My Fair Godmother - Janette Rallison

Summary:  When you wish upon a star....
...if you're Savannah Delano, you end up with a gum-chewing, cell-phone carrying, high heel-wearing, teenage fairy godmother named Chrysanthemum (Chrissy) Everstar.

After a dramatic break up with her picture-perfect boyfriend, Savannah needs a true prince -- and fast, because the prom is only weeks away.  But looking for love can be a Grimm experience!  If only Chrissy were more than just "fair" in the wish-granting department.  After two botched attempts that land Savannah in the past, first as Cinderella and then as Snow White, Chrissy must send Savannah to save Tristan, a surprisingly cute boy from school whom Chrissy accidentally sent to the Middle Ages.  Hopefully the third time's a charm...as in Prince Charming.  (Summary from book - Image from amazon.com)

My Review:  Hey all.  A while back when I took a break from blogging it was in an effort to 'cut the cord', as it were, and stop treating my blog like my baby.  Because, you know I have four actual babies running around that need my attention.  Well, my efforts to cut the cord may have worked too well.  Now I sometimes I forget I have a blog.  Whoops.  Eventually, I'll get it all worked out and find the right balance.  Until then, please forgive me if I drop the blogging ball on occasion.  Life. You know?  Anyhoo, on to the review....

I picked up My Fairy Fair Godmother because I was hoping for a light and easy book that I could read in one sitting.  What can I say?  Sometimes you just need to read a book cover to cover, am I right?  I wasn't expecting anything too cerebral, just some good, clean old-fashioned fun.  Well, you know how they say, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it?  Let's just say it's a lesson that both I and the protagonist learned.

In My Fairy Fair Godmother, a young girl named Savannah wishes for something she thinks she wants and she gets it but is a bit disillusioned at the result, eventually realizing that what she wants isn't necessarily what she needs.  I can relate.  This book was light and it was easy.   It wasn't too cerebral and it was good, clean old-fashioned fun.  It was all the things I thought I wanted and yet in the end I found I didn't really care for it.  Weird, huh.  The problem?  I never engaged in the story.  It was completely take it or leave it.  I could pick it up, put it down, read a little, walk away, without ever really feeling a loss.  It was entertaining at points, but there was no depth, like the characters and plot were just floating on the surface of the page rather than firmly rooted.  Honestly, this is a common problem with certain YA books in this genre, so I really shouldn't have been surprised or disappointed, but I was both.

Before you right this book off as a total fluffy loss, there were a few things that I did enjoy about the story.  For one, it's pretty darn clean.  The most scandalous thing that happens is the non-descriptive loss of a bikini top.  I could, and likely will, hand this story over to my daughter without qualms.  Second, it's creative.  I appreciated that the story didn't always zig the way you thought it would. It begins talking about a completely different character, and it took a while before I was able pinpoint the protagonist.  Similarly, I wasn't able to identify the Bad Guy until right before he was identified in the story.  So....points.  Also, once in a while there were cute little "fairy side notes" that interjected a bit more levity into the story, sort of a la "A Tale Dark and Grimm" but with a lot less gore.

So. Long story short.  It was an okay, one time read. I finished slightly entertained but mostly underwhelmed.  I do plan to pass it along to my teenage daughter(s), as I feel they might enjoy the light, escapist fare that My Fairy Fair Godmother offers and be a little less picky about its failings.

For the sensitive reader:  PDC.  Pretty Darn Clean.  Some light kissing. The accidental (non-descriptive) loss of a bikini top.

My Rating: 3 Stars.