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Guest Review: A Posse of Princesses

Today's review comes from reader, writer, and mom extraordinaire Ashley Bair. Here's what she had to say about her latest read:

A Posse of Princesses

By Sherwood Smith

First of all, I have to say that whatever part of a girl’s brain that’s made to love princesses as a child but supposedly grow out of the obsession as she gets older must have malfunctioned in my own head around the age of seven. It is still as deeply entrenched as ever, and I find myself getting shaky with excitement whenever a new princess book appears on my library’s bookshelf. (If I had my way, I would still be Sleeping Beauty every year for Halloween …)

As I have grown, however, my notion of a good fairy tale has, I am happy to report, matured. No longer do I require that my princess be the epitome of beauty, grace, and goodness. In fact, a little personality goes a long way toward making up for the absence of one or even all of these character traits, if an author is skilled with his or her now-proverbial pen. Too often these days, I find authors pumping out cardboard smart and sassy princesses, playing to today’s smart and sassy crowd of teenage readers.

In Sherwood Smith’s A Posse of Princesses, therefore, I found a breath of refreshing air in Rhis, the main princess, who is just … practical. She is nice, she is ordinary, she is “plain as a sparrow.” And yet I rooted for her success from beginning to end, even in her romance with a hero with wide-set eyes whose looks are described not as handsome, but as “interesting.” With a fun and unexpected mid-book twist, a daring rescue attempt by a group of princesses dripping with personality, and a happy ending, A Posse of Princesses did not disappoint my deep-seated little-girl need for a little royal romance.

Ashley Bair

So this sounds superfun. I think that smart readers of all ages appreciate protagonists that are made of flesh and not cardboard -- sounds like Rhis fits the bill. I've also heard good things about Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, so I just picked that one up from the library. Anyway, thanks to Ashley for the great review!

1 comment:

  1. Crown Duel is one of my favorite books ever. Just so you know. :) That's the book that introduced me to Ms. Sherwood Smith.

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