Friday, September 9, 2011

Princess of the Midnight Ball (Jessica Day George)

If you are thinking about reading this book, don't bother.

This book came highly recommended by acquaintances and professional book reviewers alike. But those acquaintances and reviewers forgot to mention that, while the story is interesting, it isn't really a "retelling" of the 12 Dancing Princesses. It's an immature paraphrase of the fairy tale.

I'll just say this: I watched the Barbie movie version with my 3-year-old niece, and the Barbie version was better.

The character interaction in this book was entirely implausible and unrealistic. For example, a man who disowned his son out of shame randomly decides to welcome him back into the family after 2 paragraphs of reasoning by his wife. None of the emotions or motivations in the book are anything near lifelike.

I should have been tipped off by the fact that the princesses are all named after flowers.

This was my first Jessica Day George book, and it shall be my last. I'm kind of bummed about the whole thing, since she has so many popular books right now. But I have this thing for quality writing, and that is exactly what this author lacks.

1 comment:

  1. How did I just find this blog of yours? I love it!! I hope you keep up the reviews. They are very informative and entertaining!

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