Damn. What a book.

“Oh yes,” said the Ordinary Princess. “I’ve heard of you. And if it hadn’t been for you, Godmama, I wouldn’t be here at this minute.”
“Does that make you glad or sorry?” asked the old lady.
“Glad!” said the Ordinary Princess promptly. “Though I ought to say,” she added truthfully, “that there have been times when I’ve wished I was a really proper kind of princess ... but not very often.”
The old lady laughed a high cackling sort of laugh. “You’re a sensible child,”

I'm having lots of fun with this. The illustrations are beautiful too.

Later, does the fairy god-mother solve her clothing problems with a bit of wand-waving? Of course not, that wouldn't be sensible! She points her towards the closest town and advises her to work to earn the money to pay for them!

This keeps getting better and better.

And no, I'm not being facetious, I loved this thing.

I loved the expressive faces (specially Frances' on-going bemused into blank ones), the colorful tone, the hilarious hijinks and of course, the over all theme of acceptance.

To all that, I add three awesome scenes: the devil's wench, Juliana meeting Crystallia, and the King's outfit. I hooted and laughed so much I almost fell from my chair.

If I got a lump in my throat from the deep love of every type involved in all of it, well...

The ghost looses. Outrageously.

Quick and hilarious. Drama queen ghost, terror twins, painter mary-sue (*snigger* that paint chat, lol), prepared big brother (stain remover in his pocket?) and practical American Minister, it was all fun. Hands down, the theatrical haunting anecdotes were where I would invariably erupt in barks of laughter.

I take one star for change of tone, and because it felt like the denouement was too long in comparison with the rest.

But I so have to buy this one.

20 min to read (ten extra than needed because I kept scratching my eyes and sniffing from the apples bit on), double that and the kettle on the stove to calm down.

I have too many mixed feelings about this, whether it should be so, how I feel about the boy, that end, whether it's enough, whether it's ok, and a million other things that I can't even believed were digged up by an itty-bitty book. I just know that it played hell on my emotions and I'm still blubbering.

I also know I might have put it under a taste's-like-diabetes tag if I'd read it on a cynical mood. That I might have been angry or ambivalent. It's weird. I have more words skittering around my brain than those written inside those pages. I have to toast a book that causes such an internal havoc.