First off, I must share my favorite line(s) from this book that sent me into fits of giggles: With that, I hurled the slipper at him, not caring if I caused his decapitation. (I did not.) Marshaling what little dignity I yet possessed, I stomped down the corridor -- challenging indeed with one shoe -- and around the corner. I lay awake for hours. The prince had no right, not one, to indict me so, and if I had held the slightest hope of the book's assistance, I would have climbed at once to my wizard room for a spell with which to punish him. Death, perhaps, or humiliation. A croaking frog would be nice, particularly a frog that retained Florian's dark eyes. I should keep it in a box and poke it occasionally with a stick; that would be satisfying indeed. [book: Princess Ben] is one of the most well thought-out and intellectually relevant books that I have ever read in today's time! Princess Benevolent has quite a year and must learn how to live up to her name. I earnestly can see where a reader can grow along with Ben, learning some difficult lessons that we especially today wish to ignore. Through this book I can see many a young, teenager, or older girl grow more into herself and what she will someday be. I feel like I learned somethings about myself through this book. All around a fabulous story, with twisting plots and turns I did not expect. The first section was a little droll, and I was waiting for excitement. Well the excitement came! and that build-up had been proper and necessary. I strongly encourage anyone to read this book. Buy it for your tween and teenage gals and let them go on the adventure. Goodness me, go on it yourself! ( )

First off, I must share my favorite line(s) from this book that sent me into fits of giggles: With that, I hurled the slipper at him, not caring if I caused his decapitation. (I did not.) Marshaling what little dignity I yet possessed, I stomped down the corridor -- challenging indeed with one shoe -- and around the corner. I lay awake for hours. The prince had no right, not one, to indict me so, and if I had held the slightest hope of the book's assistance, I would have climbed at once to my wizard room for a spell with which to punish him. Death, perhaps, or humiliation. A croaking frog would be nice, particularly a frog that retained Florian's dark eyes. I should keep it in a box and poke it occasionally with a stick; that would be satisfying indeed. [book: Princess Ben] is one of the most well thought-out and intellectually relevant books that I have ever read in today's time! Princess Benevolent has quite a year and must learn how to live up to her name. I earnestly can see where a reader can grow along with Ben, learning some difficult lessons that we especially today wish to ignore. Through this book I can see many a young, teenager, or older girl grow more into herself and what she will someday be. I feel like I learned somethings about myself through this book. All around a fabulous story, with twisting plots and turns I did not expect. The first section was a little droll, and I was waiting for excitement. Well the excitement came! and that build-up had been proper and necessary. I strongly encourage anyone to read this book. Buy it for your tween and teenage gals and let them go on the adventure. Goodness me, go on it yourself! ( )

Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com

Fans of Catherine Gilbert Murdock's previous books, DAIRY QUEEN and its sequel, THE OFF SEASON, will be surprised and excited to discover that PRINCESS BEN is a tale in a completely different vein, yet equally enjoyable. This fantasy novel with fairy tale leanings is told by Princess Benevolence, who finds herself forced into becoming a "proper" princess after years of escaping the Queen's notice when the King is killed and his brother -- her father -- disappears.

At first Ben wants nothing more than to thwart Queen Sophia's every attempt to turn her into a lady, with the right manners and figure. She stumbles through dance classes, sneaks extra food whenever she can, and avoids all thought of her new position as heir to the throne. Locked during the night in a tower room, she finds a much more interesting way of passing the time when a secret passage leads her to a room of sorcery. Soon Ben is spending all her time learning spells, and half-sleeping through her days of lessons.

Ben's newfound contentment is disrupted when the threat of war looms. Thrown out into the world by the magical forces she still cannot completely control, she learns that there is some use for the skills the Queen tried to teach her after all. It will take all of her courage and determination to survive this challenge and become a true ruler.

Ben is a spirited narrator, and readers will love every minute they spend with her, from her somewhat spoiled beginnings to her later maturity. The story has enough twists to keep readers on their toes, and nothing and no one is quite what they first seem. The romance feels a little rushed, but it isn't the focus of the novel. This is really a story about a girl growing up and coming into her own in a strange and difficult world, and it will touch readers of all ages and situations. ( )

An interesting and funny fairy tale twist. Review soon on my blog: http://librariansbookreviews.blogspot... ( )

Delightful, this fantasy story looked like a fairytale retelling, but actually had some wonderful world building, and some great characters. I especially loved the nasty queen. Such a differnt feel to Dairy Queen, but just as splendid. ( )

Fifteen year old Benevolence ("Ben") is left all alone in her kingdom after her parents were killed by assassins. It's now up to her to save the kingdom from the threats of evil.

Title: Princess Ben Author: Catherine Murdock Publisher:HMCo Number Of Pages: 344

Summary from inside jacket flap : My gown suited me well as well as I could ever hope,though I could not envy the young ladies who would attract the honest compliments of of the night. My bodice did not plunge as dramatically as some, and no man- no man I would ever want to meet, surely- could fit his hands round my waist. What I lacked in beauty I would simply have to earn with charm..... Benevolence is not your typical princess- and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale. With her parents lost to assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia. Starved and miserable, locked in the castle's highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire.... But Ben's private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat to her kingdom. Can Ben save the country and herself from foul tyranny?

Review: Princess Ben started off really slow and I found myself not wanting to read it. But I wanted to finish it anyway. As I progressed through the book it got better and better. By the end of the book I wished it was longer. The main character Princess Ben is witty and I found it funny how much she ate. Overall this book was really great!
I recommend this book if you like fairytales, princesses, romance, magic, adventure, and young adult novels. ( )

At just barely 15, Princess Benevolence is a more than slightly spoiled, slightly plump, pampered... well, princess, when tragedy strikes. Her mother and her uncle the king are murdered, and her father disappears. Without warning, Princess Ben becomes the charge of her Aunt Sophia, the Queen Regent. Expected to dress, act, and eat the part of a royal, Ben rebels and finds herself locked in a tower. What happens next may be the salvation of the kingdom.

Told in retrospect, with a few traditional fairytale interjections - you'll know them when you run across them - Princess Ben is a charming coming of age story with more than a few unexpected twists. Worth picking up. ( )

This is the kind of princess story I want to save for my daughters. No lying around waiting for a magical kiss for this princess. Ben jumps out there, grabbing her own destiny by the horns. This is a marvellous coming of age tale that I think would be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

There's more to this review: http://ultimatebookhound.blogspot.com... ( )

This was a good story that lacked some essential elements to being complete. One of those elements was a good ending. I am a firm believer in the idea that a bad ending can ruin a good book. Fortunely, this had not a terrible ending just not one of the bets. There were several loose holes. I would like to point out the biggest one. SPOILER! WARNING!!! Ben and the prince fall in love almost randomly. Sure, they dream of each other- nightmares might I add- but in real life the absolutely despised each other. How that turend into true love by the slaying of a dragon I can't figure out. END SOILER! And there was far too little magic for that to really have enough of an impact on the story.

Let me start by saying I loved this story!
Princess Benevolence's parents are lost to assassins and she becomes the responsibility of Queen Sophia, her dead uncle's wife. Sophia intends to marry Ben to Prince Florian, but Ben wants no part of that plan!
I loved the strength of Ben's character, I loved the skillful use of vocabulary throughout the book, and I especially loved that it's the princess that kisses the prince to make things work out "happily ever after."
Great girl book, for those who like books about princesses with a little bit of magic thrown in. I highly recommend the reading of this story, but be sure you have time to finish, because once you start, you won't want to stop. ( )

Princess Ben short for Benevolence is orphaned after the assassinations of her uncle, the reining king, and her mother, her father’s body is not found. As the last remaining member of royal blood, Ben is forced to move into the castle and endure her aunt, Queen Sophia. Sophia insists that Ben act like the princess she should and insists that Ben learn to dance, sew, proper penmanship, and control her appetite. She later learns these "lessons" are to make her appealing to a suitor, so that the queen may marry her off! Once Ben learns of this notion, she is anything but cooperative. The Queen, upset by Bens actions locks her away. But in her moment of despair Ben discovers a room that may be her escape from Sophia and an unwanted marriage, perhaps even provide vengeance for the death of her parents.After reading Murdocks’s other books, I was expecting a lot from Princess Ben. Not only did this book meet my expectations, it extended far beyond them! It is beautifully told in a way that only Murdock can. She is able to create such characters that you can’t help but admire. The growth that Ben undergoes throughout the story only increased my admiration for her. The plot was beyond captivating!! It was full of magic, adventure, and fantasy!!! I absolutely recommend this book!!! I can’t wait to read more from Murdock! ( )

A spoiled and unattractive teenage princess learns magic, self-discipline, and some unappealing truths on the way to a happy ending for herself and her mountain kingdom. ( )

Princess Benevolance is not your ordinary princess. She's not willowy, blonde or graceful. She has no manners to speak of and is a bit spoiled. When her parents die mysteriously, she is put under the care of her Aunt Sophia. Sophia starts shaping Ben to become a proper princess which Ben is sure that all she is doing is torturing her. To make matters worse, she gets locked into a small tower. The tower, however, holds a mysterious workroom where Ben learns how to do magic. Slowly, she finds herself as well as the killer of her parents.

A nice combination of fairy tales. Sort of reminded me of Ella Enchanted but Ben wasn't nearly as likable as Ella until more towards the end. Good read. It could've used a bit more magic, I thought. I wish Murdock had left it open for a sequal. ( )

I thought this book was well written and the plot was lively and entertaining. ( )

It has many implausible moments, but it's a fairy tale, so I guess you can't hold that against it. It's a fun story. ( )

A bit of an untraditional fairy tale, where the girl is chubby and gluttonous and has to learn to become a princess and a queen quickly in order to survive war. It had a charming blend of different fairy tales with some cameos of other fairy tales randomly snuck in. The book was written in a witty narrative tone that fit it all too well. ( )

I love Ella Enchanted, Dealing with Dragons, Ordinary Princess, etc., and I had expected Princess Ben to be cut from the same cloth. Perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind when I read Princess Ben, but I found myself disappointed and annoyed with Ben until Part 4 when she finally grows up and things started to get more interesting. ( )

This is one of my new favorite authors, and I wasn't sure if I would like her fantasy book as much as I liked her realistic fiction, but I do. Princess Ben has never been a part of the royal court in her country until her parents are both killed suddenly. She is the heir to the throne, and so it falls to her to begin to learn how to become a princess, and eventually a queen. Murdock does a fabulous job of creating a believable world, along with imbedding romance, intrigue and politics into her story. There is even a little magic to please everyone. Another thing that I thought was very impressive was the language used in this book - the vocabulary is definitely difficult for any young reader. As such, I think I will recommend it moved to the Teen section. This book was also very entertaining, and I think I will consider it for book club too. ( )

A charming story with a very human protagonist. ( )

Princess Ben is not your typical princess. First of all, her name isn’t pretty and feminine – it’s Ben, short for Benevolence. Secondly, she is chubby and graceless. And her life is far from perfect, especially after her parents and her uncle, the king, die on the same day. It is assumed that they were killed by the neighboring Drachensbetts, long the enemy of Ben’s people. Ben goes to live with her widowed aunt, Sophia, who is now serving as the Queen until Ben is old enough to assume the throne. Ben soothes her grief with food and sullenness, causing her aunt to keep her in a tower room until she learns to behave. But this punishment turns into freedom when Ben discovers there is something very special about this room, and the castle as well.

The story is told from a future Ben’s point-of-view, as she attempts to set the story straight on the events that made her famous. The voice is authentic and old-fashioned, and beautifully written. All of the major characters are complex and well-drawn – we see the spoiled as well as the mature Ben, the aunt who is both cruel and caring, and the Drachensbett rulers who are both enemy and friend. This book has garnered rave reviews, and will be on many people’s short list for a Newbery honor. ( )

In this delightful, fractured fairy tale version of Sleeping Beauty, Princess Benevolence must grow into her role as crown princess when her kingdom is thrown into crisis. A wonderful read for fans of Ella Enchanted and its ilk. ( )

A spoiled and unattractive teenage princess learns magic, self-discipline, and some unappealing truths on the way to a happy ending for herself and her mountain kingdom. ( )

Loved this one! When Ben's mother is brutally killed and her father is missing, the kingdom blames their rivals. Ben is taken under her aunt's wing to be groomed to be the next ruler. She doesn't want to conform to castle etiquette, so is banished to a dark room at the top of the castle. When she discovers a secret room full of magic and starts using it, she discovers much about herself. ( )

I very much enjoyed this book. With allusions to fairy tales, magic, good character development, royal intrigue, murder, power struggles, evil step-mon, and all, it was hard to put down! It even won out over my knitting! ( )