Review – Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: October 12, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1599905112
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 4/5 stars
“In a secluded village, magic sparkles on the edges of the forest. There, a young girl named Evie possesses unusually strong powers as a healer. A gypsy’s charms-no more than trinkets when worn by others-are remarkably potent when Evie ties them around her neck. Her talents, and charms, have not escaped the notice of the shy stonemason’s apprentice. But Evie wants more than a quiet village and the boy next-door. When the young king’s carriage arrives one day, and his footman has fallen ill, Evie might just get her chance after all . . .”
I have had this book on my TBR pile for some time and was excited to finally read it. This was a cute and sweet YA fantasy read about a girl who finds out she’s not a girl at all but a Serpentina. When her dreams of education take her to the palace, she ends up embroiled in a plot with a fellow Serpentina.
This is one of those cute “fairy tale princess” type of YA reads with some interesting twists to it. It was a quick and easy read and I enjoyed it. There is a love interest for our heroine as well, but the romance is very light.
This was mostly a coming of age tale about finding out who you are and sticking with your dreams. I enjoyed the idea of the Serpentina race, it introduces some interesting folklore/mythology elements.
Overall this was a cute and sweet, fairytale princess type read. It was a quick read and was enjoyable, if not incredibly memorable. I would recommend to those who enjoy princess stories. It’s targeted at the female YA audience but would be fine for middle grade readers as well.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– YA Reading Challenge
