the fairies to the specialized culture of New Avalon was fun enough to make the book entertaining and the funky combination of British/Australian slang with the made-up words was surprisingly fun.

shaekin's review against another edition

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3.0

Pretty cute book and the concept was fun. The language took me a bit to catch on to, but not awful. There were some fun ideas that were introduced but weren't explored as much as I wanted. I actually thought this might be part of a series for that reason, but wasn't, which is why it didn't get as high of a rating.

impybelle's review against another edition

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4.0

If you like your fiction to play around with words, either in how they're strung together or possibly making new words up, giving old words new meanings, or just teaching you something totally random, you should seriously consider How To Ditch Your Fairy.

I love Charlie although I'm nothing like her. Her school would've killed me but it's fun to read about. So are the various fairies sprinkled throughout the book even though they're never seen.

Light, fluffy, and a bit warm and fuzzy to go with the headache the first couple of chapters make induce.

beanmom's review against another edition

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3.0

An interesting premise, and a quick read.

pelicaaan's review against another edition

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3.0

Cute; the world-building could have used some work.