Cloaked by Alex Flinn
 
Date Read: 3/31/12

Rating:  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆



I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't quite on the level of Beastly and Bewtiching. I think my biggest problem for why I didn't enjoy it AS much is because there were just too many fairy tales crammed into one book. The last 90 pages all started wrapping up the book. I usually enjoy when books are really wrapped up and really not many loose ends left. But she had to wrap up so many fairy tales that it just felt like it kept going and going.

I will say that I really enjoyed being introduced to new fairy tales I hadn't ever heard. I knew a little about the elves and the shoemaker and The Fisherman and his Wife. But the others I'd never heard. I think this is a neat way to introduce young girls to fairy tales that are not traditionally told in the United States.

The book moved at a pretty good pace -- kinda had to in order to fit that many fairy tales in! There was a lot of adventure and danger. The animals he met were a lot of fun - I think the used-to-bes were some of my favorite characters. Johnny was a fun character to watch grow. He was a little oblivious at times. But I really enjoyed Meg. I thought she added a lot to the story.

I actually liked that she kept the Prince and Princess as a typical prince and princess. They weren't mean, but lately, a lot of authors and movies portray the prince or princess as actually a really nice person who gets the girl or guy in the end. So I actually appreciated how she built the prince and princess characters. You don't really dislike them, but you also don't like them.

I guessed the ending pretty early on - but that didn't ruin anything for me. When I read a book like this, I expect to have a happy ending and when you're reading a book about fairy tales, you expect a certain thing to happen. So I wasn't disappointed one bit that I was able to guess the ending so early on. Actually you almost forget about that part of the story by the end!

I am still really happy with this book. And I still plan to read A Kiss in Time as well. But it wasn't quite on the level with Beastly and Betwitching. But I still really enjoyed this book. It was a nice change. I like how Alex Flinn can retell fairy tales in such different ways. If you enjoyed Beastly or Bewitching, you'll enjoy this book as well.