Look at me doing another TBR Reads so fast after the other one! You may not know this but I read Perfect Villains ten days after the first TBR Reads which might not be impressive for others but it is to me. I plan on reading a tbr pick at least once a month.
If you don't know I am trying to read books off of my Storygraph tbr list. It's a no-pressure kind of challenge but I do want to get under 500 books on my list at one point. It's just a way for me not to neglect the books I say I want to read and never get to them. Also, it's a way for me to remove books on my list that I realistically will never read.
I have realized I have to be more selective with what I add to my tbr list. I have taken off a few and added some others naturally. But if I am not careful my tbr list will overtake what I can realistically read within a reasonable period of time.
Yes, I did pick one of the shortest books on my list. I want to read more Latino books so I chose the first book in the Bad Princesses series by Jennifer Torres. I know I could have read Finding Manana but my brain can only handle happy and/or children's books at this moment and time.
At the Fine and Ancient Institute for the Royal (F.A.I.R.) princesses grow to be courageous, creative, and knowledgeable while gaining new friends. They are taught to be the perfectly kind, best princesas they can possibly be. Princesas are put into houses (casitas) based on their personalities - Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, or Opal. They will earn gems for their houses based on how well they do in their classes. One of them can even be crowned Fairest of the Fair. This sounds perfectly wonderful... to anyone but Princesa Dominga who'd rather be learning to be a villain in the Bewitched Academy for the Dreadful (B.A.D.). Unfortunately, her mom wouldn't hear anything of it. But what if she were able to gain access to the academy if she caused true villainous chaos at F.A.I.R.? Then they would have to let her in. Maybe even Princesa Dalia, who acts suspiciously different might just be the help she needs to plot the most rotten scheme of all. It's time to break the rules and show how much of a villain these princesas can be.
Positives: If Harry Potter and The School for Good and Evil had a child, this would be it. In this first early chapter book series, Dominga and Dalia become friends as they bond over their shared want to be villains. Dominga isn't as sure of herself in her villainy skills as Dalia who seems to know everything. They balance each other out well and their personalities are starting to shine through. There's some backstory to Dalia's home life we don't know yet but is hinted upon that is pulling me to read more of the series.
The antagonist, Princesa Inez, is the typical selfish person who might be invited to B.A.D. herself with the way she's acting. She does such a good job in her role that I would love to see a POV with her perspective down the line.
The story centers around a Woodland Wildlife Class so there are a lot of talking animals. I enjoyed the personalities given to them and how they influenced the plot.
Negatives: I know that this is for early readers but if this was forty to sixty pages longer it would be so much better! We could have started with Princesa Dominga creatively finding ways to convince her mom to go to B.A.D., a few POV chapters for Princess Dalia perhaps... And maybe even more of a foundation before starting the first class where the casitas are explained would have been nice.
Final Thoughts: This series has a lot of potential! For the age range, I get why things weren't as fully detailed as they could be. I think if the school is explored more and the characters get their own moments in future books this will be a well-loved series. I was left wanting more which is both a good and bad thing. Mostly the writing has me wanting to see how everything turns out for the two princesas.
TBR Reads Results
Initial Book Count: 553 books
Current TBR Count: 548 books
Comments
Post a Comment