A Wiked Good Princess

               

I have finished Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s book Princess Ben. In the book, Benevolence is a Princess and has just become the heir to the throne when her parents and her uncle, the king, are killed. She is taken under the wing of the cruel and merciless Queen Sophia. As Ben deals with the pressures of princess training and Sophia’s harshness, ben also finds a secret passageway that leads to a chamber with magic book. And so starts her magical education that will save her life, and the lives of those she loves, someday.

                Ben has run away to Drachensbett when her double is found unconscious. Scared and alone, she crash lands in the mountains and is captured by the captain of the army of Drachensbett. Captain is not a kind man so to speak, but is respectful to those he likes, which Ben learns much later. Ben is mistaken to be a boy and taken as a servant, and she’s also nicknamed piglet. She learns to be humble and keep her mouth shut whilst being amongst all these men.

                This keep up until there is an unexpected visitor to the camps. As it turns out, the prince Florian is best friends with the captain. And when Captain gets very ill, Ben uses the healing methods her mother taught her to heal him. While doing so, she gets to learn the prince in a whole new light. She sees a side to him, a kind and loving side that she wasn’t able to see before because of the lack of a connection.  But will this be enough to change her mind when she presented with the next challenge?

   And the next challenge is . . . marriage. Drachensbett has decided to take Ben’s empire by diplomacy instead of violence. The only thing is, prince Florian doesn’t want to marry Ben anymore, he is repulsed by her. And when the queen decides to alter the request of King Renaldo to secede the kingdom, Ben learns that an attack is coming. Ben decides to get involved with the diplomatic affairs, and even helps Queen Sophia to organize a battle. But does Ben have what it takes to secure the win?

                The book is good. There isn’t a lot I can say. It is definatly not your average fairy tale, but one with a headstrong heroine and an arrogant Prince. Ben solves her own problems and learns magic on her own. She saves the lives of herself, the prince and both of their kingdoms. It has a fairy tale ending, as all books like this must. I thought the book was a refreshing change from modern happy endings, and just a real girl in a bad situation taking advantage of what she has.

RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 ¼ out of 5, but it could easily be more or less depending on what you’re into.

MASS APPEAL: Chicks into fairy tales will dig this book. But it’s a good book all around.

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Hardships of Being Princess

                Imagine that you are the princess of a glorious kingdom. You have servants and can do whatever you want, you have royal parents that are amazing and live in a huge palace. What would happen if something terrible happened to your life? What if your parents and uncle were killed and you had to learn to be the next queen all in a matter of a few days. This is what happens to Princess Benevolence of Montagne in Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s book, Princess Ben.

                Princess Benevolence, or just Ben, used to live a life of luxury, but when she finds out that her mother and uncle had been killed and her father was missing, she lost so much. She had to learn to be the new queen, being taught by her aunt, Queen Sophia. Many people in her kingdom feel much sympathy for her, except for the Queen and her staff.

                Queen Sophia is not a gentle or extremely kind woman. When she starts to teach ben the art of being royal, she does so without any comical business. She is quick to punish Ben for her gracelessness and foolishness. She even takes out a strap and beats Ben’s hand until she cannot feel it anymore. Ben, although gripped with pain, would not let the Queen have the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, so she waits until she is back in her own chambers to cry.  Her chamber, which I forgot to mention, is the highest room in the tallest tower; original, right?

                She feels like she is in her own personal hell, until she discovers a secret in the castle walls. Literally, while weeping, she finds that her hand can go through one of the walls. When she investigates, she finds a series of hidden passageways inside the walls of the tower. She finds her way to a room with a magic spell book, where she starts her self-education in magic. She starts small, but she learns a lot that comes in handy.

                This is a good book so far. All of the afore-mentioned stuff is in Part one, but I am through Part two where many other things happen. Ben escapes from her tower fate where she must be wed to Prince Florian, and flies away to Drachensbett where she lives a new, and hard life. It is so sad the things she has to go through, but she learns some interesting stuff while she’s in Drachensbett. Much about Prince Florian and her mother’s art of healing, and more importantly about what she has to do to be a good Queen.

Always The Bridesmaid . . .

If you have ever watched the TV show Bridezillas, then you know how bad brides can get. Maybe you have even seen it in real life, whether it’s a family members wedding or a friends. Everything becomes dramatic; everything has to be absolutely perfect, or guess who has a meltdown? Well, no one has seen this happen half as much as Abby Beaumont. In Hailey Abbott’s The Bridesmaid, Abby is the daughter of the most famous local wedding planners, and so she’s seen lots of weddings, and bridezillas.

                Abby’s older sister Carol and her saw how brides get, and early on they decided not to ever get married. But things change quickly for Carol when she gets home from graduating college. She announces right when she arrives that she is getting married to a guy named Tucker Robb. At first Abby is so mad at her sister for backing out on their promise, but she’s even madder when carol asks her to be her maid of honor.

                Away from the wedding, she is constantly asked by her best friend Delila if she has sent in a request for the exchange program to Italy. Her other best friend, Christopher, who plays soccer with Abby, informs her that her idol in professional soccer is going to be the coach of their team in Italy. Abby immediately wants to go, but she doesn’t think her parents will let her.

                Speaking of her parents, they are fighting constantly over the wedding and it’s putting pressure on carol and Abby. Abby is still mad at Carol, and doesn’t really like the too-perfect Tucker. She’s also having issues with her job at her parent’s business, as well as her continuing crush on her blue-eyed knight in faded jeans, Noah Spencer, son of the local cake decorating guru. But if this isn’t enough to handle, everything goes wrong just before the wedding, which might ruin carol’s chances at a happily-ever-after.

                This book was very good. Abby is almost always mad in this book, but she has allot of fun, too. Like when she has the cake fight with Noah, and going to the Red Sox-Yankees game, and her soccer games with Christopher. But, as things get continuously worse, Abby seems to not know how to deal with it all, like most teenagers. You may not be able to relate to the wedding part of this book, but you will definitely connect with the problems she has.

RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 ½ stars of 5. It was interesting, with a good point of view. A good, sweet ending that makes it seems that everything turns out ok.

MASS APPEAL: Girls will relate more, but some of the people who know a bridezillas will laugh at some of the moments in this book. So will regular teenagers, though.

If you think this book is interesting, Click Here! to buy.

Ghost Week, Pt.5: All Souls Day

Most people don’t celebrate All Souls Day, but it is a holiday, and people should know about it. This is the last day of Hallows week, and Souls Day commemorates the faithful departed. Today we honor all the lives that have past, and celebrate those spirits going to a ‘better place’. So, enjoy the last day of Hallows week, and the ghosts that are now gone.

                Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong because of a strange gift? Murray Keifer can talk to the spirits of the dead in the local cemetery in Charlie prices book, Dead Connection. He talks daily with his best friends, Dearly and Blessed, both ghosts, and doesn’t spend any time with other people. His mother is a mess, and his father isn’t mentioned, and he has no friends at school, which is the way her prefers it. He lives a strange life that gets interrupted very quickly when strange things start to happen.

                The first character you should know besides Murray is Pearl Janochek. She is the daughter of a grave keeper that runs the cemetery Murray hangs out at. She is feisty and likes to get what she wants. When she and Murray have a standoff in the cemetery about why he is there, she vows that she will take him down. She nearly succeeds before he decides to tell her the truth, and they become friends. Deputy Gates is the other character that seems really important at first. He is a cop that had a rough time after his kid died, and is trying to get his life back on track by solving a local missing person’s case.

                Vern Billup is just a rough, mean guy who seems to have anger management, and might have it in for Murray’s mother. Robert Barry Compton is a young ex-drug addict who just got out of a mental hospital. He seems to be really isolated and skittish around people, especially when he doesn’t take his meds. The spirit, Dearly, was killed in a car accident in 1969 by her drunk date. She is very funny and sarcastic. Blessed is an eleven year old who talks to Murray about everything, including Pearl.

                The missing person afore mentioned is Nikki parker, a cheerleader at the local high school. She has been missing for quite some time, and Murray thinks it’s her when he hears a new voice in the cemetery. He wants to get to the bottom of it, and pearl is going to help him. Along with Deputy Gates, and some help from Robert, the story behind Nikki’s disappearance will hopefully come out.

                This is a good book told from many different viewpoints that shift frequently. It has an interesting plot line, and great characters. The background information to the characters is very sad, and it’s funny how they interact with each other. The book has good reviews from authors such as Chris Crutcher, so any normal person would pick it up expecting similar writing. It really isn’t though, but it’s a unique style that I happen to like.

RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 2 ¾ out of 5. This wasn’t my favorite book ever, but it had an interesting story and a good end. All I have to say is poor Murray. . .

MASS APPEAL: Good for anyone. It’s pretty easy to read, and pretty short, so even people who struggle can read this.

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Ghost Week, Pt. 4: All Saints Day

Today, in the aftermath of Halloween, is the day we commemorate our saints and the great people of our past history. There are great people who do amazing things every day, in our own neighborhoods and communities that set saint like examples. These people can do things as simple as find the truth in a web of lies, or help to restore a town to its old ways by keeping it in line. These people are all around us, including in my next book.

                I have read Peeled by Joan Bauer, an interesting story about a small town girl who saves her community. Hildy Biddle is a journalist for her high school paper, The Core, and will do anything for the truth. So, when strange things start to happen surrounding the town’s haunted house, people automatically blame a ghost for the happenings. But Hildy isn’t about to let a possible ghost keep her from finding out what is really happening.

                I’m going to do a character analysis today. Hildy Biddle’s editor and friend, Darrell Jennings, is even more obsessed with finding the truth than Hildy is. He frequently tries to seem like he knows more than the other on the paper, but he seems as clueless as the rest of them when it comes to their new editor and director. Tanisha Bass is Hildy’s best friend and the paper’s photographer. She is very lively and complains a lot about being single.

                Elizabeth is Hildy’s cousin, who she lives with. Elizabeth is a sweet girl who loves drawing, and seems to get along with Hildy’s persistent and nosey ways very easily. Lev Radner is the paper’s marketing manager. He is also Hildy’s ex-boyfriend. He is made out to be very handsome, but he also cheated on her. A newer character is the ‘new guy’ Zack Coleman is a scientific, skeptic who doesn’t believe in the ghost stuff going around town. He becomes friends with Hildy fast and helps her with her investigating.

                Hildy’s current focus is on the murder and arrests surrounding the Ludlow house, which is said to be haunted. Reports of a ghost are prevalent in The Bee, the local newspaper, but Hildy hasn’t seen anything suspicious. When she starts making accusations that The Bee’s editor is making false statements, her newspaper career is put in jeopardy. She starts to wonder if it’s worth it, with her new fights with Elizabeth, her complicated relationships with Lev and Zack, and her newspaper being destroyed by threats.

                Through all this, Hildy finds a reason to keep writing to find the truth through Minska, who owns a local diner/café. She eventually gets a happy ending is all the aspects of her life, and tackles some big problems in her town. I really like the characters and the voice of Hildy. It is a voice that you cannot mistake, and you can’t help but love. Peeled is a well told story, and is has a few twists that left me wondering why I hadn’t seen it coming. I enjoyed reading it, a lot.

RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 out of 5. It was good, and even though it’s not a real ghost story, it was still fun to read.

MASS APPEAL:  Anyone could read this book. It’s just a fun story told from an interesting point of view.

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