Book Review: A Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

Hi guys!

Super excited for this book review :). This fun read is geared more towards younger kids, but is an entertaining and hilarious read for readers of all ages. It's called: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.


                               


Why I read this book: My cousin told me I needed to :P.

Publication year: 2012     Number of pages: 480 (never fear--large print!)

Author: Christopher Healy (To visit the author's site, click HERE)

Summary (from author's site): 

Sure, we’re all aware of those guys who show up at the end of fairy tales to save the princesses, throw on a fancy suit, and get hitched in a lavish wedding. But have you ever wondered who those guys really are? Or if the few, meager facts we do hear about them are even true? (Hint: Generally not.)

In the first volume of the Hero’s Guide saga, we meet Prince Frederic, Prince Liam, Prince Gustav, and Prince Duncan — better known as the Princes Charming who rescued Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and Snow White, respectively — and find out that these men are far more (or less) than the cardboard cutout heroes we’ve heard tales about. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their kingdoms, these four men bond over their shared anonymity and band together to battle witches, goblins, trolls, bandits, and giants in order to save each of their kingdoms from a diabolical plot. And by the end, with any luck, they may finally become the real heroes they were always meant to be.

Five things to love about A Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom:

• The humor. When I think of this book, this is the first thing to come to mind. I was laughing out loud LOT, considering there's humor on nearly every page. I would imagine the author is quite the comedian, although a lot of the laughs are due to the princes. Which leads me into....
• The characters. The author takes practically lifeless, undeveloped legends and turns them into laughable characters that are bursting with life. This is such a unique book in the way that he has totally re-imagined fairy tales and turned them into something unique that kids will love. I loved the villianess, and the funniest part of all is that these princes aren't real men, more like failures. On multiple levels. And don't even get me started on the princesses! (Which, actually, are not failures :) )
• The creativity of it all. The settings. The characters. The fresh twist on it all. Enough said.
• The illustrations. I don't know who did these, but they're so good. And, even better, there's a lot of them! However, I've picked some of my favorites:

                    

The Princes, looking stoic

The Princes, being *ahem* true to character. And lost.

The Princesses

So yeah.

My take: This fun, creative read kept me entertained and laughing. Despite a few dry moments, it was, for the most part, a roller coaster of adventure that I enjoyed immensely. This book has it all: humor, fun a characters, a great villain, and a fantastic plotline. I would recommend it to readers of all ages, and i give it 7 1/2 out of 10 stars.

If you are reading this for MMGM, please scroll down or click HERE to read my second book review on The Silver Bowl.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Paige