My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This partly a story about free will in an Orwellian state… and partly a story about stories.
Bea is a cabbage fairy who wants to be a fairy godmother. Fairies aren’t usually made godmothers… least of all cabbage fairies. In the meantime things are going wrong in the state – the mirrors are breaking and the human belief in Fae is fading.
This is a well thought out, well realised world. It’s also funny. Bea is a bit of a bumbling Everywoman (Everyfairy?) at the beginning, but gets stronger and stronger as a character as the book progresses.
My favourite character is probably Ana – the ugly sister who isn’t mean or stupid. She definitely gets the best lines. The relationship between her and her step sister Sindy is lovely too. King John was a bit annoying at first, but grew on me as we got to see more of him.
The ending was dramatic and Happy For Now (you can’t really have a Happy Ever After for Bea, seeing as the book is about narrative convention and predetermined plots!). There were a lot of loose threads at the end of the book – what happened to Seven? And who/what is Mistasinon? What’s the story with Melly? And Bea’s family? All fodder for sequels, I guess.
All in all, good fun. If you like Terry Pratchett, or the Artemis Fowl books, you’ll like this.
Rhoda Baxter 