from goodreads:
In this new stand-alone
fairy tale, Princess Annie is the younger sister to Gwen, the princess
destined to be Sleeping Beauty. When Gwennie pricks her finger and the
whole castle falls asleep, only Annie is awake, and only Annie—blessed
(or cursed?) with being impervious to magic—can venture out beyond the
rose-covered hedge for help. She must find Gwen's true love to kiss her
awake.
I'm a big fan of E.D. Bakers' Frog Princess series. So when I saw she had a new series out, I had to read it immediately. I love the cover and premise of this book! Sleeping Beauty had a little sister? So fun! This book is about Annie, who was given the gift of being immune to magic, because her parents were concerned with her receiving a curse like her older sister. When Annie touches anyone, their magic wears off, and the real person beneath the fairy gifts of beauty and grace is revealed. Because of this, she finds herself alone and somewhat shunned while living with her royal family in the palace. So it is perfect that she ends up saving the day and finding the prince who wakes up Gwen, the sleeping princess.
Through her journey to find Gwen's true love, Annie is helped by her friend Liam. Together they stumble across many obstacles and characters of other fairy tales. While it was fun to see how Baker intertwined all the stories, it made the story feel rushed. It seemed that just as Annie solved one problem, she was pushed right into another one which left little time for character development. The writing also felt very simplistic, and I found myself skimming through the last few chapters because I lost interest.
That said, there is a sequel to this book, and another book coming out soon. Annie's character shows promise, so I will probably read the next book, Unlocking the Spell.
Rating: 2.5
Published: 5.2010
Labels: Middle Grade, Review
