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quirkycatsfatstacks's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of The Princess Beard through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The Princess Beard is the third novel in the Tales of Pell series, which is a joint project by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne. Together these two authors have created a truly inane and amazing world.
The Tales of Pell is a world full of fairy tales flipped on their heads, with dozens of stereotypes warped into the funniest ways imaginable. They stretch plots to their extremes, and have oh so much fun along the way.
There once was a princess who fell to sleep thanks to a magical rose that cursed her. It was her second curse, which resulted in some interesting side effects. Now that she's awake, she's determined to change her destiny. And maybe save some otters along the way.
This novel is full of unique and brilliant characters, all quirky, silly, and utterly lovable. Morgan is the princess who woke up from a cursed slumber...and she wasn't too thrilled about the massive amount of hair and nails she grew during that time. Though she's cool with keeping the beard. And with becoming a pirate.
Vic is a centaur with a specific gift. He can summon tea and biscuits on a whim. But he doesn't want that power – he wants to be all swoll and tough. And ideally, have everyone know exactly how manly and macho he is.
Tempest is a dryad, and now that she and her sisters have been newly freed, she has big plans for her life. That is, she's got plans on how to spend the part of her life before she turns into a giant and blood hungry tree. That part is already set in stone for her, and the rest of her kind for that matter.
Albartalus, aka Al, is the world's worst elf. He doesn't look or act like any other elf out there. Unless you count his talent for taking advantage of rubes. But he wants better for his life. He wants something new and better.
“Everyone loved dryads and drynads when they lived as slightly leafy humans, looking beautiful and healing folks of any ailment, but no one wanted to tolerate them when they were living the part of their life cycle that required them to be bloodthirsty trees.”
The Princess Beard was an amazing followup in the Tales of Pell series. It was so much fun – lighthearted, chaotic, and just a tiny bit crazy. Just the way I like it. I adore what Dawson and Hearne have created together here. And it has left me hoping to see more author collaborations in the future.
The sass and satire were strong in the third novel in the series, as it continued to warp and twist stereotypes and expectations left and right. And it was glorious. Some of this I had been expecting; fun twists on the classic fairy tales. I still loved those moments.
But then there were some surprising twists and moments. Such as the voyage and seas they were on – a surprise which I will not ruin by talking about in too much detail. The other surprise? Taking a massively popular novel series and just having a blast warping it all over the place. It was absolutely hilarious.
As always, I loved the chaos in this tale. I also loved some of the undercurrents and messages. It's hard not to adore what these two authors are doing here. And it's hard not to keep hoping for more. Though even I have to admit that if the series ended here, they did so on the perfect spot. So I couldn't complain – except to say that I miss it.
For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
The Princess Beard is the third novel in the Tales of Pell series, which is a joint project by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne. Together these two authors have created a truly inane and amazing world.
The Tales of Pell is a world full of fairy tales flipped on their heads, with dozens of stereotypes warped into the funniest ways imaginable. They stretch plots to their extremes, and have oh so much fun along the way.
There once was a princess who fell to sleep thanks to a magical rose that cursed her. It was her second curse, which resulted in some interesting side effects. Now that she's awake, she's determined to change her destiny. And maybe save some otters along the way.
This novel is full of unique and brilliant characters, all quirky, silly, and utterly lovable. Morgan is the princess who woke up from a cursed slumber...and she wasn't too thrilled about the massive amount of hair and nails she grew during that time. Though she's cool with keeping the beard. And with becoming a pirate.
Vic is a centaur with a specific gift. He can summon tea and biscuits on a whim. But he doesn't want that power – he wants to be all swoll and tough. And ideally, have everyone know exactly how manly and macho he is.
Tempest is a dryad, and now that she and her sisters have been newly freed, she has big plans for her life. That is, she's got plans on how to spend the part of her life before she turns into a giant and blood hungry tree. That part is already set in stone for her, and the rest of her kind for that matter.
Albartalus, aka Al, is the world's worst elf. He doesn't look or act like any other elf out there. Unless you count his talent for taking advantage of rubes. But he wants better for his life. He wants something new and better.
“Everyone loved dryads and drynads when they lived as slightly leafy humans, looking beautiful and healing folks of any ailment, but no one wanted to tolerate them when they were living the part of their life cycle that required them to be bloodthirsty trees.”
The Princess Beard was an amazing followup in the Tales of Pell series. It was so much fun – lighthearted, chaotic, and just a tiny bit crazy. Just the way I like it. I adore what Dawson and Hearne have created together here. And it has left me hoping to see more author collaborations in the future.
The sass and satire were strong in the third novel in the series, as it continued to warp and twist stereotypes and expectations left and right. And it was glorious. Some of this I had been expecting; fun twists on the classic fairy tales. I still loved those moments.
But then there were some surprising twists and moments. Such as the voyage and seas they were on – a surprise which I will not ruin by talking about in too much detail. The other surprise? Taking a massively popular novel series and just having a blast warping it all over the place. It was absolutely hilarious.
As always, I loved the chaos in this tale. I also loved some of the undercurrents and messages. It's hard not to adore what these two authors are doing here. And it's hard not to keep hoping for more. Though even I have to admit that if the series ended here, they did so on the perfect spot. So I couldn't complain – except to say that I miss it.
For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
lnzlou55's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
gillygab's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, but I feel like it was trying too hard to be funny. A lot of the humor felt forced. I ended up abandoning it about 20% in.
scrappymags's review against another edition
5.0
Scrappymags 3 word review: Punny as hell.
All my reviews available at scrappymags.com
Genre: Fantasy/magical/humor
A short summary: This is a crazy summary but here goes: there’s a princess who wakes with a beard (and some really long nails!) but instead of waiting for a prince, she escapes and runs away, becoming a pirate under the captainship of a one-eyed pirate. Oh, and the pirate? Is a parrot. Mix in a myriad of other characters - a misogynistic centaur who is also a magical tea and cake maker, a dryad who wants to study law, an elf who just isn’t “elf” enough... It’s one heck of a story.
My thoughts: I’m not sure what I expected but I received a book that was so much more - Not a retelling of The Princess Bride (but plenty of inside jokes that nod toward it). Rapt from the get go, I dove into this book and savored it. There are many puns and double entendres that kept me laughing throughout. What was exceptional was the character development - I felt that needed connection and the book delivered. It’s kinda fairy tale and kinda adventure with pop references built in and nothing routine or stale. I laughed out loud several times and loved the pop culture references (as well as a few bawdy ones). Fresh, fun, an enchanting romp.
Recommend to readers who like: Fantasy/humor but something different. Def. a Gen X pick!
Not recommended to: I’m Gen X and wonder if much of the allusion would be missed by younger folk.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine and the authors for an advanced copy (and for making me laugh so hard people side-eyed me heavily in public.)
All my reviews available at scrappymags.com
Genre: Fantasy/magical/humor
A short summary: This is a crazy summary but here goes: there’s a princess who wakes with a beard (and some really long nails!) but instead of waiting for a prince, she escapes and runs away, becoming a pirate under the captainship of a one-eyed pirate. Oh, and the pirate? Is a parrot. Mix in a myriad of other characters - a misogynistic centaur who is also a magical tea and cake maker, a dryad who wants to study law, an elf who just isn’t “elf” enough... It’s one heck of a story.
My thoughts: I’m not sure what I expected but I received a book that was so much more - Not a retelling of The Princess Bride (but plenty of inside jokes that nod toward it). Rapt from the get go, I dove into this book and savored it. There are many puns and double entendres that kept me laughing throughout. What was exceptional was the character development - I felt that needed connection and the book delivered. It’s kinda fairy tale and kinda adventure with pop references built in and nothing routine or stale. I laughed out loud several times and loved the pop culture references (as well as a few bawdy ones). Fresh, fun, an enchanting romp.
Recommend to readers who like: Fantasy/humor but something different. Def. a Gen X pick!
Not recommended to: I’m Gen X and wonder if much of the allusion would be missed by younger folk.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine and the authors for an advanced copy (and for making me laugh so hard people side-eyed me heavily in public.)
i_dream_of_books's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not gonna lie, this one wasn’t my favorite. I still liked it but if this had been the first book in the world of Pell I probably wouldn’t have continued.
tsiedel90's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this one a lot better than No Country for Old Gnomes (and I still really liked No Country for Old Gnomes). I’d I had to rank them, this one goes even above Kill the Farm Boy. I loved the characters and the growth and the little episodes. It felt very much like a whole journey.
karin_gorham's review against another edition
5.0
It is true that if you combine Kevin Hearne's writing and Luke Daniels' narration I am there for it, but these Pell books are particularly wonderful. They have large casts of varied yet complete characters, plots that cover important current issues, in this case mostly environmental and terrible/terrific (it is a very fine line) puns.
I love them all. I will probably reread them all frequently.
READ THIS!
I love them all. I will probably reread them all frequently.
READ THIS!