How to Ditch Your Fairy

How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier is a book I've been meaning to read for a while but have had trouble finding at the right moments (ie when I was looking to buy a book). I ended up borrowing the audiobook from the library, having finally set up that whole thing.

"Rochelle gets a clothes-shopping fairy and is always well attired; I get a parking fairy and always smell faintly of petrol. How fair is that?"

For Charlie, having a parking fairy is worse than having nothing at all - especially since she's not old enough to drive. Enter The Plan: swap fairies with her archenemy! But Charlie discovers that you ought to be careful what you wish for - and she'll have to resort to extraordinary measures to set things right.

From the show more author of the acclaimed Magic or Madness trilogy, this is a delightful story of friendships, fairies, and figuring out how to make your own magic.

I found this to be a really fun read. It's a book for younger readers (as in, the younger end of YA or lower) with the main character only fourteen years old. She — Charlie — has a fairly frivolous voice and generally acts like a fourteen year old with a crush and a keen interest in sport. But the book itself turned out to be much less frivolous than I expected. For example, there are some issues like the "make all the boys like you fairy" and the very clear problems that poses. There's also a lot of background world-building weirdness, some of which is discussed, some of which really isn't.

Kids in this world (or at least this city) can go to high schools tailored to their interests. So Charlie and most of the characters go to what I would otherwise call a sporting academy and her sister goes to an arts school. Some of the more disturbing aspects of Charlie's life — like how she and her peers all had to log calories and protein eaten — are a specific product of her sport-oriented schooling. But other aspects — like how PR (public relations) and sporting match statistics are part of the education system — are alarmingly unexamined. I strongly felt that these less expected aspects of the world-building added extra depth to the story.

As a final side-note I was amused that while a significant portion of the slang words in the glossary were made up/repurposed a lot were just Australian. I suppose that fits with the foreword which tells us that the setting is a parallel world with a country that's a vague amalgamation of Australia and the US (I felt it was mostly more Australian, although not completely).

I really enjoyed How to Ditch Your Fairy. I would recommend it to younger readers who maybe haven't yet gotten into the slew of darker YA with older main characters which is popular at the moment. Unlike some younger readers' books I've read, I didn't feel How to Ditch Your Fairy was talking down to its audience or was unnecessarily simplified. For those reasons I would also recommend it to adults looking for a fun read (especially those that don't mind reading lots of teenage slang).

4 / 5 stars

Read more reviews on my blog. show less

This book is an odd one -- but plunging into the quirky world building and sudden, unexpected slang of another place is always entertaining. New Avalon, and it's obsessive schools (this one for sports), and it's luck-fairies, and the verbal play reminds me of the Flora Secunda books. The only thing to do is dive right in.

On the whole, I enjoyed it. I was frustrated at the cardboard cutout adults, and the fact that even when she was being physically kidnapped Charlie didn't bother to ask for help. It went too far! She shouldn't have to handle stuff like that on her own! It's stupid and dangerous, and she chose to go with a stupid and dangerous way of handling it and there were no real repercussions. C'mon now, that's a crappy message to show more send. But it's a funny book, and a light book, and I guess that makes it ok? show less

In Charlie's world, (almost) everyone has a fairy that provides them with some kind of minor magical power, like always finding loose change or always having good hair. Charlie has a fairy that allows whatever car she is in to always find the best parking spot. She hates it, because a big dumb water polo player at her all-sports high school keeps kidnapping her so he can get the best parking spots while he runs around town. So Charlie comes up with a plan to get rid of her fairy and get a better one, like the every-boy-will-like-you fairy. This proves to be difficult because almost no one knows anything about what the fairies actually are or how they work.

YA books always sound so much better to me in theory than in practice. The writing show more wasn't great, the plot had holes, and the main character was very self-centered. But then I finished the whole book in less than 24 hours and I remembered what I DO like about YA books.

Overall the book wasn't bad, and I particularly liked a few things that Larbalestier did:
1) The stuck-up rich girl that everyone hates is actually just super shy
2) There are pretty much zero traditional gender roles. This is difficult to do in a sports-centered community but it's well done here.
3) Sexuality: most boys like girls and most girls like boys but some boys like boys and some girls like girls and some girls aren't sure if they like boys or girls. The words "gay" and "lesbian" aren't even mentioned; people just like who they like. No one is grouped or labeled; everyone is friends with everyone else. It's awesome
4) Institutionalized corruption and complacency in sports: There are all kinds of weird rules at Charlie's school that must be followed at all times (even when not at school) for pretty much no reason, but everyone just accepts them. There is rampant gambling and bullying which are just overlooked because tattling is against the rules. The sports stars of the school are allowed to do whatever they want, and they don't get in trouble because the administration wants to keep them happy so they will keep playing well. (I have seen all of this in real life in college, and it is horribly corrupt but no one will do anything about it because sports = $$$$ and fame)

In conclusion, the plot fell flat but the subtler parts of the story made up for it. I'm really interested in reading more by this author. show less

In a world where almost everyone has a fairy (loose-change fairy, good hair fairy, never late fairy), Charlie is stuck with a parking fairy. Whichever car she rides in will always find a prime parking spot. Charlie detests her fairy and is desperate to get rid of it. But when she teams up with her least favourite person in the world, Fiorenze, who also wants to ditch her fairy, they end up with far more trouble than they bargained for.

If you're not a fan of traditional fantasy fairies, don't bypass this book. While fairies play a major role in the novel, not once does one talk or appear so don't let this being a "fairy book" keep you away. The novel is far more about the delightful alternate reality Larbalestier has created and watching show more as Charlie discovers that people are more complex than she had imagined and that Fiorenze in particular may not be as odious as she appears. Charlie's nascent romance with the new boy, Stefan is also very adorable. A fun, fluffy read that won't tax you much. show less

Plot: Charlie has a parking fairy and she hates it. Everyone is always hijacking her to get the perfect parking space and she doesn’t even like cars. So she decides to get rid of her fairy. Unfortunately she isn’t sure how to go about it and trying is getting her into a lot of trouble.

This book is a lot of fun. I really got caught up in it. And though the plot sounds silly (and is written with great humour) getting a new fairy really matters to Charlie and Larbalestier makes you care about it too. There are elements of a near future state that is very problematic beneath the shiny exterior (which made me think of her husband’s Uglies series) but she doesn’t dwell to much on that. She hints at the problems with the society and show more then lets it go. I’d be curious to read a different book set in the same world that addresses these issues. My one big issue was the made-up slang which bothered me a lot at first, it could at times make the dialogue seem really clunky, but I got use to it at length. Very fun, definitely recommended. show less

I don't know why, but I absolutely loved this book. It was funny and had an interesting setting that kept me involved. Basically, in this world everyone has an invisible fairy (most everyone) and they do certain things for you such as - find a parking spot every where you go, or make all the boys your age fall in love with you. There's problems that arise with these two fairies in particular and two girls team up to figure out how to rid themselves of these nuisances of fairies.

This one's fun fun fun! In a world where many people have personal fairies granting them the ability to have all the boys like them, never drop a football, always find the perfect clothes at the perfect price, Charlie is mortified at having a parking fairy (guarantees her a parking spot.) Charlie doesn't even have a car! But everyone, including the school bully wants her to ride with them so they can get parking spots. So Charlie hatches a plan to trade fairies with someone else and when that doesn't go as planned she risks her own safety to try to ditch her fairy. You'll be laughing aloud at this one and trying to figure out what kind of fairy you have. By the way, I have a every-cat-in-the-world-likes-me fairy!