From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-- This is a lovely fairy tale expanded to novel length without losing the glitter and mystery of the genre. Percinet, the quixotic and handsome prince of Faerie, finds himself hopelessly in love with a human female. Graciosa is the young woman, born with an unrecognized talent for magic buried in her heritage but hopelessly mired in a dispirited existence as the chatelaine of her widowed father's estate. A new stepmother who is as evil and cruel as she is ugly complicates her life further. Eglantine, or Lady Grognon (Toad) as she is more often referred to, is as anxious to get rid of Graciosa as the prince is to win her love. Percinet's home in Faerie is the legendary land of light, music, and joy, but Graciosa is too bound by her sense of duty and fear of things magical to accept refuge there. Grognon's cruel attempts to eliminate the girl finally force her to examine her options and choose. This fast-paced fantasy effectively includes many fairy tale elements--dark castles and faerie magic, evil synonymous with ugliness, the fair maiden, the handsome prince, and more. What it may lack in original characterization is compensated for in quicksilver action, lively descriptions and dialogue, and an enchanting romance. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Graciosa was chatelaine of her father's castle until he married the hideous Lady Eglantine for her fortune. Jealous of Graciosa's beauty, Eglantine tries to kill her, aided by a minor demon. But Graciosa has caught the eye of Percivet, half-human prince of the faerie lands of Queen Rezaila; he rescues her and takes her to Faerie, where Rezaila tries to arouse Graciosa's latent magical talent. Graciosa resists and returns to earth, where Eglantine sets her impossible tasks like sorting tangled skeins. When, with Percivet's help, she succeeds, Eglantine traps her in a tomb while the demon seizes Percivet. Tapping her talent, Graciosa returns to Faerie; she and Rezaila rescue Percivet, setting the demon free to carry Eglantine's soul to hell. Graciosa returns with Percivet to Faerie. There's little new or engaging in this wicked stepmother story cross-fertilized by Rumpelstiltskin and Tam Lin: Eglantine gets her comeuppance; Percivet's pride goeth before a fall; and Graciosa comes out sadder but wiser. Sigh. Okay for collections with an active interest in fantasy and romance. (Fiction. 10+) --
Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
