This is another one of those my-gosh-I-can’t-believe-my-library-FINALLY-has-it-in books. I know I’ve seen reviews of this one popping up around; though for the life of me, besides Sarah Miller, Em, and Abby, I can’t think of where I found them…. at any rate, I heard about it, I wanted it, and I was super happy to get it.

It’s a great princess book. I loved Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s other books (Dairy Queen and Off Season), but this one is nothing like her other books. It’s deliciously different. Benevolence (that’s Ben for short, thank you very much), is a princess who doesn’t want to be one. She’s raised by a loving mother and a prince father, but they mostly let her do what she wants. Until one day, Ben’s left an orphan. She’s taken in by Queen Sophia, who tries, mostly against Ben’s will, to change Ben into a princess. It’s not pretty. Accidentally, Ben discovers a wizard room, with a book of spells, and sets to learning them. And, because she finds it unbearable, she ends up escaping the castle and Sophia’s regiment. Unfortunately, that only gets Ben into more trouble. Then again, that may not have been an unfortunate thing.

I really liked this book, as princess tales go. I liked that Ben’s not your typical princess, not just being a fiesty, head-strong (though spoiled) girl, but in other ways. She’s not thin. She has issues with food and comfort. She’s not perfect; her imperfections aren’t even remotely endearing. She has to endure (grumpily) trials in order to learn. In short, she’s a heck of a lot like me. I liked that. M said that she didn’t like that Murdock made a big deal about Ben being fat, but I think it was a necessary element to the story… it was something that Ben had to learn to deal with and accept, and it didn’t define who she was.

I also liked the world building, and use of magic. I liked that I felt the world supported the characters, rather than overwhelming them, as it can do in fantasy novels. I liked Queen Sophia; sure she was supposed to be mean and evil, but I felt more that she was overwhelmed and inexperienced (at being a parent, mostly), and I empathized with her, even while I was rooting for the grumpy and stubborn Ben.

However, I do think that Murdock slighted her other ones, Prince Florian and his father especially. Actually, the romance in the book was a bit uneven… it putters along at a 3 and then rockets to a 10 in the last chapter. (I liked the rocketing; I just wish there was more build-up.) I wanted to know more about Prince Florian than his glower. (Granted, it’s written from Ben’s point of view, so that may not have been possible…)

Most of all, though, I liked that what I liked outweighed what I didn’t like. It’s always nice when that happens.