Book Review: The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald

Book Description:

Princess Irene's great-grandmother has a testing task for Curdie. He will not go alone though, as she provides him with a companion -- the oddest and ugliest creature Curdie has ever seen, but one who turns out to be the most loyal friend he could have hoped for.

My thoughts:
Ever since reading The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, my kids have begging to read The Princess and Curdie. First off, the story is based around the great-great-great grandmother princess, rather than the little girl princess, Irene. The goblins are gone except some of the weird animal creatures that were pets of the goblins. Curdie is sent on a mission to help the Princess Irene and her King father. Evil men have plotted to take over his kingdom and it is Curdie's job to figure out what is going on and to help. The princess gives Curdie a gift, which he has to go through a moment of suffering to receive it. She also sends along Lina, a hideous but faithful creature. As Curdie discovers the true hearts of the leaders of the kingdom he must be strong to withstand the evil and ultimately along the the Princess fight for the good of the kingdom.

So what did my kids think? They were very disappointed in the story and both Destini and Chantry declared it a terrible story. What did I think? At first I really struggled with this story and thought of letting them listen to it on audio, but I'm trying to stretch out of my little reading box, so I kept on. The story was slow in the beginning, but began to enjoy it more as the story progressed. This is a much darker story than The Princess and the Goblins and it don't end perfectly, but shows more how real life can happen. I'm glad that I persevered and kept reading it, but I won't be picking up anytime soon.



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