When I realized that this story
was a retelling of 'The Princess and the Pea,' I was a little worried—after all,
I just finished A. G. Marshall’s wonderful retelling of the same story
(reviewed in last week’s blog). How
could this book possibly measure up? But
the two stories couldn’t be more different.
A woodcutter’s daughter, Alyssa
loses herself in the forest, soon finding herself on the doorstep of the king’s
winter residence. The butler originally
assumes that she’s a princess and shows her to a room with a very lumpy bed. However, Alyssa isn’t one to take advantage;
when she realizes the mistake that’s been made, she quickly explains who she
is. (She doesn’t mention the lumps in
the bed to the queen. She may not be a
princess, but she is polite.)
Alyssa expects to be sent on her
way, and is astonished to be hired as a companion for the mischievous twin
princesses Lily and Sophie. She likes
them immediately despite their bad behavior, but their older brother Prince
Maximilian doesn’t seem to like her at all.
Unfortunately, trying to tame the
twins and make friends with Max aren’t Alyssa’s only challenges—for the king
and queen have decided that it’s time for Max to marry, and some of the foreign
princesses are determined to win the crown, no matter who has to die to make
that happen.
I was surprised at how little
magic there is in this story. Maybe the
pea is magical? The characters believe
that a love match between a king and queen will magically make their country
prosper, but we don’t know whether this is true or not. The tone of the first two-thirds of the book
is most similar to that of the historical country-house romances by Christian
authors like Julie Klassen, with the adventure part of the story coming in
mostly at the end. So don’t go in
expecting lots of magic. Still, if you
enjoyed the ‘courage and kindness’ of Disney’s live-action Cinderella, this
book will be a perfect fit for you.
High Points
There is a lot of depth to this
story. All of the main characters have
something to learn, from Lily and Sophie to the king and queen to Max and
Alyssa, but Cellier is never preachy.
The secondary characters like Mathilde the maid, Lady Marissa, and Max’s
scapegrace friends are also well rounded and fun. Alyssa has realistic and satisfying
relationships with each one of them. I
can already tell that this book will stand up well to re-reading—and I
definitely plan to re-read it.
I love the echoes of other fairy tales in this story. 'Cinderella' is
ever present in the backstory of the king and queen, and Alyssa is constantly
telling fairy tales to Lily and Sophie, trying to teach them about compassion. A few moments reminded me of Beauty and the
Beast as well—when Alyssa first finds the royal library, for example.
I really, really appreciate the
way that Cellier prepares Alyssa for her future. Yes, it might be a good idea for someone
connected to the royal family to understand economics, politics, and history! This truth is often neglected in fairy tales.
Critiques
It’s hard to find anything to
criticize… Alyssa might be a too wise to
be a seventeen-year-old. I definitely
wasn’t wise at that age. I think it
would have been all right if Cellier made her nineteen (Max’s age in the book),
even though seventeen is a more traditional fairy tale age. Then Max could be twenty-one, which would
make the “Marry off Max” thing a bit less disturbing.
There aren’t any spelling or
grammar errors that I could find, but the text is missing quite a few commas by
both US and UK standards, especially in the first fifty pages. I glanced through another book by Cellier
that’s on my TBR pile, and the same thing was true there. So that’s the most serious critique I have: not
enough commas. *cleans off desk, retires from criticism business*
And so…
This was an excellent book—both fun
and edifying. Something I would donate
to a church library. I’m excited to read
the next book in the Four Kingdoms series, as it looks like this book’s villain is going to
be experiencing some tough love!
Find the Princess Companion here.
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