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Elena Klovis is badly mistreated by her stepmother. She is forced to clean the house, cook the food, and dress her stepmother and her two stepsisters, while she herself dresses in rags and goes hungry. Sound familiar? That’s because Elena is supposed to be her kingdom’s Cinderella. But her “Prince Charming” is completely wrong for her. So magic just keeps building and building around her. Finally, Elena’s Fairy Godmother steps in with a most unusual offer. Elena’s life is changed in a way that she could never have foretold. But will there eventually be a happily-ever-after for her?
I loved the whole concept of this story. I love fairy tales and I love to see twists on fairy tales. This one was a lot of fun and it really wasn’t very predictable. It was a fun, light read, and I would recommend it to other fans of fairy tales.
Two things though: First, I was sort of thinking that my little cousin, a fan of all things princess and fairy, might enjoy having this book read aloud to her. Then I got to the sex scenes. There were probably only two, and they were pretty lightweight, but they were still there, so keep that in mind if you’re thinking of the little princess in your life. Second, I’ve read several of Mercedes Lackey’s books, and I would love to be her copyeditor. She absolutely kills me. She generally tells interesting, original stories, but the copyeditor whose red ink swirls through my veins cringes through her books. I would disable her italics key right off the bat. I don’t mind the convention she uses of having a character’s thoughts in italics. That actually makes things a little clearer. But I’m glancing through the book right now and it’s almost impossible to find a page where italics aren’t used for emphasis numerous times. How irritating! Typos abounded and I would swear that this sentence made an appearance, although, of course, I can’t find it now: “Her heart was literally in her throat.” Really? Literally? There are so many ways to make fun of that sentence that I don’t know where to start. Did it use grappling hooks to climb up there? Don’t bite down! How do you talk around that?
Enough of that. Overall, it’s a fun, funny, sweet, original story.
Reviewed August 17, 2008
This review was posted as part of Once Upon a Week, hosted by Today’s Adventure.
5 Comments
Wouldn't you know it: have not read a single Mercedes Lackey book. But I do have one on my shelves. And I totally understand the whole "reading like a copyeditor" thing. I sometimes read like a copyeditor/proofreader because that was what I did at my previous job. In my head I scream "typo!", "widow!", "loose lines!", etc.
Thanks for sharing. I really love fantasy book but i have not read this one yet. Cool! =)
I loved the Fairy Godmother, but if you've read it you will not have to read the Sleeping Beauty, as The sleeping Beauty revisits lots of the things used in The Fairy godmother only the fairy godmother is the better read.
I've not heard of her before-thanks for the heads-up.
I actually have the opposite problem to you-I've been trying to remember to move my blog reviews onto my goodreads account. You'd think that cutting and pasting a review would not be that difficult, but i keep forgetting and then have to do several at a time. I swear I don't know where my brain is sometimes!
I've been thinking of trying one of her books. Have you tried The Sleeping Beauty?