Written by Elissa Sussman
Stray is not your typical fairy tale. You have fairy tale retellings, but this is a brand new fairy tale. Aislynn is a princess anxious to attend her introduction ball and meet the suitors her Advisor has lined up for her so she can start her happily ever-after.
Unfortunately, things don’t quite go according to plan. In this world princesses have magical powers but are punished for using them, fairy godmothers are more like nuns and expected to tattle on their charges versus protecting them, advisors have more power than everyone else, and there’s a wicked queen who embraces her magic and is therefore considered evil. All these elements make Stray a fairytale with a twist.
Aislynn has really powerful magic. Her abilities sometimes spill over, getting her in trouble at her academy. She is a princess trying to push down her magic and find a suitable match so she can be married at sixteen and settle down. Everything is about staying on the Path, which is dictated by the headmistress of the academy, the Adviser of the family, even a little by the fairy godmother of the maiden…but not by the maiden. When Aislynn and her magic and her actions become too much for the academy, she is redirected to another academy, to be a fairy godmother (think NUN) of the lost and confused Monarch Princess Linnea, daughter of the late Monarch King Dominick and his wife Morganne. Aislynn knows things aren’t right, but she doesn’t want to stray…
Most of the main characters in the beginning of the book are so focused on following ‘The Path’ that they seem almost brainwashed. I really began to hate any mention of the path, that I believe Sussman was successful in her writing. I was hoping to learn more about the “Wicked Queen’ because she seems to be the only one to shun the path. I think I may like her.
I know that there are other books in this series still to come and I am looking forward to reading them.
Review by Lafo K. Tauanu’u, Taylorsville High Media Center
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: High School
Author Website: http://elissasussman.com/
Stray
Written by Elissa Sussman
Greenwillow Books
368 pages
Release Date: October 7, 2014
