Title: Violet eyes. Retelling from Princess and the Pea. Author: Debbie Viguié.
Pages: 195.
Published: February 23rd 2010.
Publisher: Simon Pulse.
Sort: Stand-alone, but part of the ‘Once upon a time’ series.
When a storm brings the dashing Prince Richard to her family's farm, Violet falls in love at first sight. Richard also gives Violet his heart, but he knows his marriage is destined to be an affair of state, not of passion. For the king and queen have devised a contest to determine who will win their son's hand in marriage. To be reunited with her prince, Violet must compete against princesses from across the land. It will take all of her wits - and a little help from an unexpected source - if Violet is to demonstrate the depth of her character and become Richard's bride.
Rating:
First of all, from the moment you read the blurb it’s clear: there is an instant-love. BUT, I thought it was incredibly sweet and well-written. Prince Richard returns from his search for a wife. He falls of his horse during a storm and Violet’s family take care of him – especially Violet. During those couple of days, she starts to get feelings for him. Unfortunately for the happy couple, this won’t be so easy. Richard's parents are hosting an event and only a true princess can win this contest and therefore a marriage with him. That’s when Violet finds out that her parents aren’t her real parents. She might be from Royal Blood and the King and Queen allow her to participate until they know more. The tests made me smile. They are fun and the whole idea of “the princess must win the prince” was great.
Violet is such a wonderful girl. She has a nice personality and she grew up as a farm girl, so she isn’t arrogant like some of the other princesses. She is witty and she will do anything to get what she wants: a marriage with her true love. But will she pass the tests and is she truly a princess?
You will have to find out for yourself! This is the first retelling I read about the ‘Princess and the pea’. I always liked this story when I was younger and I wished more authors used these less popular stories. If you are a fairytale fan, I definitely recommend this book.
This sounds like a very sweet read! I'd like to give it a try! Prince and Princess... Wow! Sounds like a somewhat fairy tale! Pretty review, Mel! :)
ReplyDeleteSarika @ The Readdicts
It is very sweet! :D
DeleteThis one sounds so, so cute! I love fairytale retellings, and I agree--I also wish less popular tales were used. I've never heard of one based on Princess and the Pea, so I think I'll have to check this one out! Fantastic review, Mel!
ReplyDeleteIt would be so cool to see stories like The little match girl corporate into a story.
DeleteSometimes there is logic behind instant-love and it works well with the story. This seems like one of those cases so I don't think it will be an issue for me here like it normally is. I haven't read a Princess and the Pea retelling before but this sounds wonderful! Brilliant review, Mel. :)
ReplyDeleteThe somewhat instant-love was definitely needed: it felt right with the pace of the story.
DeleteI like that you mention there IS insta-love, BUT it actally works for the story. There are times when I flat out can't STAND IT, but on rare occasions I've been impressed with how it's handled. This sounds like a great example and the whole retelling aspect has me super curious aswell. Violet Eyes sounds like a really sweet read! Fantastic review!
ReplyDeleteI think it's because it never felt forced. The author didn't made them fall in love so she could rush to the plot, but it fits to the steady pace :)
DeleteI've never read a retelling of Princess and the Pea, so I'll keep this book in mind! The whole 'princess has to get the prince' thing makes me smile too! I wonder what kind of tests they put to make sure that someone is a real princess. ;)
ReplyDeleteThis seems like such a sweet, adorable story, Mel! Lovely review as always! :)
PS: I loooove your signature! So cute! Hello, Pooh-bear! <3 x)
This book sounds great!! I can't wait to read it...I really need to read a sweet princess book :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I've had this on my TBR mountain for a year now! Looooove these YA fairy tale retellings! There are quite a few of them! My big time fave was Snow by Tracy Lynn! Be sure to check out the rest of this series of fairy tale retellings! A lot of authors write them, Cameron Dokey, Nancy Holder...two that I can recall at the top of my head! Great review!
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to check this one out! I love Debbie Viguie's writing and am such a huge fairytale re-telling fan! I so need to check out this series! Love your review, and am going to be adding this to my TBR.
ReplyDeleteI do love a good fairy tale re-telling! I'll have to check this out, thanks for the review :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really good. I'll have to see if I can find it. Thanks for the review. :) I don't really mind insta-love in fairy-tale like stories. I mean, just comes with the genre right?
ReplyDeleteAs long as it's not an insta-love triangle, I'm good. :)
I love re-tellings! You know, I think that instalove can work, but it has to be done just right...
ReplyDeleteI love the Once Upon a Time series, but for some reason I've been having trouble finding this particular book. Hopefully I'll get it eventually!
ReplyDelete