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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
This book grated on me, and I think it was because I'm not the right audience for this book. I did enjoy it somewhat, but I'm wondering if I would've liked it more had I been the target age.
One thing this book did really well was create distinct characters. There were four princes and four princesses and I thought for sure that I was going to mix them all up, but it never happened! They were all distinct enough that I never got them confused, which was good.
Another thing I liked about this book was that it was fast-paced. It had plenty of action, and there were illustrations to break up the text somewhat as well. I was able to read this 400+ page book in 2 days. That's how fast-paced it was.
Now here's why I didn't like this book: I didn't like the characters. They were basically a caricature of a character, where their flaw was exaggerated and that's all you could see. For example, Frederic was a prince who didn't like change and was afraid of everything. That's what the author emphasized again and again. What were his aspirations? Did he want to become king one day? What did he think about his father keeping him from doing anything even remotely dangerous? I don't know the answer to any of these questions because he was a walking flaw. That's all he was.
Another thing that bothered me was the antics that happened in this book. It read like a cartoon. No one ever dies and if anyone gets injured, they're easily healed. I had to try not to roll my eyes several times throughout the book. I did laugh out loud at the part where That was a pretty funny image!
I think I'm just too old for this book. It was meant for middle grade readers and I'm in my 20's. If I were to rate this based on my enjoyment, I'd give it 2 stars. But I don't think that'd be fair since I'm not the target audience. So I'm going to give it what I think my 11-year-old cousin would: 4 stars.
One thing this book did really well was create distinct characters. There were four princes and four princesses and I thought for sure that I was going to mix them all up, but it never happened! They were all distinct enough that I never got them confused, which was good.
Another thing I liked about this book was that it was fast-paced. It had plenty of action, and there were illustrations to break up the text somewhat as well. I was able to read this 400+ page book in 2 days. That's how fast-paced it was.
Now here's why I didn't like this book: I didn't like the characters. They were basically a caricature of a character, where their flaw was exaggerated and that's all you could see. For example, Frederic was a prince who didn't like change and was afraid of everything. That's what the author emphasized again and again. What were his aspirations? Did he want to become king one day? What did he think about his father keeping him from doing anything even remotely dangerous? I don't know the answer to any of these questions because he was a walking flaw. That's all he was.
Another thing that bothered me was the antics that happened in this book. It read like a cartoon. No one ever dies and if anyone gets injured, they're easily healed. I had to try not to roll my eyes several times throughout the book. I did laugh out loud at the part where
Spoiler
Duncan tried to ride 3 horses at once.I think I'm just too old for this book. It was meant for middle grade readers and I'm in my 20's. If I were to rate this based on my enjoyment, I'd give it 2 stars. But I don't think that'd be fair since I'm not the target audience. So I'm going to give it what I think my 11-year-old cousin would: 4 stars.
Listened to the audiobook narrated by Bronson Pinchot. It was excellent. He does all different voices that add to the story and it definitely gave us moments that we laughed out loud.
My kids love this series on audio. They have all listened multiple times, and it is pretty cute.
4.5/5
As a huge fairy-tale lover, of course I wanted to check out this new twist focusing on the princes Charming this time instead of the princesses-they always get the spotlight! In this story, we are introduced to four princes, all with very different personalities, who are determined to set the record straight since it has been so bastardized by the local bards. Besides their journey to right this wrong, the princes also have their own personal battles to face.
First is Frederic, an extremely delicate prince whose sense of adventure was quashed by his father but is being awakened by his relationship with Cinderella. Ella's restlessness persuades her to leave the life of luxury in the palace and Frederic's love spurs him to follow her, requiring him to undergo many trials and do without. I liked Frederic (well, actually I liked all of the princes) as he was a sweet guy with an obvious love for his princess. Frederic needs to learn to be bolder as well as how to interact with others better over the course of the novel.
The second prince is Gustav, the youngest and smallest of 17 sons and subsequently with a huge chip on his shoulder. His moment of bravado in climbing up Rapunzel's hair was marred when he was thrown out of the tower, blinded, and regained his sight through her tears. He thus pushed her away and quests to claim the glory he feels is his due. Gustav's strength is actually his strength as he is fair and away the strongest of the bunch. But he is also bullheaded and overeager to prove himself, which needs to be reined in as he works with the other princes.
Liam is our third prince and he is a true hero, whose greatest achievement was battling the evil fairy before awakening Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately she is evil and soon reveals her true colors. When Liam blanches at marrying her, her spin team moves into action, besmirching Liam's good name and making life very difficult for him. Liam is a natural leader but needs to learn how to take into account his team's strengths and weaknesses. (Incidentally Liam might be my favorite and I imagine him as very handsome :)
Lastly we have sweet Dustin, an uncommonly lucky young man who woke up Snow White and married her. However he is also loud with a habit of barging into situations without thinking. This often works out for him since he doesn't realize the danger but it needs to be properly directed. Dustin is also a very chatty fellow, to the dismay of most around him as he rarely knows when to stop. But he has a good heart and desperately wants to prove himself to his new friends.
We also get five princesses: the adventurous Ella (who reminded me of Tangled's Rapunzel), the sweet dreamy Snow White, the helpful Rapunzel, the villainous Sleeping Beauty, and Liam's younger sister Lila. Given that Disney's Aurora is my favorite princess, I had trouble with the fact that this Sleeping Beauty was so vicious but that is very much a personal preference. The only problem is that there's a reason most of the fairy tale retellings I read focus on the princess: I tend to like them more. Even as I fell for the different princes and rooted for them through their struggles, I was wondering what was going on with the ladies.
A few last points to mention include the writing style which is of a third-person narrator who often gives the audience sly remarks. It's a very chatty humorous style that brought me right into the story. I liked how the different kingdoms were set up although I had a little bit of trouble remembering them. But last and most exciting is that there is plenty of room for more stories to be told in this room; I know I am eagerly awaiting more!
Overall: A charming humorous story that should please both the target middle-grade audience as well as adults with a soft spot for fairy tales.
Cover: I kind of wish it had all four guys but I really like the brunette woman in green as her determined expression makes me think that she is A. Ella and B. reinforces my comparison of her to Rapunzel in the Disney film.
As a huge fairy-tale lover, of course I wanted to check out this new twist focusing on the princes Charming this time instead of the princesses-they always get the spotlight! In this story, we are introduced to four princes, all with very different personalities, who are determined to set the record straight since it has been so bastardized by the local bards. Besides their journey to right this wrong, the princes also have their own personal battles to face.
First is Frederic, an extremely delicate prince whose sense of adventure was quashed by his father but is being awakened by his relationship with Cinderella. Ella's restlessness persuades her to leave the life of luxury in the palace and Frederic's love spurs him to follow her, requiring him to undergo many trials and do without. I liked Frederic (well, actually I liked all of the princes) as he was a sweet guy with an obvious love for his princess. Frederic needs to learn to be bolder as well as how to interact with others better over the course of the novel.
The second prince is Gustav, the youngest and smallest of 17 sons and subsequently with a huge chip on his shoulder. His moment of bravado in climbing up Rapunzel's hair was marred when he was thrown out of the tower, blinded, and regained his sight through her tears. He thus pushed her away and quests to claim the glory he feels is his due. Gustav's strength is actually his strength as he is fair and away the strongest of the bunch. But he is also bullheaded and overeager to prove himself, which needs to be reined in as he works with the other princes.
Liam is our third prince and he is a true hero, whose greatest achievement was battling the evil fairy before awakening Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately she is evil and soon reveals her true colors. When Liam blanches at marrying her, her spin team moves into action, besmirching Liam's good name and making life very difficult for him. Liam is a natural leader but needs to learn how to take into account his team's strengths and weaknesses. (Incidentally Liam might be my favorite and I imagine him as very handsome :)
Lastly we have sweet Dustin, an uncommonly lucky young man who woke up Snow White and married her. However he is also loud with a habit of barging into situations without thinking. This often works out for him since he doesn't realize the danger but it needs to be properly directed. Dustin is also a very chatty fellow, to the dismay of most around him as he rarely knows when to stop. But he has a good heart and desperately wants to prove himself to his new friends.
We also get five princesses: the adventurous Ella (who reminded me of Tangled's Rapunzel), the sweet dreamy Snow White, the helpful Rapunzel, the villainous Sleeping Beauty, and Liam's younger sister Lila. Given that Disney's Aurora is my favorite princess, I had trouble with the fact that this Sleeping Beauty was so vicious but that is very much a personal preference. The only problem is that there's a reason most of the fairy tale retellings I read focus on the princess: I tend to like them more. Even as I fell for the different princes and rooted for them through their struggles, I was wondering what was going on with the ladies.
A few last points to mention include the writing style which is of a third-person narrator who often gives the audience sly remarks. It's a very chatty humorous style that brought me right into the story. I liked how the different kingdoms were set up although I had a little bit of trouble remembering them. But last and most exciting is that there is plenty of room for more stories to be told in this room; I know I am eagerly awaiting more!
Overall: A charming humorous story that should please both the target middle-grade audience as well as adults with a soft spot for fairy tales.
Cover: I kind of wish it had all four guys but I really like the brunette woman in green as her determined expression makes me think that she is A. Ella and B. reinforces my comparison of her to Rapunzel in the Disney film.
Really fun and really entertaining! Gave me more stylistic ideas for my own books. Highly recommend it.
Let me just say that I didn't know about this book when I happened to stumble upon it at my school library. The results? I absolutely LOVED it! As soon as I figured out that there were two other books, I started freaking out. Thankfully, most people didn't notice them because they were at the bottom of the shelf, so I snapped up the other two. The stories within the whole story are hilarious and cute! I would recommend it to anyone just wanting a light read or a funny story.
Very funny read aloud. Great opportunity for silly voices. My kids love fractured fairy tales so we will definitely read the sequels.
Liam, Fredric, Gustav and Duncan are tired of all falling under the name "Prince Charming" in the bards' tales about their respective princesses. Each prince has something to prove, but all want to rescue their kingdom and reap the fame they deserve. However, when the foursome team up, they discover that the only way to save their kingdoms is to use the unique talents each possesses to their advantage. And even that might be give them success.
A hilarious take on the traditional princess tales.
A hilarious take on the traditional princess tales.
This book is probably very amusing to (some) young Middle Grade readers. The style is fairy tale combined with old-school cartoon (which works quite well). It tries to turn fairy tale stereotypes on their head, but doesn’t turn them quite far enough: all the boys are some flavor of screw-ups, and all the girls are smart and brave, which, although something of a corrective, is still objectionable. The book is well-plotted, but there are a lot of moving parts, especially toward the end, and I didn’t always know what was happening.
This book was sooo funny! Thank you, Samantha, for picking it out for me!
I loved the fresh look at the classic fairy tales and the characters. There were so many funny moments, and it was altogether just a silly fractured fairy tale, but there was some good character development, and a good plot.
I am glad, however, that it wasn't a longer book. By the end, there were a few things that were getting a little old. Misunderstood creatures, for one. First with Reese the giant, and with the trolls, and...I feel like there was another one that I can't remember xP Not that I don't like the idea, it just felt a little overdone.
I would definitely recommend this book to its middle school target audience--and to older readers, looking for a fun, light read.
I loved the fresh look at the classic fairy tales and the characters. There were so many funny moments, and it was altogether just a silly fractured fairy tale, but there was some good character development, and a good plot.
I am glad, however, that it wasn't a longer book. By the end, there were a few things that were getting a little old. Misunderstood creatures, for one. First with Reese the giant, and with the trolls, and...I feel like there was another one that I can't remember xP Not that I don't like the idea, it just felt a little overdone.
I would definitely recommend this book to its middle school target audience--and to older readers, looking for a fun, light read.