29 June 2017

Review #620: The Rat Prince by Bridget Hodder



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If you don't like Cinderella because she seems so "naive" and "weak," listen to this quote from the Walt himself: "She believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn't come along, she went over to the palace and got him.”

----Walt Disney Company



Bridget Hodder, an American author, pens a delectable and compelling retelling of our favorite fairy tale, Cinderella in her new book, The Rat Prince that revolves around those rats who turned into Cinderella's coach drivers after fairy god mother's magic and also centers around Cinderella herself. The rat prince, who was one of those rats from that magical night, has forever been in love with Cinderella, but the night has a different twist that the fans of Cinderella never knew about, so if you want to know about it, simply grab this book.


Synopsis:

The Prince of the Rats, who's in love with Cinderella, is changed into her coachman on the night of the big ball. And together, he and Cinderella are about to turn the legend (and the evening) upside down on their way to a most unexpected happy ending!

Cinderella thinks she must work alone to save her noble family from the ruin and disgrace her stepmother has brought upon Lancastyr Manor. She has an ailing father, a sweet, innocent little stepsister and dependent servants to protect from the wicked Wilhemina–and no way to call attention to their plight unless she figures out how to attend the royal ball.

But Cinderella knows nothing of the ancient pact between the House of Lancastyr and the rats who live within the walls of her ancestral home.

Nor is she aware that the sleek black rat she thinks is her pet is actually the Rat Prince…

and she is not alone.



Char, the Rat Prince, and his kind have always been a member of the Lancastyr Manor since the beginning of time, where Lady Rose, daughter of the manor's Lord, lives with her father, her wicked stepmother, Wilhemina, and her two stepsisters. Although after the arrival Wilhemina and her minions, Lady Rose, a.k.a, Cinderella has been pushed out to the servant's quarter and has been living in an attic with no friends or proper clothes. But this is where in the attic, she befriended a pack of rats, one of whom she named Blackie. Little did Cinderella knew that Blackie is a prince named Char and someday her dream of finding a nice Prince Charming might come true because of him.

On the other hand, Char has always been in love with Cinderella from the very first day itself, although, he considers her as a dumb girl, yet she is madly in love with her. And now there is going to be a ball in the Prince's palace and Blackie must do something to stop Cinderella from meeting the Prince, whom he found extremely unlikable, but fate had a different plan for him, when the fairy godmother turns Char into a human being just for one night. Now Char's dream might come true, and for that, you need to read this to find out what happens next.

I've always been a huge sucker for fairy tale retellings, and especially for those retellings that are penned with a twist or a with a new angle or dimension. Because it gives me an opportunity to see the story under a new light, more like reading a new story altogether. Cinderella is my favorite fairy tale and hence I could not pass up the opportunity to reviewing this book. The story is narrated by two main characters, The Rat Prince, Char and Cinderella herself, hence the readers will get to know the perspectives of the both the characters, from what they desire to what they hate, everything is penned lucidly.

The author's writing is articulate and the readers will find it easy to contemplate with the story line. The dialogues are also free flowing and flows smoothly with the course of the story line, thereby giving a fast pace to the story. There are quite a lot of twists and turns that will keep the readers on their edges pretty much the entire length of the book. And Cinderella's life has been depicted with more clarity and reality, that will let the readers visualize it clearly everything right before their own eyes.

The characters are flawlessly portrayed with realism and a bit of humor, hence the main characters and the supporting ones, too will keep the readers entertained till the turn of the very last page. The main character, Char, is a thoughtful and a brave rat, whose outlook is vividly described and so his bravado. His love for Cinderella is immense and that has been penned with emotions, that is bound to make the readers feel. And thank god, the author has not painted Cinderella as a damsel in distress, this young lady in this book is quite brave and has a calculative mind. She knows how to play her game in a house filled with so many enemies. Even the supporting characters are etched out in an interesting manner, that will keep the readers amused.

In a nutshell, this is a perfect light read that one needs to curl up with after reading a heavy book or while having a reading slump. This is an inspiring little story with all our favorite characters, bursting out in a story with a twist.


Verdict: Entertaining, funny and extremely heart touching retake on the fairy tale, Cinderella.


Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Bridget Hodder, for giving me this opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
I'm a dreamer and a do-gooder. When I realized (around age 9) that my efforts to make this world a better place were falling pretty flat, I decided to make up entirely different, better worlds of my own, and ask readers to join me there.
Visit her here



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1 comment:

Thanks for your feedback!