The Fairy's Mistake: A Review

Hello, my lovelies! Excited to share today’s book with you!

The Fairy’s Mistake by Gail Carson Levine

3.5 Stars

Two very different sisters have two very different encounters with the fairy Ethelinda. Rosella is kind and helpful. Her reward: Jewels and gems tumble out of her mouth whenever she speaks. Myrtle is rude and spiteful. Her punishment: Bugs and vipers slither out of her mouth. The fairy Ethelinda feels she's meted out justice just right--until she discovers Rosella has been locked up by a greedy prince and Myrtle is having the time of her life!

-From Goodreads

This is the first book in the Princess Tales series.  It’s a retelling of Toads and Diamonds, a classic, lesser-known fairy tale. This series has been a part of my life since I was a teen and I am so excited that I get to read it again and share it with you over the next several week!

What I Liked:

This book is cleverly written, the tone being set from the very first sentence. You immediately know this is going to be a fun, light-hearted story. It has a very classic fairy tale feel, this story able to be put right alongside an original fairy tale with ease.

It’s a quick read- I read it in a single sitting- with the airy tone making the story move easily. There isn’t much meat to the story; the plot advances rather fast with each scene furthering the main plot. And yet the author manages to pack a good deal of character development into what little space she uses.

The characters are so well-done. I really loved Rosella, who is “blessed” with precious jewels. She is sweet and kind but the author, though she doesn’t delve too much into it, gives her a depth that makes her feel more than a pushover. She is sweet and kind and she lets herself be taken advantage of by the people around her partially because of these qualities but also partially out of fear. It’s a well-done explanation and one I really appreciated seeing.

Myrtle as well, Rosella’s sister and the one “cursed” with toads and snakes and bugs, is someone I found myself liking. There isn’t much to like about her as she isn’t necessarily a nice person. But still, for some unexplained reason, I found myself unable to dislike her. Still, her rudeness is never portrayed as something that is good or right or that should be emulated.

Prince Harold has some nice character development as well. He changes the most over the course of the story and I really like what the author did with him.

The relationship between Rosella and Harold is really adorable, despite my reservations about their age (see my comments below in “What I Didn’t Like”). It’s hardly such that can be called a romance given that there is so little time to dwell on it, making it a good story even for a younger audience.

And the book has illustrations! I don’t know when the last time I read a book with illustrations was and it’s quite refreshing.

What I Didn’t Like:

The story is simple and sweet but I felt it moved rather fast in places. I wished there was more time to delve into the characters or plot a little deeper, instead of just moving on quickly. It suffered from the same things original tales do- there were holes I wished to see filled instead of glossed over. Also, as much as I liked Harold’s development, it might have been nice to see it take a little more time so that it could grow more naturally. And I would have maybe liked to see Myrtle grow a little more as a character.

My biggest concern is that Rosella and Myrtle are only fourteen. I didn’t remember this being the case when I first read the series but it’s stated quite clearly in this first book. And from what I've reread of the others it feels like this is a common theme in the stories- very young people getting into relationships. There is a disconnect, given that it’s a fictional kingdom and things move too quickly to really delve into how young they are, so I don’t think the author is encouraging anyone that young to actually be in a relationship. But it still startled me a bit when I read it now.

Overview:

I enjoyed this book a lot. It’s simple and quaint and while not anything extraordinary, it’s charming and clever and well-written. For the first book in a series I think it could have started out on a bigger bang. But it offered hope for greater things to come in the future and I’m looking forward to rereading the rest of the series!

I would highly recommend this book for middle grade readers or older. Or it could even be read aloud to younger readers who might not quite be able to read some of the bigger words on their own.

Have you read this book or any others by this author? Does this sound like something you would like?

Since the book is so short I’m going to hold off posting a playlist until I review the last book since it will be a series playlist rather than a separate list for each book. I look forward to sharing that, along with the rest of the books, with you in the upcoming weeks!

I hope to see you on Monday for a writing related post. Until the next time we meet, don’t forget to live happily ever after <3

~Jennifer Sauer, the Ivory Palace Princess

P.S. Let's Chat! What's your favorite fairy tale retelling series?