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crothe77 's review for:
How to Summon a Fairy Godmother
by Laura J. Mayo
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
How to Summon a Fairy Godmother by Laura J. Mayo is a third person-POV retelling of Cinderella from the step-sister’s POV. When Beatrice gets her happily ever after, her step-sister Theo is made a social pariah. In an effort to get back some social clout and to pay for their lifestyle, Theo’s mother arranges for Theo to marry a duke old enough to be her grandfather complete with two step-children Theo doesn’t want. Theo’s only option is to summon a fairy grandmother.
This was such a fun play on what happens after the happily ever after. Theo has a strong voice and there’s this underlying current of resentment that permeates a lot of how she talks about Bea, the Cinderella of the story. We learn later exactly why Theo doesn’t like Bea and I have to say that I do not blame her one little bit. I’d have resentment for my step-sister, too, if I was in her shoes.
There are hints of possibly romantic relationships between Theo and Lock and Theo and Kas that could be expanded upon in the next book but I would also be fine if they weren’t. Kas and Lock were fleshed out and their attraction to Theo was given depth, particularly Kas, but the real meat of the story was Theo learning to love herself and finally talking to someone about her feelings instead of bottling them up and lashing out at other people with her very witty barbs. I’d be curious to see how Kas and Theo would work out or how Lock and Theo could work past the revelation at the end, but I’m open to either one.
The other character I really liked was Cecily, the titular fairy godmother. She’s not on the page a ton, but when she is there, she steals the show. I love it when fairies are allowed to have blue-orange morality and Cecily was allowed to be exactly that. She makes deals, she doesn’t really care that much if someone is good or bad, she’s not above withholding information to get what she wants. I’d love a novella from her POV.
Content warning for mentions of child neglect
I would recommend this to fans of Cinderella adaptations focusing on the step-sister, readers of fantasy who want a love triangle where romance isn’t more than a subplot, and those looking for blue-orange morality fairies.