Once Upon a Marigold

Quirky and adorable is how I would describe this one. Possibly more Shrek than The Princess Bride. I found this to be a fun, entertaining read. I enjoyed how Ferris takes the fairy tale basics – an evil stepmother, a doting father, three older sisters, a hero with a mysterious past and a curmudgeon troll with a heart of gold – and put her own spin on things. I loved the p-mail (correspondence via carrier pigeon), the way in which Ed the troll misquotes a lot of familiar sayings and has an axe to grind with the tooth fairy (who seems to be having a lot of difficulties overseeing the gathering of teeth and the remittance of coin). While somewhat predictable – given the fairy tale formula being utilized – I still enjoyed following show more the characters as Christian and Marigold’s friendship grows into a romance along with Queen Olympia’s determination to marry Marigold off and get her out of the way in Olympia’s quest to rule the kingdom.

A fun, light, entertaining read for children... and adults like me. show less

Cold indeed is the heart not made warm by this bubbly fairy-rale romance...Kirkus ReviewsWell said, Kirkus! I never thought I'd find "over-the-top" so funny and refreshing! Take all the things considered necessary for a good book nowadays - complex, complicated and ultra-flawed characters, excessive backstories, social commentaries, and sad, morbid endings - and flip them over like a flapjack, and you'll have a good idea of what Once Upon a Marigold is! Yes, the characters are lovably simple, yes the story is a bit on the predictable side (that's the nature of fairytales, after all!) and yes, there is a (da-da-dum) HAPPY ENDING! And I loved it all, and so will you! Here's the setup: a commoner raised by a troll who falls in love with a show more princess and must rescue said princess when the evil queen plots to take over the throne! Exciting! No, I'm not being sarcastic, it's truly exciting! Somehow, the fact that Jean Ferris wrote this book specifically as a good'ol fairytale story makes everything so much easier to digest. You know going in that this is going to be a fun and uplifting read. This story is like Lean Cuisine: it tastes good and it's good for you! In fact, while reading this book I was reminded of the "Comedy Tonight" song from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: "Something familiar, Something peculiar,Something for everyone - a comedy tonight!" This is a book that definitely wants to be read! I was in Borders about a month ago, minding my own business, when my eyes fell on this title and its sequel (which I will be starting straight away), and I just had to buy it. It's like it wanted me to find it (kind of like the Ring, only not as evil and creepy). So I would recommend this book to anyone who likes being happy! It's a simple read (less than 300 pages) and only took me 2 nights... "No royal curse,No Trojan horse,and a happy ending, of course!" (Actually, there is a royal curse in this story, but whatever, you get the point!) This book has just made me giddy-happy, can you tell? Too much realism is bad for the soul! And the stomach! Read Once Upon a Marigold! show less

My seven-year-old cousin and fellow lover-of-all-things-fairy, Natalie, convinced me to read this by reciting the cover blurb to me: "Part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink." What fairy tale fan could resist that? Not this one!

I loved that the defining characteristics of the characters weren't their beauty or lack thereof. Chris is intelligent, kind, and loyal. He's also an inventor. He's the first in the kingdom to use p-mail (pigeon mail). Princess Marigold is a reader, also intelligent and kind, and very concerned with making sure that she becomes a good strong ruler of her kingdom. She even asks commoners' opinions on the qualities that a good ruler should have! Even the minor characters are generally show more defined by their personalities, good or bad. Looks really didn't come into play at all. I found that a little refreshing.

The story was a little predictable. We first meet Chris when he's a six-year-old runaway living in the woods. As he grows older, he starts to notice Princess Marigold, who he can watch as she reads on her terrace in the castle. He wants to be her friend, and he wants to know why she frequently looks unhappy. You can probably guess the general outline of the story, beginning to end, just from that. But there were still several surprises along the way that kept the story fresh.

Ed the troll might have been my favorite character. Oh, I really liked Chris and Marigold, but Ed made me laugh. He loves to use common sayings, but he can never get them right. Here's one: "But now that you have your act on the ball, you can do better...All you have to do is keep your shoulder to the grindstone and your nose to the wheel." Too funny! And he's working hard to break a certain fairy creature's monopoly. I won't say who, but that whole little subplot was really cute.

I'm not sure exactly what set the villain off at this point in time. That's probably the biggest thing that knocked this down a star. He or she (I won't say who!) has had years to act. Why now?

If you read the epilogue, there's a huge cliffhanger. I'll be picking up the next one. As Natalie would quote at me, "Part comedy, part tragedy, part two!" Again, who could resist? show less

A cute story about a boy, Chris, raised by a troll. Chris becomes a penpal by pmail (pigeon mail) with Princess Marigold. Chris goes to work at the castle just as the nasty queen is trying to arrange Marigold's wedding.
Ideas of entitlement and independence are woven into this charming read about a girl and boy developing a friendship when neither of them really fits in their own family.

Christian has been brought up in a cave by Edric the troll, who discovered Chris hiding in the forest. Now Chris is in love with the princess Marigold, with whom he has exchanged letters carried by pigeon but has never met. The cover claims this is “part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink”, which could be considered to be rather misleading. However, I suspect the book would appeal to readers attracted by the cover’s children’s-fantasy vibe who think “part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” is funny.

If I had discovered this in 2002 when it was first published, I suspect I’d have been delighted by its gentle, whimsical, almost-fairytale-ness. These days I tend to want more complexity and more emotion show more and, often, more critical engagement with the genre’s tropes. But the audiobook was still pleasant company while I did a few hours of housework. show less

Once upon a Marigold there lived a cursed princess, an evil queen, an eccentric troll, and a handsome foster son of the troll. Subtitled “Part comedy, part love story, part everything-but-the-kitchen-sink,” Once Upon a Marigold is all parts a light-hearted, fun read. Princess Marigold has an independent spirit and refuses to tolerate the unwelcome suitors her evil queen mother sends her way. Instead, Marigold wishes to marry for love and to take an active part in ruling her kingdom.

Speaking of love, Marigold’s plight does not go unnoticed by Christian, the young man living across the river with his foster father the troll Edric (Ed for short). Christian’s past is mysterious (albeit somewhat predictable), since he ran away from show more home and was adopted by Ed when he was but a young lad of six. Christian and Marigold begin with p-mail (pigeon mail) and their seemingly improbable commoner-princess relationship blossoms into full-fledged love.

Just to be near Marigold, Christian finds menial work at the castle. At first he doesn’t tell Marigold that he is her p-mail pal, but he changes his mind when he overhears her evil mother discussing yet another evil plot. Through a series of misfortunes and adventures and the use of his inventor’s prowess, he wins the princess and defeats the evil stepmother.

Replete with awful jokes, a humorous plot, magical creatures (including a single-minded troll bent on breaking up the monopoly of the overworked, ineffectual tooth fairy), a smattering of Greek mythology, and many a time-tested fairy tale convention, Once Upon a Marigold holds its own in the realm of comedic fairy tale lore and will particularly appeal to young girls who dream that someday their prince will come (and possibly to young boys who don’t mind the romance thrown in with the troll-talk and invention action).

The end is apparent from the beginning, and I personally found the tale to be a little too predictable. Still, readers (myself included) will likely continue to turn pages just to make sure Marigold and Christian do indeed find true love and that Ed commences his part of the tooth fairy enterprise (and also so as not to miss out on any awful jokes) . show less

In this witty spoof of fairy tales, Christian, who lives in a cave with a troll for a dad, is clueless about how amazing - and stupefying - love can be. But now that Christian's fallen for Princess Marigold, it's up to him to untwist an odd love triangle and foil a scheming queen.