Reviews

Part of the journey of reading childhood books I remember as a kid. Remember loving Kessler’s mermaid series (which i reread last year) but I didn’t really like the fairy one. Reading this as an adult, the message is a bit in your face and Philippa is not the most likable main character, both her and Daisy were quite rude to each other throughout the book. The magic system is never really developed, which I think makes this a bit boring when it could have been whimsical and fun.
On a personal thing, I didn’t realize how sad philippa’s childish embarrassment of her dad would make adult me sad, literally had me full on sobbing at points!

babayagareads's review against another edition

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2.0

I hate to give this one such a low rating, because if I really could, I'd give it a 2.5, but if I mark it as a three, and I reference it later, I'll imagine it was on the better side of okay. A lot of the character growth seemed superficial. It's a children's book, but I think especially compared to Emily Windsnap, this one just falls short. I also wanted more fairy background information, but it was pretty 2D.

will_o_the_wisp's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

alessandra_johnson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Philippa Fisher's Fairy Godsister by Liz Kessler (2007) is a fantasy novel suitable for 3rd grade and beyond aged students. It highlights on character development as two girls who are not so fond of each other end up spending a lot of time and making a lot of wishes together despite not getting along. The book went at a good pace and had a well developed plotline. This could be used in a classroom setting when exploring the genre of fantasy and character development, as both are implemented well throughout the entirety of the story, but also would be good as a book to explore in independent reading as it is a good example of what attending school as an eleven year old is like. Overall, the story was great!

tinysierra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book contains:

Fairies
Cute illustrations
Duel POV: Philippa and Daisy have distinct voices and attitudes.
A good message about having confidence in yourself and compassion for others
Vegetarian characters
Authoritative parenting
No romance

This was the perfect book for me when I was younger. I was really into fairies, and I’ve always been it to the trope where the mean girl starts to change and grow as a person. I might have rated it higher when I first read it, but as an adult it doesn’t compare as highly to the other books I’ve read. It was a nice break from the heavy stuff I have been reading, though.

CW:
Bullying, Grief over death of a friend, terminal illness/failing health and implied death of a main character, an accusation of cheating/infidelity, ableism (bully calls characters dumb and says that they’re like freak shows), injury (bruises and swollen ankle from a fall)

Content Warnings

lishameesh's review against another edition

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4.0

Light, easy read. Just re-read it for the third time.

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