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plottrysts 's review for:
How to Summon a Fairy Godmother
by Laura J. Mayo
I love tricksy fae and unlikeable FMCs, and it turns out these are two great tastes that taste great together in How to Summon a Fairy Godmother.
Theo is one of Princess Beatrice's evil stepsisters (yes, this is a Cinderella-inspired tale). Theo is MEAN and I LOVED it. OK yes, she is mean and not ashamed of it, but is she truly "evil"? Mayo slowly but surely gives the reader hints that there may be more to the story than we know.
Theo is betrothed to a horrible old letch. She serendipitously discovers Beatrice's notes on how to summon a fairy. Theo decides "why not get my own fairy tale ending?" Not one where she marries a prince, mind you: just one where she doesn't have to marry her awful fiance. The fairy who shows up to the summoning is the kind that makes bargains: Theo must complete three tasks to get out of her engagement. She'll have to leverage all of her strengths (again, mostly being mean) to complete her end of the deal.
Theo does get a redemption arc, but it's not because she learns a moral lesson. The end of the book had a real twist I didn't expect (although I figured out some of it - it has to do not with why the fairy has these specific tasks for Theo, but what Theo does when she figures it out). While there's not a cliffhanger, there are plenty of unresolved plot threads that mean I can't wait for the next book in the series.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
Theo is one of Princess Beatrice's evil stepsisters (yes, this is a Cinderella-inspired tale). Theo is MEAN and I LOVED it. OK yes, she is mean and not ashamed of it, but is she truly "evil"? Mayo slowly but surely gives the reader hints that there may be more to the story than we know.
Theo is betrothed to a horrible old letch. She serendipitously discovers Beatrice's notes on how to summon a fairy. Theo decides "why not get my own fairy tale ending?" Not one where she marries a prince, mind you: just one where she doesn't have to marry her awful fiance. The fairy who shows up to the summoning is the kind that makes bargains: Theo must complete three tasks to get out of her engagement. She'll have to leverage all of her strengths (again, mostly being mean) to complete her end of the deal.
Theo does get a redemption arc, but it's not because she learns a moral lesson. The end of the book had a real twist I didn't expect (although I figured out some of it - it has to do not with why the fairy has these specific tasks for Theo, but what Theo does when she figures it out). While there's not a cliffhanger, there are plenty of unresolved plot threads that mean I can't wait for the next book in the series.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.