Book Review- The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D Baker
The wide-awake princess by E.D baker is a twisted tale about Annie, sleeping beauty’s little sister. In this version of sleeping beauty, Gwen Annie’s older sister is stuck by a spinning wheel and it’s up to her save them.
Everybody is asleep in the castle except her because Annie wasn’t given any magical gifts when she was younger, instead, she was given magic repelling magic, so no magic can get near her. Now only Annie has the power to venture from Treescest and find Gwendolyn’s, true love. But who is her true love; irritating Digby?
The happy-go-lucky Prince Andreas who is holding a contest to find his bride? The convincing Clarence, whose sinister motives don’t spell true love? Joined on this quest by one of his father guards Liam, who happened to be out of the castle when the sleep spell stuck. Annie travels through the fairy tale land with characters both familiar and new as she tries to fix her sister and her family. Maybe even finding her own potential true love?
When the king and queen find out that their oldest daughter had been cursed to sleep for 1000 years, when they consulted fairy moonbeam for help, she suggested that she put a spell on Annie, making her immune against all magic. Now you decide if it was a blessing or a curse.
Annie has always been distant from her family due to the fact that when she is near the magical charms that make them beautiful disappear. Now when Gwendolyn pricks her finger on a small spindle wheel (which was smuggled into the castle on her birthday) it’s up to Annie to go find a prince to kiss Gwennie and become her true love. Once out of the castle, Annie is joined by Liam, one of her father’s guards, and the two journey together to find prince Digby as he was destined to be married to her sister before. But is this irritating prince really the right person for Gwennie?
Now Annie must journey across the land to round up as many princes as possible to guarantee the safety of her sister and the entire kingdom. Annie must go through many challenges before returning. She must visit the evil which who cursed her sister and ask her what happens when her Gwendolyn’s true love does kiss her. She must then journey to the fairy who twisted the curse. What lies in the path ahead of them? And in her quest for princes will Annie end up with her own prince charming?
The wide-awake princess by E.D Baker was such fun to read. I personally, love twisted fairy tales where the princess is not always the damsel in distress. E.D Baker has done an amazing job capturing the fairy tale universe perfectly, incorporating so many different fairy tales in this one adventure.
This is defiantly one of my favourite fairy tale romances of all time. This book is a fiction, adventure and romance. This book is for ages between 9 and 14. This is great for girls who don’t plan on being damsels in distress waiting for their adventure to come to them. The character of Annie represents the fact that you have to go out and find the adventure and sometimes the prince finds you too.
The whole series is truly a joy to read. Watching the way Annie is confident and so willing to take risks even though this is the first time she has left the castle and town, not to mention without any royal guards.
“I’m afraid, my dear,” the king replied, “that we might have just made a very big mistake.”
–Annie’s father
I am just so surprised by the fact that Annie could have had a chance to receive her parent’s affection and been part of a family if it wasn’t for her parents. They sacrificed their youngest daughter’s potential future just for their oldest daughter. Annie has, of course, made the best of her ability and used it in a positive way; she mostly spent time with the servant and their children who taught her so much about the world outside the fine life. She is probably the only woman in her family can read, write, swim and ride a horse bareback. Annie is the bravest princess of them all…
E.D Baker is an American children’s author. She is best known for her first book, The Frog Princess, which was published in 2002. E.D. Baker has written 25 books to date and has no plans to quit writing anytime soon. Currently, she lives on a small farm in Maryland where she and her family breed Appaloosa horses. They also have dogs, cats and goats. She is an author who specializes in diving deeper into the fairy tale universe, revealing the hidden sequels siblings and adventure of our favourite Disney princesses.
Overall, I give The Wide-Awake Princess 4 ½ stars.