Guest Post with Jennifer Jensen: MY FAIR GODMOTHER (Book Review)

Welcome to A Week of Cinderella!  Grab some promotional buttons for your blog HERE and stop back all week long for fun guest posts, exciting author visits (because, after all, Marissa isn't the ONLY author with a kick-ass Cinderella to celebrate!), giveaways, reviews, and a blog tour stop for CINDER! 

Today, I'd like to welcome my mermaid twin Jen from Literally Jen to A Backwards Story! ♥  Jen just started her own review blog, but has been reviewing for two big-name blogs, Simply Stacie and Luxury Reading, since 2009.


Jen was lucky enough to go to The King's English last night for Marissa Meyer's CINDER book tour!  She sent me a photograph she took of her and Marissa at the signing for all of us to enjoy (See left).  Jen also just posted on her blog with a feature that reviews CINDER and talks a little bit about last night's event!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

BOOK REVIEW: MY FAIR GODMOTHER

Title: MY FAIR GODMOTHER
Author: Janette Rallison
Release Date: Out now (Jan. 09, 2009)
Publisher: Bloomsbury/Walker Books for Young Readers 
Goodreads


On my bookshelves, I probably have no less than a dozen Cinderella or Cinderella type stories. Some I’ve read already, some I haven’t gotten to yet. Cinderella seems to be one of the most re-told fairy tales there is. As much as I adore Cinderella, sometimes I like it when the story gets switched up a little. 

 And that is where Janette Rallison’s MY FAIR GODMOTHER enters into the picture. Loosely based on some of the events that take place in Cinderella, MY FAIR GODMOTHER is a contemporary tale about a girl who wishes for a prince--and then realizes he’s not quite what she wanted after all. 

Savannah has just been dumped by her hot, older boyfriend, Hunter. For her older, smarter, not as stylish sister, Jane. At first,  MY FAIR GODMOTHER  seems like it might be Jane’s story, but Jane didn’t need the assistance of a fairy godmother to get what she wanted. Here’s where I have to admit that I was disappointed that  MY FAIR GODMOTHER wasn’t her story--Jane was easy to relate to. She was kind of the underdog of the story, and I wanted to get in her head some more. But this is Savannah’s story, and it’s a whole lot more interesting than if we’d been with Jane the entire time. 

If you think that Savannah is a shallow airhead, just wait until you meet Chrysanthemum Everstar, Savannah’s fairy godmother. She chews bubblegum, wears outrageous clothes, and loves to shop. In fact, at first appearances, she’s exactly like Savannah. Chrissy explains to Savannah that she is her fair Godmother (yes; you read that right--she’s only fair because her grades at fairy school weren’t so good!) and that Savannah has 3 wishes. 

Savannah knows exactly what she wants--a fairy tale ending. It’s humiliating enough when your ex-boyfriend tries setting you up on a date for prom with a guy you aren’t really all that in to. Savannah wishes for a guy that’s handsome and a prince, Chrissy dishes up a Cinderella! Savannah finds herself transported back into the Middle Ages, where she has become Cinderella. Basically a slave, Savannah realizes that maybe fairy tales just aren’t what they are cracked up to be. When Savannah meets the prince, she realizes that maybe she needs a few more qualifiers to find her happily ever after. And if she can pin down her fair godmother, Savannah’s going to have some choice words for her! 

Savannah’s second wish doesn’t go quite as well, either. This time, she adds a few more things to what she’s looking for in a guy--including nice. This time she finds herself in the Snow White fairy tale. And the prince of her story isn’t all that great, either. 

Savannah tries to be a bit more clever about her third wish, and instead transports Tristan--her would be prom date as determined by her ex-boyfriend--back to the Middle Ages so that he can become a prince in order to be her prom date. Savannah didn’t enjoy her stint in the Middle Ages, so she finds a way back to rescue Tristan. 

Savannah’s story mashes up quite a few familiar fairy tale elements, but it’s also fun and original, too, complete with a Black Knight, dragon, and ogre. Tristan isn’t love struck over Savannah; in fact, when she finds him in the Middle Ages, he pretty much hates her. The banter between the two is pretty hilarious. I found myself highlighting several passages so I could go back to them and read them later. 

While Savannah wasn’t originally my ideal heroine (she’s an airhead, she’s shallow, and she is kind of whiny), she goes through and learns a lot through the foolish wishes that she’s made. 

What of Chrissy, you’re asking? Shouldn’t she be held accountable for screwing up Savannah’s wishes and putting her through a nightmare? You’ll have to read the follow-up, MY UNFAIR GODMOTHER, to find out.