The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker
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This was a very cute book, but it also had tinges of maturity and action in it. Some parts you had to think about, while others were sweet and lighthearted. I don't remember finding any plot holes, but some parts were sort of...airy.
I did enjoy reading this book, although at first glance it looked like a book for a nine year old. I suppose it was all the pink on the cover, mixed with the swirly scrawling of the word "Princess." It isn't much anything like I expected it to be. I half expected Annie to be very whiny, the princes to be arrogant,(Which some of them are, but in an entertaining way, I guess.) and the witches and beasts to be thrown into a horrible stereotype and not taken anywhere.
Annie, however, was not whiny, not in my opinion at least. She had a very pure heart, never thinking of herself as better than anyone else, and was brave. Her main concern was always helping someone else, whether it be her sister or lost children.
Not all of the princes were narcissistic, in fact two of them were very nice, and one wasn't too horrible. Another wasn't vain at all, in fact, he was quite self conscious and a little bit dark, but his past was sad and his behavior was reasonable. Two princes in particular, though, got on my nerves a lot. Both were horribly full of themselves, one even going as far to pinch Gwendolyn when he kissed her in hopes it would wake her.
The love story in this was quite sweet, to the point where I giggled slightly at certain points and did mental "Aw's."
Liam was charming and quite protective. I very much liked his character.
Overall, I was happy with the ending. Everyone found happiness and the kingdom was at peace.
