Scan barcode
lizabethstucker's review against another edition
4.0
When Lady Harkovrita woke from an enchanted coma, she was shocked to find her nails were long, yellow, and twisty on both her hands and her feet. Her braided hair was long enough to make Rapunzel jealous. Then there was the full beard on her face. She decides she will flee her tower bedroom, preferring to go exploring over being forced into marriage as was planned before her unscheduled sleep. Oh, and she'll keep the beard for the present. It's a good disguise.
Vic struggles to be a stronger centaur in more than muscles, but his nerves constantly betray him. Tempest, a dryad, has one dream since breaking free from slavery, to be a lawyer specializing in human law. Elf Alobartalus has never fit in with other elves in looks or talents, but he doesn't really regret his exile to Proudwood Lighthouse among the humans, even if his secret dream is to visit the Sn'archivist and all his many books someday.
Outsiders all, our foine cast of characters wind up banding together with others who are also searching for happiness and acceptance. There are adventures galore when they join up with pirates on the Puffy Peach, learning how to be the heroes hidden deep inside.
This is ridiculously funny and snarky, a wonderful light read that is perfect for the dark, cold winter months. Think THE PIRATE BRIDE or SHREK! on crack. Honestly, if there had been more female members in Monty Python, this could've been one of their films. Don't forget to check out the map for some punny place names. 4.5 out of 5.
Vic struggles to be a stronger centaur in more than muscles, but his nerves constantly betray him. Tempest, a dryad, has one dream since breaking free from slavery, to be a lawyer specializing in human law. Elf Alobartalus has never fit in with other elves in looks or talents, but he doesn't really regret his exile to Proudwood Lighthouse among the humans, even if his secret dream is to visit the Sn'archivist and all his many books someday.
Outsiders all, our foine cast of characters wind up banding together with others who are also searching for happiness and acceptance. There are adventures galore when they join up with pirates on the Puffy Peach, learning how to be the heroes hidden deep inside.
This is ridiculously funny and snarky, a wonderful light read that is perfect for the dark, cold winter months. Think THE PIRATE BRIDE or SHREK! on crack. Honestly, if there had been more female members in Monty Python, this could've been one of their films. Don't forget to check out the map for some punny place names. 4.5 out of 5.
elysareadsitall's review against another edition
DNF halfway through. I loved the first book, disliked the second but finished it, and now just can't finish the last. The plot to joke ratio loses all balance in this book. I wasn't grabbed by the plot or characters and constantly lost interest.
wittyandsarcasticbookclub's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be available in stores on October 8th.
I loved both Kill the Farm Boy and No Country for Old Gnomes (Pell #1 and #2), but this one failed to drum up much enthusiasm for me. That’s not to say I hated it. I just felt very apathetic about it in general. It wasn’t bad, it just…wasn’t.
The Pell books thus far have been highly ridiculous and incredibly punny, which is the kind of humor I appreciate. The Princess Beard kept the jokes coming, but I think that there were so many squeezed in that I didn’t get a chance to appreciate them all. At times, it seemed like the authors were just trying to hard.
It’s unfortunate because the first two books are so stinking funny that I was hoping for a home run on the entire series. However, don’t count these books out. The first two are absolutely worth reading and, even being just so-so for me, the third book is still better than many other satirical fantasies out there. It just wasn’t my thing.
Have you read this? Thoughts?
I loved both Kill the Farm Boy and No Country for Old Gnomes (Pell #1 and #2), but this one failed to drum up much enthusiasm for me. That’s not to say I hated it. I just felt very apathetic about it in general. It wasn’t bad, it just…wasn’t.
The Pell books thus far have been highly ridiculous and incredibly punny, which is the kind of humor I appreciate. The Princess Beard kept the jokes coming, but I think that there were so many squeezed in that I didn’t get a chance to appreciate them all. At times, it seemed like the authors were just trying to hard.
It’s unfortunate because the first two books are so stinking funny that I was hoping for a home run on the entire series. However, don’t count these books out. The first two are absolutely worth reading and, even being just so-so for me, the third book is still better than many other satirical fantasies out there. It just wasn’t my thing.
Have you read this? Thoughts?
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.)