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A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
Castle Charming by Tansy Rayner Roberts
4.0
I read the first book in the Castle Charming collection quite some time ago, while we were waiting for a train to bring us to a convention. I needed something quick to read, something I could finish before my friends arrived and reading wouldn't be in the cards anymore. I never read the rest until I saw this book on BookSprout and got it right away. And since I remembered how much fun the first book was I also re-read the first book and reconnected with the story.
The setting of this story is just too perfect. The kingdom of Charming has everything a fairytale kingdom should have. It has a royal family with a few troublemaking princes, a sleeping queen, a cursed princess and a lost prince. It has fairy godmothers who fulfill wishes, but who's magic always comes with a price. It has a newspaper writing down all the gossip, but mostly a version of the truth that the royals want their people to read and it has loads of love and kissing. In secret corners. Between people who actually shouldn't be kissing before they overcome the obstacles standing between them.
Therefore the entire book reads as one big fairytale. There are moments I was laughing out loud, moments I was screaming at the characters and moments I moved to the edge of my seat, even though I knew it would end with some kind of happily ever after. In a light hearted way, this book has everything that a magical tale should have. It really transports you to a lovely magical world where every reader will find someone to love, someone to identify with and someone to root for.
Because the cast of this series is quite diverse, which is part of what makes this series so much fun. All those characters are quite unique and without info dumping or over explaining we really get to know the characters very well. And even though they are characters in a fairytale setting, they never feel cliche. Every character has their own battle, their own inner conflict and their own flaws to overcome. And every character has their own story to tell and their own happy ending to find. And there was literally not one character I didn't find interesting or didn't like reading about.
Please tell me that in a kingdom like this there are always more adventures to have?
The setting of this story is just too perfect. The kingdom of Charming has everything a fairytale kingdom should have. It has a royal family with a few troublemaking princes, a sleeping queen, a cursed princess and a lost prince. It has fairy godmothers who fulfill wishes, but who's magic always comes with a price. It has a newspaper writing down all the gossip, but mostly a version of the truth that the royals want their people to read and it has loads of love and kissing. In secret corners. Between people who actually shouldn't be kissing before they overcome the obstacles standing between them.
Therefore the entire book reads as one big fairytale. There are moments I was laughing out loud, moments I was screaming at the characters and moments I moved to the edge of my seat, even though I knew it would end with some kind of happily ever after. In a light hearted way, this book has everything that a magical tale should have. It really transports you to a lovely magical world where every reader will find someone to love, someone to identify with and someone to root for.
Because the cast of this series is quite diverse, which is part of what makes this series so much fun. All those characters are quite unique and without info dumping or over explaining we really get to know the characters very well. And even though they are characters in a fairytale setting, they never feel cliche. Every character has their own battle, their own inner conflict and their own flaws to overcome. And every character has their own story to tell and their own happy ending to find. And there was literally not one character I didn't find interesting or didn't like reading about.
Please tell me that in a kingdom like this there are always more adventures to have?