Princess Ben

Ben’s voice couldn’t be more different from [Dairy Queen heroine] DJ’s: where DJ is plainspoken and even sometimes inarticulate, Ben writes like Oscar Wilde. I was reminded of M. T. Anderson’s Octavian Nothing, written in old-fashioned language with the kind of humor that grows naturally out of such a style. It’s challenging, but entertaining enough that I think a lot of fantasy fans will push through it. (Full review at http://www.parenthetical.net/2011/07/08/review-princess-ben-2008-and-wisdoms-kis...

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 show more 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! show less

After her parents' untimely deaths, Princess Benevolence of Montagne falls under the strict guidance of her aunt Queen Sophia. Under her tutelage, Ben knows none of the warmth and kindness she associates with home. Instead, all of her days are consumed with lessons in deportment and other 'princess' skills, as well as Sophia's attempts to slim Ben down to size. But soon Ben discovers the secret wizard's tower in the castle where she begins her study of magic. Sulky and rebellious, Benevolence sneaks food, learns of the possibility of an invasion by the neighboring kingdom of Drachensbett and of her possible arranged marriage to the heir of that kingdom - a marriage (and an invasion) she is determined to thwart as best she knows how to show more save herself and her beloved country.

Murdock really captures the old-fashioned language that situates this story firmly in fairy tale convention - as do the elements of the evil Queen, magic brooms, and enchanted sleeps. But in this fairy tale, nothing is as simple or straightforward as it seems. The author really delves into the motivations of each of the characters instead of leaving any of them as simple two-dimensional fairy-tale archetypes.
Ben's overeating is not magically erased, nor is this a 'makeover' type story. Instead, Murdock uses this as a device to explore Ben's emotions, grief, and psyche.

While the first parts of the novel can be a little trying as Ben gives way to adolescent sullenness and senseless rebellion rather than trying to do anything productive to better her lot, the latter parts once she is forced to rely on herself and the kingdom to rely on her are wonderfully done. The formerly immature princess learns to shoulder responsibility and do something productive - but none of it in a trite or unbelievable way. The only real iffy part of this was the completely unlikely romance - it simply wasn't given enough buildup for me to buy it given the circumstances and the rest of the writing.

All told, a lovely addition to my fairy tale shelf. Inspiring and fun, but not nearly as like The Enchanted Forest Chronicles opening as the back cover blurb would have you believe. More like Shannon Hale's Princess Academy. show less

Benevolence is the beloved only child of the royal family. When the king (her uncle) and the princess (her mother) are killed, Ben's life takes a terrible turn. No longer is she allowed the cozy, unpretentious, rough-and-tumble childhood she so enjoyed. Instead she must live in the palace with her aunt, the queen regent, who is so controlled and controlling that it nearly drives Ben mad. Her only solace is learning magic on the sly. After a disastrous ball, Ben embarks on an adventure by turns horrifying and exhausting, and at last becomes someone worthy of her crown.

The twists on common fairy tales are fun to note--at one point Ben conjures an inanimate double to sleep in her place, thus giving rise to the Sleeping Beauty story; at show more another she exchanges some conjured beans for a cow. Ben's narration is wonderful, with a great dry sense of humor and a lot of personality. And the story adroitly and gradually shows the importance of living up to one's responsibilities and being a good, useful person. show less

Hmm. In many ways, I like it a lot - I generally like fairy-tale retellings with more rounded characters, which this is. Ben is interesting in a lot of ways. There's quite a few loose ends - where did the hamper come from? what directs the room? - but not serious ones. And her struggles with learning magic (and other things) are very realistic. However, I didn't really get into it - and I think I figured out why. Ben learns quite a lot, about herself and her world, throughout the book. But no one else learns anything at all. There's no indication that the queen has any idea that she mishandled Ben - her methods apparently worked, eventually. Same with Florian - he was right, he woke her up, and at the end she describes how he basically show more tells her "I told you so" on a regular basis and her response is to dissolve into giggles. Hmmph. I did enjoy the story, and I'll likely reread it at some point. But it does have this serious lack - Ben has to correct everything (her behavior, her attitude, her understanding) and everyone else had it right all along...yeah, no. show less

Struggling to decide what it is that ultimately made me fail to love this book, and what I think is this: it never has the chance to have a whole plot. None of the parts in which she fails to become a princess, learns magic, runs away and gets captured and enslaved by the enemy, returns and succeeds in becoming a princess, fights off an invading force and ultimately falls in love with the bratty Prince Florian were a problem, per se, but smooshed together into 300 pages or whathaveyou, they are ultimately a muddled stew. There was too much going on for this book to ever actually spend any time getting to know any of its characters. What this book needed was depth. Maybe it needed to be somewhat as long as its original working title show more suggested--I don't know. Ultimately, I felt reading this that I was skimming the surface of a plot covered in a very thick gelatinous layer of something that I couldn't quite pierce enough. show less

A nice little young adult fantasy, combining the misfit princess and the misbehaved princess genres. Strong female heroine, with a not-completely-horrible treatment of weight. I liked it, and liked the main character. The writing was good with flashes of impressiveness and just the sort of treatment of day-to-day things and multifaceted characters I like to see.