I have to start this with a couple of disclaimers. This was recommended to me by Heather on my Once upon a Marigold review, so I came to the book with the impression that it’d be a silly little book. It’s not. Secondly, the book jacket author blurb is one of the most annoying ones I’ve read. I was prepared to hate a book by an author who “started writing when she was 10 an has never stopped”. (Blech.) I didn’t hate it though. Quite the opposite. I found this to be a wonderful fairy tale. The characters are really well developed, I adored Ani the whole way through; the plot believable, with an absense of the “magic” that usually surrounds fairy tales of this sort (there’s something like magic, but more realistic); and, even if I saw the ending coming a mile away, on the whole a thoroughly enjoyable book. I also liked it because it was a good strong girl book… a princess made soft by luxury who finds strength, hope and friendship through adversity.

A great book, one worth reading over and over again. (Perhaps they could change the author blurb, though.)