Princess Beatriz starts the story miserable and snappish because not only does she have no fiance, she has never received a magical gift the way she was supposed to as a child. A wizard promised her one, but she hasn't received it yet, and she feels this makes her somehow less than. She blames her lack of suitors on this, though she's already picked out the man she'd like to marry: her best friend, Prince Lux. Unfortunately, Prince Lux is poised to marry someone else who does have a magical gift.
So Princess Beatriz sets out to visit a magical valley to find her wizard and demand her gift. She drags along one of her attendants, the irrepressibly cheerful Laude. Proud and self-absorbed, Beatriz treats Laude badly for quite a while, which was what made me really quite dislike her for much of the book -- she was rude, thoughtless, and demanding, and I just kept cheering Laude on for being so patient and helpful anyway. Beatriz and Laude fall in with some travelers, led by a snarky and alluring man named Zichri who reminded me a lot of Flynn Rider from Tangled (2010). They have many adventures, and end up back at Beatriz's castle trying to foil a devious political plot.
And, yes, Beatriz learns many lessons and becomes more likable by the end of the book. But I still liked Laude a lot better.
This is not an overtly Christian story, but has definite Christian overtones and themes, and it's overall a clean read. I'm handing my copy off to my kids to read because they love fantasy books, and although this one does have some romancey stuff, I think it also has enough adventureness that they'll get a kick out of it.
Particularly Good Bits:
"You are not a sum of achievements" (p. 43).
Regrets jailed me in just as much as the gray stone of each wall (p. 203).
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for characters in peril and a little bit of innuendo regarding the intentions of some antagonistic men toward the female characters. Nothing really suggestive, it's all between the lines -- like I said, I'm handing this off to my kids, and they're ages 10 to 14.
This has been my 8th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.
Hamlette, this book sounds interesting. I've been in the mood for a new fantasy; had trouble finding one. Although I do tend to go for fantasy that has strong characters. What are some of your favorite fantasy series?
ReplyDeletePages to Remember, I don't read a lot of fantasy, but my favorite series are Tolkien's Hobbit + Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter books, the Eragon books, the Chronicles of Narnia, and the Thursday Next books :-) I have also enjoyed several Discworld books.
DeleteThanks! I've recently discovered the Harry Potter book and just finished the 3rd one. Have been pleasantly surprised by them. Thursday Next has been on my TBR list for a while. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe third one is my favorite Harry Potter book! Because I love Sirius Black :-)
DeleteThursday Next is a wild ride. I love the first four books, but was kinda meh about the rest.
Of the first 3, the third is my favorite as well. Lupin actually surprised me and hoping he returns! Black's story and the whole of being Harry's godfather were unique. He grew on me as the story progressed!
ReplyDeleteWhat changed in the later books?
Lupin is a total sweetheart, isn't he?
DeleteI think, for the Thursday Next books, the later ones have a different flavor and don't hold together as well. I learned recently that Fforde actually imagined the first four as one big, long story and then told it in four books, and then made up the other ones later, so I think that explains why I felt that way.