This time when it stopped, the sides split in quarters, revealing a tiny object covered with precious gems. Beaming with delight, she wound the key, which made the egg spin and play a merry tune that soon had the ladies tapping their feet.

Gwendolyn turned the tree around, revealing another, smaller key at the base of the egg. Oh, Liam, why couldn’t you have stayed a soldier? Why did you have to conveniently be a prince the entire time? (Well, okay, this is a fairy tale…) Actually, it’s a great illustration of how everyone in the kingdom is silly (because of the magic?) to some degree, and Annie is the only non-silly one (besides Liam) and thus can get stuff done that others can’t. I loved how Annie just went out and got every single prince to come kiss her sister, and I love how, after the successful one woke her up, Gwen freaked out and then, when Annie said, “He’s your true love!” she immediately switched to the prince being the love of her life. That’s a much better way to portray that trope then the standard. She wanted to do everything her sister didn’t do thus, she could read, ride horses, etc. Annie wasn’t rebellious for no apparent reason as many of the trope are. Even the story of Sleeping Beauty was different in execution and, of course, in resolution.Īnnie was one of those “rebellious princesses” (and by “rebellious” I mean “not wanting to conform to princess rules”) but I actually quite liked the trope this time because Baker executed exactly the way it should be executed, in my opinion. All the fairy tale characters we met in this book had a different spin, such as the witch from Hansel and Gretel being forgetful and writing down instructions on how to cook children on candy hearts and sticking them to her walls. Joined by Liam, one of her father’s guards, Annie travels through a fairy-tale land populated with characters both familiar and new as she tries to find the prince to rescue her sister…and perhaps even discover a true love of her own.”Ī great, unique twist on a classic fairy tale! More than one, actually. She must find Gwen’s true love to kiss her awake.īut what about the one hundred years? And who is Gwen’s true love? Her irritating suitor, Digby? The happy-go-lucky prince Andreas, who is holding a contest to find his bride? The conniving Clarence, whose evil motives couldn’t possibly spell true love? And only Annie-blessed (and cursed) with being resistant to magic-can venture beyond the rose-covered hedge to get help. “When Princess Gwen (otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty) pricks her finger and sends herself and the whole castle to sleep for one hundred years, only her younger sister, Annie, is left awake.

I’ve read so many that I’ve decided to make them their own special blog day! I love fairy tales, and I love fairy tale adaptations.

The wide awake princess series in order