a book review

[baronessekat]

Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As a long time fan of Ursula Vernon (having followed her blog and had her follow mine for close to 15 years), I could not resist returning to her kids books for a bit of light reading, and I'm really glad I did.

Harriet the Hamster is my new hero. She's like Danny Dragonbreath but with more sass and spirit. This story is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty - but with a twist. When Harriet was born, she was cursed by a wicked fairy to prick herself on a hamster wheel and die on her 12th birthday. Luckily other fairies were there to mitigate and soften the curse. When she turned 10 her parents told her about the curse. But instead of getting all "woe is me" Harriet realizes that the curse will not let her die before her 12th birthday - rendering her invincible. So she goes out on her riding quail to fight the monsters, save the towns and do all the other things that heroes do.

When she returns home on her 12th birthday, she finds a creative way to keep from falling victim to the curse, though it still causes other aspects to happen and she must seek out help from an unlikely source to save her kingdom.

I laughed a lot reading this book and have every intention of reading more.



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