The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Spoiler Warning: If you have not read all 7 Harry Potter books, read at your own risk. (I may be an evil cousin, but no one should be robbed the experience of reading the Harry Potter series.) However, if you haven't read them by now, shame on you. Stop reading this review and go read the bloody series!

We've all heard such timeless (Disney) classics as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. These are our beloved childhood bedtime stories, our fairy tales. Well, Wizards and Witches have classic fairy tales too! Five of which can be found in the Wizarding classic The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Just like Muggle fairy tales, each of the five stories deals with a different theme and teaches a lesson. However, as a Muggle, it may be difficult to truly grasp all of the lessons taught by Beedle the Bard. To help us better understand these magical tales, Albus Dumbledore has kindly given extensive commentary on each tale. (The commentary was published without Dumbledore's consent. It was found among his other belongings after his dead.)

Anyone who has read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is at least vaguely familiar with this book of tales. Hermione receives a copy, from Dumbledore if I am not mistaken. Well, Rowling decided to publish a copy of Beedle's tales for Muggle enjoyment. All the sales go to the Children's High Level Group, a charity that provides support to children in need. The children tend to be poor, disabled, or from ethnic minorities. If you want to support a lovely charity AND get a little light-hearted reading on the side, or vice versa, this is definitely the book for you.

If you are still not convinced that this book is worth the buy, here is my criticism of the book (which happens to be mostly good).

The tales themselves are nothing special. They're mostly just cute. The stories are imaginative, but they're nothing like the books. The books are very long, detailed, and everything mentioned seems to have some significance before the series ends (which is one of the reasons I love Rowling's writing so much). These tales are short. There's no time for that kind of no-loose-ends writing. However, Rowling makes up for it by adding Dumbledore's commentary. His words are thoughtful, witty, and all around awesome! Not only does he add insight into the theme and lesson of each story. He also rambles on about little side notes (from letters between himself and Lucius Malfoy to his criticism of Madam Bloxam's revised version of Beedle's "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot"), both of which were quite humorous to say the least. Dumbledore will keep you alternating between the thinker pose (hand stroking the chin) and simply laughing uncontrollably and a variation of a giggle fit.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Beedle's tales. The book is a very quick read, which was rather disappointing to me, but it's still a great little book.

I give The Tales of Beedle the Bard a respectable 3.5 daggers out of 5.







Yours without magic,
Gabriel Gethin

The Poison Apples by Lily Archer

Mother dies, father marries an unforgivably evil stepmother, and young daughter is stuck with a melancholy tale, waiting for her prince to save her. Sound familiar? Sound like every fairy tale in the book? Well—Poison Apples by Lily Archer is indeed like a fairy tale, but with modern setting and a delicious twist.

Three girls—Alice Bingley-Beckerman, Reena Parachuri, and Molly Miller—come into wicked stepmothers, and, one by one, are banished to a private boarding school: Putnam Mount McKinsey. There, by a mix of misunderstandings and pure chance, the three girls meet, and share their stories. Surprised at the similar horrendous fate that has befell each of them, they decide to form the Poison Apples— a secret society known to only them, committed to getting revenge upon their evil stepmothers. With prince charmings, small towns, little sisters and even a penguin or two, Poison Apples is certainly a fully packed and entertaining read.

I definitely enjoyed reading this book—for the most part, the characters were likeable and their scenarios amusing.

I liked the beginning especially, when the author was setting up each girl’s scenario. I found it well developed and interesting, with some funny insights on yoga and parents and clothes. I liked the natural way each found her path to the boarding school, but once there the book lost a bit of its spark to me. As the girls’ stories began to weave together, I found myself confused at times, but for the most part it was pretty good. I felt that the plots became a bit thinner, yes, but it was still enjoyable and funny. This was how most of the book continued—entertaining and witty, but dipping into too many sub-plots to fully commit to any of them.

The ending was the biggest fault, to me. Each girl embarked on a plan of revenge for their evil stepmothers, but the plans were weak and the execution weaker, and I felt that the ending was rather rushed.

On the whole, I identified with the three main girls very easily, I found the stepmothers deliciously evil, and I really, really liked the idea of a modern fairy tale, but at times the plot was weak and confusing.

I’d say three and a half evilistic daggers.

As a first novel, it showed a lot of potential, so I’d definitely watch for Lily Archer’s next book!



Happy that I am the evil one and not my mother,
Briar

Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Palace of Mirrors, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is a different sort of fairy tale. Cecilia knows she is the true princess, with all heart and all conviction, knows with complete certainty and assurance that indeed, once the danger passes from her kingdom, she will go to the palace and take from the stand-in commoner, her rightful place as princess of Suala.

As for now, and the full fourteen years of her life, she lives in a remote peasant village, so small and obsolete that it lacks placement on most kingdom maps. She lives as a simple peasant girl, fishing at the brook, leading the cow, scrubbing the pots and helping Nanny with chores, living the life of every single common girl in the country, save for the fact that Sir Stephen visits her at night to teach etiquette and algebra, strategy and Latin, all in preparation for the time in which she will rule the land.

But the enemy is closing in. Door latches are slashed, menace lurks in shadows, hiding places are no longer havens. In a night of swords and consequence, Cecilia is forced to run from her safety and her home, run towards capital with nothing but a harp, a friend, and a basket of breads. The palace and the impostor princess loom closer, and as Cecilia finds herself involved deeply with both of them, everything she has ever known, each bedtime wish of hope and magic, are thrown into question and uncertainty.

297 pages, I read Palace of Mirrors in a day, Granted, it was a ridiculously long car ride, but I was so committed to the story that I ignored the fact that I got nauseas every fifteen minutes, due to the motion and the reading. It was completely enjoyable. I got annoyed when I had to stop reading for dinner, though I wasn't in complete distress, as I sometimes am. I read it in a few sittings—it had all of the components of a perfectly great book: it was nicely written, the plot never dragged (though, because of my vast, evil experience with stories like these, I expected it to), there were new, interesting ideas introduced in almost every chapter, and the characters were endearing and pleasant. Looking at it afterwards, I give the book three and a half evilistic daggers.

It was definitely a fun read—not one for the ages, not quite as good as some of Margaret Peterson Haddix's other, stellar works, but a fun read all the same. What was cool was that the book was all about illusion. The girl with the dainty wave on the palace balcony every day may not be the "true princess" and the average peasant may be more than she seems. Or is seeming really anything? Can something as arbitrary as bloodlines really dictate who is fit to rule the kingdom? Is everything you've ever hoped for enough to risk, or should one embrace what they do, what they should have?

There were plenty of chess analogies—things like someone you thought to be the ruler is really only a pawn, and lively descriptions of cities and life and royalty. The whole setting and plotline reminded me a whole lot of Gail Carson Levine's books, except slightly less well done.

Another notable thing—Palace of Mirrors takes place in the same world as Just Ella, also by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Indeed, Ella reprises her role, this time as a friend and confidante to the "true princess," part of a peace delegation from a warring country.

Soo. Nice, crinterproodish sort of book (if you don't know what that is, check out my reviews on Toad Hill), with three and a half wicked evil daggers!



Imagining life as medieval royalty,

Princess Briar of Dreamland