Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.12 AVERAGE
3.12 AVERAGE
This book was a retelling of Cinderella from the Fairy Godmother's point of view. It takes some liberties with the original Cinderella story. In this book's version, the Fairy Godmother was young and beautiful like Cinderella. She majorly screwed up when trying to help Cinderella get to the ball and was banished to live as a human on earth as punishment.
The beginning and middle of this book was so slow I had trouble maintaining interest. The last twenty pages were exciting - I would have expanded this section and fleshed it out more. I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen and when it finally did, it was over in a flash.
The beginning and middle of this book was so slow I had trouble maintaining interest. The last twenty pages were exciting - I would have expanded this section and fleshed it out more. I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen and when it finally did, it was over in a flash.
I really enjoyed the storyline and the writing, but I was disappointed with the ending. By the middle of the book I knew Lil's history wasn't like she remembered it, but there were some beautiful descriptions. This book had everything I would hope for from a fairy tale, and I would still choose to read it even knowing the ending.
I picked this book up because I love a good retelling of a well known fairy tale...and I thought, the fairy godmother goes after the prince...that's an I interesting twist...
However, this book was pretty dark (Cinderella actually commits suicide before going to the ball)...and then at the very end it basically plays out that while the main character (Lil) thinks she is a fairy banished to the human world, in reality it appears that her sister was raped (or at the least violently attacked) while she (Lil) left her outside of a dance and then later her sister committed suicide. The worst is that while Lil works hard to connect George and Veronica so they can fall in love and Lil can make things "right" she still breaks down at the end and commits suicide (or at least jumps of a bridge and then the book ends leaving you thinking she is gone). That really bothered me because Lil sees Veronica has heartbroken (her boyfriend had died in a car accident years ago) and while she successfully connected her to George Lil doesn't think about what her death would do to Veronica.
All in all I didn't love this...especially since it was described on the book cover as a rather light tale...
On top of all that it took me a really long time to get into the story. It had a slow start and with the bouncing between the fairy world and her current human world it just took a while to figure out what was going on...
However, this book was pretty dark (Cinderella actually commits suicide before going to the ball)...and then at the very end it basically plays out that while the main character (Lil) thinks she is a fairy banished to the human world, in reality it appears that her sister was raped (or at the least violently attacked) while she (Lil) left her outside of a dance and then later her sister committed suicide. The worst is that while Lil works hard to connect George and Veronica so they can fall in love and Lil can make things "right" she still breaks down at the end and commits suicide (or at least jumps of a bridge and then the book ends leaving you thinking she is gone). That really bothered me because Lil sees Veronica has heartbroken (her boyfriend had died in a car accident years ago) and while she successfully connected her to George Lil doesn't think about what her death would do to Veronica.
All in all I didn't love this...especially since it was described on the book cover as a rather light tale...
On top of all that it took me a really long time to get into the story. It had a slow start and with the bouncing between the fairy world and her current human world it just took a while to figure out what was going on...
I would give this a 3 1/2. I more than liked it but I didn't quite really like it. It is an interesting book that at some points disturbed me. I think that Carolyn Turgeon is a wonderful writer with great characters that are well developed but...
The wings that Lil has are revolting to me. They were pictured in the book as these beautiful snow white things but I couldn't get a nice image of them.
And to be honest, I'm not entirely sure just what happened in the end. I was so wanting to be finished with the book to see what happens that I think I must have missed something.
The wings that Lil has are revolting to me. They were pictured in the book as these beautiful snow white things but I couldn't get a nice image of them.
And to be honest, I'm not entirely sure just what happened in the end. I was so wanting to be finished with the book to see what happens that I think I must have missed something.
This book was absolutely excellent, combining the fairy world with the human world and describing how a fallen fairy godmother can redeem herself in modern day New York. If I have one criticism of this novel, it's that I wished it were longer and that the history of the main character was more robust.
I'm a sucker for a good fractured fairy tale; I think it stems all the way back to when I was 6, and there wasn't a gifted & talented program at my school, so the administrators had me meet with the librarian (Miss Hathaway!) to read and discuss fairy tales that featured princesses.
In Godmother, Lil is a former fairy who was kicked out for failing her mission to get Cinderella to her prince. Now, hundreds of years later, suffering as an elderly woman in a human body with wings that she must keep hidden, Lil has an opportunity to connect two more star-crossed lovers.
Characters, from fairy sisters to Lil's bookish employer to a vivid customer are wonderfully drawn; Turgeon's descriptive style is akin to Francesca Lia Block, but a smidge less outrageous and lush. The New York setting is nearly a character in its' own right.
Highly appealing for urban fantasy fans who prefer romance to epic battles.
In Godmother, Lil is a former fairy who was kicked out for failing her mission to get Cinderella to her prince. Now, hundreds of years later, suffering as an elderly woman in a human body with wings that she must keep hidden, Lil has an opportunity to connect two more star-crossed lovers.
Characters, from fairy sisters to Lil's bookish employer to a vivid customer are wonderfully drawn; Turgeon's descriptive style is akin to Francesca Lia Block, but a smidge less outrageous and lush. The New York setting is nearly a character in its' own right.
Highly appealing for urban fantasy fans who prefer romance to epic battles.
I picked this up thinking it would be a fun, fluffy chick-lit style book. It had a few of those moments.
All in all, it was a much more serious book than that, balancing the fun with looks into human nature, and with an ending that took me by surprise.
I read this as part of the 24 hour readathon, and wish I'd read it sometime with more leisure to reflect on it.
All in all, it was a much more serious book than that, balancing the fun with looks into human nature, and with an ending that took me by surprise.
I read this as part of the 24 hour readathon, and wish I'd read it sometime with more leisure to reflect on it.
Am extremely modern retellng of the fairy tale while retaining the gothic nature of he story. Not as effective as the Maguire books but a new take which I can appreciate.
This book is probably closer to 2.5-2.75 stars. I'm giving it 3 because so much of it is good. When I first read the description, I was like, "How can you retell Cinderella differently?" Then all, "oh! What a good idea, from the Fairy Godmother's perspective!" And I was impressed with the storytelling because the fairy godmother wasn't good in this book -- she was a flawed character and that seemed like a really cool approach.
But, a whole bunch of stuff marred that good feeling:
1. At about 60% through, I was utterly sick of the descriptions of flying into and out of the lake. Okay, we get it. It was beautiful, she misses it, move on. The story really started dragging here. Also, there was way too much description of the palace. One or two would have been plenty sufficient.
2. At about 75% through, when she is at the salon, you find out that she went to the ball with the prince instead of sending Cinderella. That means the whole next section is not a surprise at all because you know what is going to happen and you are just waiting to find out exactly why it happens.
3. A couple of other reviewers have said the characters are "well-developed". They are not. The only character you really get to know at all is Lil. This is a first person narrated story, so that's somewhat to be expected BUT I think a little more about the landlord who died at a much earlier point in the story would have been helpful, maybe a few memories of how she met George, or conversations with George would have been helpful. As it is, it's like she and George are just getting to know each other after working together quite closely for several years.
4. The ending. It seems people either love or hate the ending of the story. While I appreciate the "twist" I also think that it is very clumsily done and that it is crammed in the last couple of pages. SURPRISE! I don't mind that the ending is so dark; Cinderella is, at its heart, a very dark story.
The thing that really bothers me is that it wouldn't have taken much for this to be better. A few dark threads woven throughout the story. A couple of scenes where her confusion is related to the actual world, rather than the fairy world. Some memory of the dead landlord. A little less focus on the feathers, since they weren't real.
Bah. I don't recommend this one really to anyone, and I'm changing the rating to two stars. Dang. It really annoyed me.
But, a whole bunch of stuff marred that good feeling:
1. At about 60% through, I was utterly sick of the descriptions of flying into and out of the lake. Okay, we get it. It was beautiful, she misses it, move on. The story really started dragging here. Also, there was way too much description of the palace. One or two would have been plenty sufficient.
2. At about 75% through, when she is at the salon, you find out that she went to the ball with the prince instead of sending Cinderella. That means the whole next section is not a surprise at all because you know what is going to happen and you are just waiting to find out exactly why it happens.
3. A couple of other reviewers have said the characters are "well-developed". They are not. The only character you really get to know at all is Lil. This is a first person narrated story, so that's somewhat to be expected BUT I think a little more about the landlord who died at a much earlier point in the story would have been helpful, maybe a few memories of how she met George, or conversations with George would have been helpful. As it is, it's like she and George are just getting to know each other after working together quite closely for several years.
4. The ending. It seems people either love or hate the ending of the story. While I appreciate the "twist" I also think that it is very clumsily done and that it is crammed in the last couple of pages. SURPRISE! I don't mind that the ending is so dark; Cinderella is, at its heart, a very dark story.
The thing that really bothers me is that it wouldn't have taken much for this to be better. A few dark threads woven throughout the story. A couple of scenes where her confusion is related to the actual world, rather than the fairy world. Some memory of the dead landlord. A little less focus on the feathers, since they weren't real.
Bah. I don't recommend this one really to anyone, and I'm changing the rating to two stars. Dang. It really annoyed me.