“And it is your contention that you’d never seen Prince Forbes before that instance.” I don’t know what happened, but suddenly it was a boy.” It started screaming and thrashing about and . . . Let's hope it stays that way, otherwise I might be forced at some point to steer clear of all fairy tales, altogether.īut I wasn’t really doing anything at all, when this pig started following me. “That’s brilliant.” (c) It's probably the most convoluted fairy tale I've ever seen. They say no one’s ever seen her before, but some believe she’s actually Rapunzel.” (c) Why Saudade? Why take a Spanish/Portuguese word and stick it into the middle of a butchered fairy-tale? Do people think that using a lone foreign word is cutesy or something? I don't feel inclined to do so: Begone! Avada Kedavra! And the readers are probably supposed to untwist all this mess. A lot of characters have a lot of obscure connections or none at all. I couldn't stay with this story, it seems to have been designed with a view to be extremely evocative but instead went straight to the dark side of rambling. And don't let me rant about the Headmistress General at Pennyroyal. Larson’s Pennyroyal Academy masterfully combines adventure, humor, and magical mischief.Ĭan I admit I hated it on sight? It's a pathetic DNF of a fairy tale involving a Fairy Drillsergeant, nicely counterbalanced by a Prince Forbes (how on earth did we manage to do without King Blackstone, treasurer Goldman Sachs or a Queen Morgana Stanley?). And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realizes surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty.

There, given the name “Evie,” she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons.

Pennyroyal Academy: Seeking bold, courageous youths to become tomorrow's princesses and knights….Come one, come all!Ī girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war.

Pennyroyal Academy by M.A. Larson