Fairytale princes didn't exist, and even if they did, they didn't fall in love with ugly ducklings like her. Or so she'd thought, until she found herself living the closest thing to a fairytale that real-life could produce.
Rosie Thinks: I'll start off by saying that I was extremely surprised by this story - I did not expect it to be as enthralling as it turned out to be! It is just so much more than what the summary suggests. It is also a new twist on the geek/hot guy cliche due to its utter originality and Moira Inori's flair for words. It is set in the Phillipines, which gave another very interesting twist to the story. And although she uses some Filipino, she explains everything at the bottom of the chapters.
This story begins from when shy, eight year-old Joy is 'married' to Christian, and then continues on to follow Joy's life. Joy faces bullying, intentional or not, from almost every person she meets, causing her to develop an 'ugly duckling' complex. Christian truly is the prince he is described as, encouraging Joy and loving her for the way she is. Joy's insecurities are dealt with in a very realistic way, so it doesn't sound like she's being whiney and repetitive but rather that it is just part of her personality. She has an inner strength too, that slowly becomes apparent the more you read about her. The characterisation, of the minor characters especially, is some of the best I've ever seen. Everything about each character was realistic and three-dimensional.
I am in love with Moira Inori's writing - there are so many beautiful, wise quotes in this story. In particular, the description of the wedding was very detailed, but not once did it lose the feel of 8 year-old Joy's POV nor did it become bogged down in detail. My only criticism would be that parts of it aren't in chronological order, and this confused me until the author explained what she had done in a later chapter. I would definitely advise making the distinction between flashbacks and the present clearer earlier on.
I, as a rule, don't like reading about romance between people younger than about 15 (and yes, this does include Romeo and Juliet I'm sorry to say!), but this story is just so captivating that their age didn't matter at all. It was so sweet and adorable and cute that I wished I was that age again. The author's writing has made me become emotionally invested in this story, so I will definitely be following this one closely!
This story begins from when shy, eight year-old Joy is 'married' to Christian, and then continues on to follow Joy's life. Joy faces bullying, intentional or not, from almost every person she meets, causing her to develop an 'ugly duckling' complex. Christian truly is the prince he is described as, encouraging Joy and loving her for the way she is. Joy's insecurities are dealt with in a very realistic way, so it doesn't sound like she's being whiney and repetitive but rather that it is just part of her personality. She has an inner strength too, that slowly becomes apparent the more you read about her. The characterisation, of the minor characters especially, is some of the best I've ever seen. Everything about each character was realistic and three-dimensional.I am in love with Moira Inori's writing - there are so many beautiful, wise quotes in this story. In particular, the description of the wedding was very detailed, but not once did it lose the feel of 8 year-old Joy's POV nor did it become bogged down in detail. My only criticism would be that parts of it aren't in chronological order, and this confused me until the author explained what she had done in a later chapter. I would definitely advise making the distinction between flashbacks and the present clearer earlier on.
I, as a rule, don't like reading about romance between people younger than about 15 (and yes, this does include Romeo and Juliet I'm sorry to say!), but this story is just so captivating that their age didn't matter at all. It was so sweet and adorable and cute that I wished I was that age again. The author's writing has made me become emotionally invested in this story, so I will definitely be following this one closely!
Thank you so, so much, Rosie and everyone at A Drop of Romeo. I hope your week is as great as you made mine.
ReplyDeleteMoira