Princess Academy

My kindle edition has this cover:[bc:Princess Academy 22529360 Princess Academy Shannon Hale https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420944888l/22529360.SY75.jpg 3299770]

Listened to this on audiobook with the kid in the car one day. Granted, it is meant for younger girls, and it somewhat appealed to my independent 10 year old. She had problems with the subservience of the girls when they first get to the academy. It made her hate the characters. She wanted them to stand up for themselves better. She also didn't like that the girls were so preoccupied with wanting to be a princess. It drove her nuts.

“It would be cool if they wanted to be warriors instead of princesses...or ninjas.”

As far as my cultured opinion–for whatever that's worth–the story was cute and airy, without a ton of substance. It moved at a snail's pace for my tastes and was somewhat frustrating. The worst thing was Shannon Hale's relentless use of simile. It was ladled on heavily, often with multiple boring, pastoral, almost laughable similes shoved down your gullet.

“Her mind began to buzz like flies over a meal.”
“Her mouth curved upward on one side like a brook trout on a hook.”

It never ends. It drove me nuts.

I really enjoyed this feminist fantasy! It's warm and funny and great at recognizing different types of abilities.

This is about as far from my day to day grind as it gets...therefore, quite a nice little vacation wrapped up in a story about mountain girls from a mining village exposed to books for the first time. Really enjoyed this one.

When are Shannon Hale's books not good? Never! They're epic stories that you can never put down.

A pleasant story and a bit of a twist for the ending compared to other YA. I just couldn't like the protagonist. She was just so absolutely amazing discovering so many things that generations never did.