Welcome to my throwback book review! I’ll be rereading and reviewing books from my childhood. I was a huge reader as a child and these books shaped my life. I couldn’t possibly get rid of them, so I still have a large collection that I am sharing with all of you in the form of reviews.
Same author as Ella Enchanted, which I love, but this is my favorite book by her. It has the same kind of world building as Ella Enchanted but is (to my knowledge) a completely unique story.
Princess Addie and her older sister Meryl are super close but polar opposites. Meryl is fair, adventurous and brave. Addie has a darker complexion, prefers to stay in, and is afraid of everything. They are the princesses of the kingdom of Bamarre under their father. Their mother died of the Gray Death, a plague in their kingdom with no known cure. Meryl wants to go off on adventures but promises Addie she will stay until she marries.
When Meryl contracts the Gray Death, Addie has to gather her courage in order to find the cure. She sets out with guidance from Rhys, the kingdom’s handsome apprentice sorcerer, and a few magical gifts such as a tablecloth that produces food and seven-league boots, which go seven leagues for every step taken.
Addie defeats an ogre with the boots by dragging him along and letting him hit a building, and a flock of gryphons by letting them gorge themselves on the tablecloth. During her journey, she is heartened by the tale of Drualt, an epic poem that apparently the entire kingdom has memorized. It states that the cure will be found when cowards find courage and rain falls all over Bamarre.
She is captured by a dragon, who holds her prisoner while hinting at giving her the cure, as dragons are the only ones who know it. The dragon is amused by her for a while and eventually tells her the cure, but she is then ready to kill Addie before she manages to escape.
The cure to the Gray Death is the afflicted drinking from the waterfall coming directly from the fairies’ mountain, so Addie rushes back to her sister’s side. She and Rhys take Meryl to the waterfall where an epic battle breaks out: they are attacked by gryphons and ogres and the dragon who captured Addie, and receive help from a few brave villagers near the waterfall.
Meryl is to die by dawn, if only she can get to the waterfall in time. She almost makes it but turns back at the last second when Addie is attacked.
Addie awakens very confused. Her sister is still alive, and she and Addie and Rhys are staying with the fairies. The Gray Death is no more, as Addie’s courage and that of the villagers brought the rain. However, Meryl was too close to death to be cured, but she was given the option of becoming a fairy instead.
Rhys and Addie admit their feelings for each other over the course of the book, and are wed by the fairies.
This book is beautiful and very descriptive and imaginative, it will always hold a special place in my heart for children’s books. I love the overall themes and the sweet love story of Addie and Rhys. I’ve always identified with Addie, being a bit of a timid homebody.
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