The Fairy Godmother- Mercedes Lackey

In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, everyone has a role to play, whether it be that of a normal peasant or noble, or something more important. This role is determined by a force called the Tradition. Once the Tradition decides that a person is useful or important, magic will culminate around said person and push them on a path toward their inevitable destiny. However, sometimes the logistics don't always work out correctly. Elena was supposed to be a "Cinderella" in her world. She has the evil stepmother and sisters to boot, but as luck would have it, the prince of her kingdom is eleven and not a viable candidate. So instead, she finds herself apprenticed to the fairy godmother of her kingdom and is poised to take over her position as soon as she learns how to control and use the magic that the Tradition has bestowed upon her.

Overall Merit: This was a fluffy book. It was fun to read and I did enjoy the world that Lackey created. This was my first Mercedes Lackey book so I don't know a whole lot about her writing style. To sum it up in one word: cute. The book was cutesy and headed for an inevitable happy ending, which I guess is to be expected in a world governed by fairytales. It wasn't anything so amazing, but I liked the concept of the world and it was a quick read. If you're looking for intense, well-written fantasy/characters/plot then this probably isn't your book, but I mean it was a very light read--'beachy' if you will (not that I know so much about beaches, Unseelie is sadly deficient)--so I finished it in a few hours. The main gripe I had was the romance. This romantic sequence pissed me off/confused me to the extreme. More on that in 'Blush Factor'. Score- 7

Characters: Not a whole lot of substance here. As I said, the characters weren't very well-written. I didn't get any real emotion from anyone and I didn't particularly care about Alexander or Elena. They weren't annoying characters, which always buys some points in my book, but they were flat. Elena was ho-hum not that interesting and her personality wasn't there. She never expressed any real emotion--same issue with Alexander. Sure, Lackey told me he was annoyed/wanted to throttle Elena, but she didn't show me his frustration. The other characters were basically sketches, thrown in to help the plot along, but they literally had no personality or were so stereotypical that they may as well have been stick figures. Score- 5

Blush Factor: *SPOILERS* Don't even get me started. This was one of the worst romances I have ever seen. First off, you knew that Elena and Alexander were going to get together as soon as she drags him away from his quest to 'punish' him. Then, he tries to sexually assault her, which I find is never conducive to any sort of kind feelings. After, when he becomes more civil, they start having freaky shared sex dreams and somehow along the lines end up falling in love. And finally, out of the blue he asks her if she's been having the same dreams as him and then when she says yes they go up to his rooms and have a weird variation of sex. What the Hell? Score- 3

Structure: I really did like the world, which is why I give some kudos to this book. I liked the pseudo fairytale setting and the magical rules of the world. Lackey gave good definition to her magic and the rules governing the world, which was amenable since so many writers neglect to do that. The story wove in and out of Elena's and Alexander's perspectives, which was standard, but I wished there had been more definition when the perspectives jumped. I got a line break and that was it, just a formatting issue, but still something to note. If you do decide to check out the book, do it for the world structure. Score- 8

Plot: I mean there was a plot, it wasn't a very good plot, but it was a plot all the same. I hated the ending, it was extremely rushed. It felt like Lackey was trying to avoid major conflict, realized that was impossible, and ended up putting it in at the end and sweeping it under the carpet as quickly as she could. The premise was decent, not super strong, but not awful either. Lackey could have done something much more interesting with the world. There really wasn't enough conflict. Elena mastered her magic in what felt like moments, Alexander was helped by fairies, and the final 'epic' battle was over in a few pages. No one died. Everyone lived happily ever after, even though the message that Lackey kept driving home in the book was that it didn't work like that. Score- 6

Vervain Says: "Fairy Godmothers are responsible for quest giving, testing heros, and keeping magic from running amok."