Twice Upon a Marigold

Upon a Marigold #2

by Jean Ferris

Since Queen Olympia's fateful fall into the river, newlyweds Christian and Marigold have been living happily ever after. And they had every intention of keeping it that way--until they find out that Olympia may not be as gone as they thought. Turns out Olympia is alive and well in a faraway village, having lost her memory after her ill-timed tumble. But one day she awakes and remembers her previous glory as queen. Accompanied by Lazy Susan (Sleeping Beauty's slacker sister) and Stan Lucasa (a gentleman with a surprising destiny), Olympia returns, determined to take back the kingdom. Yet, thanks to a cast of familiar characters, grabbing the throne may not be as easy as Olympia thinks!

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fairy Tales, Middle Grade, Fiction, Humor

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

This author is not afraid to tackle difficult subjects: living with a deaf parent (Of Sound Mind), facing the consequences of a criminal act (Bad), or questioning one's sexuality (Eight Seconds). But Jean Ferris is also adept at writing comedy, historical fiction, and romance. What's most interesting is that she didn't publish her first novel until she was in her mid-40s. Yet she's never forgotten the intense feelings and changes of her own teenage years. Critics as well as teen readers have seen the evidence of that in her writing and have honored her novels with a number of awards, from Best Books for Young Adults to various state and National Book Award nominations.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh goodness I do enjoy these books. I have to admit that they don't have a lot of staying power: I don't know for sure if I read this one before or not. In any case, book 3 is now available to me so I'm glad to read this.

I like how wholesome these are. That may sound all James Dobson or something, but no. There's plenty of exciting adventure, plenty of libertarianism, no Christianity. But things like the servants getting at least equal billing with the royals, and the father being the one who raised you, never mind your genes. Also, I do like the little bits of foreign-language instruction (I hope they're true!).

And I love the anti-violence, anti-revenge message. "It doesn't solve anything. It just perpetuates the problem by making us as bad as them. And we don't need any more of them, do we?"

And I love the reinforcement of the message that a married couple needs to be best friends, first & foremost.

For all those compassionate and wise and gentle attitudes, though, they still eat meat. I opine the royals, at least, should be vegetarian. And there are minor missing pieces, fallacies of logic, I must admit. However, if you can not worry about details like that, I do recommend the books.

Btw, it is best to read them in order, but not necessary. And each does end satisfyingly.

[Anna T · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to revisit the characters from the first novel and get some more character and relationship development. The new characters were also really fun to get to know. I would've loved to rate the sequel higher since I gave the first one 5 stars, but I sadly didn't enjoy the plot nearly as much. The first two thirds of the book could be summed up as one bad thing after another while skipping almost all of the charm that made me love the first one. Things did get better in the last third but not enough for me to rate it higher. I will still read the third book but I'll be taking a break to read other things first.

[Kolleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

On the back book flap of this book, it says that Ferris wasn't even planning on a sequel until the huge amounts of mail she received requesting one. Bad decision. This entire sequel felt like just that, that the author had no desire to write it and it just felt forced.

The book starts off where the last one ended, which I loved by the way, with Queen Olympia being rescued from the river. A year later, her memory returns and she begins her quest to take over her previous throne. Good concept? Yes. Did it work? No. After making it over 100 pages of Queen Olympia's nastiness and the book's going nowhere, I gave up. I tried to skim the rest of the book to find out the ending, but then realized that I didn't even care about that either. I hate quitting books, but I gave it a fair chance!! Ferris should have left well enough alone and not made a follow up to this book. What a bummer!

[Tamera Westhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting to like this, because I thought it would be for older kids, but it is a great book! I'm excited to add it to my future classroom library (depending on what grade I teach)! I need to get the first book, because it would be nice to learn more background. But, this was okay as a stand-alone book. I love that Marigold and Chris have fights and have to figure out how to work though them. Perfect marriages are only in books, so it's nice to have a little realism thrown in with all of the magic!

[The Book Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first one, but still fun.

Read my review of the first book here

[Haley Kinser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just as adorable as the first one. There are so many important lessons to be learned from Christian and Marigold 😊

[Syl-G6 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Marigold and Prince Christian married happily in the first book of this series and vanquished the evil queen Olympia, happy ending, right? Well, that’s not exactly how it turned out. Guess what, in Twice Upon a Marigold, Olympia is alive and known as Angelica, a sweet girl who lost her memory when washed up from to river bank.
.Lazy Susan, Sleeping Beauty’s half sister, is very jealous of Sleeping Beauty, her castle and her prince. Lazy Susan would just lie around and do nothing but complain, but because of Queen Olympia’s loss of memory and change of heart, she is willing to listen to Lazy Susan and they became friends.
One day, Olympia recovered from amnesia and decided to go back to her kingdom, and she forced Lazy Susan to go with her to be a maid. Olympia was going to take over her kingdom again and wanted to be sole ruler. On the way, they met an old man named Stan Lucasa. Mr. Lucasa can speak many different languages and is very creative; he can cook excellent food and make beautiful attire. So, Queen Olympia made Mr. Lucasa come with her to the palace so he will be her seamstress and cook.

Meanwhile, Marigold and Christian thought the happy life they planned, was a little not like what they expected: They started fighting because of some small thing and acted like Olympia, as if her cruelty settled on them too. Marigold also threatened to kill Christian which led to a really funny part: when the king was talking with his friend, Edric (Ed), a troll and Christian’s adopted father, about how well Marigold and Christian are well with each other, Christian comes bursting in and says “Marigold is threatening to kill me! (Ha!).
Just after that, Olympia arrived at their castle with Mr. Lucasa and Lazy Susan. When Olympia got back, she was thought very highly of herself and thought that all her citizens was rejoicing over her return (because she took their words the wrong way), but actually, they despised it.
As soon as Queen Olympia entered the castle, she met King Swithbert who used to not stand up to Olympia and let her push him around, Olympia threatened the king but because of how Olympia used to treat him and his subjects and how he did nothing about it, the king stood up to Olympia. So did Magnus, a boy Olympia also tried to control and force to marry Marigold (But as you see, in the first book she failed and Marigold and Christian married instead). After the queen had met Magnus and tried to force him over to her side. Magnus had a girl he loves come over to his house, but he accidently offended her and she turned angry, I think it is because he was influenced by Queen Olympia again like Christian and Marigold.
Once Olympia met the king and Magnus, she then made some changes to the castle;
She cleared out the dungeon filled with Ed’s collectables, and yelled at servants, she also changed the guards into following her orders instead of Swithbert’s. Olympia was very angry at Magnus and Swithbert denying her and locked both of them and Ed, whom Olympia hates because he is Christian’s adopted father, inside her newly cleaned out dungeon.
Marigold and Christian still hasn’t known of this news, only that the Queen has returned and Marigold is trying hard to find ways to get rid of the queen without bloodlust, but that’s exactly what everybody wants until Marigold used her last hope, a wizard, Wendell, who did magic tricks at her birthday party when she was little.
Wendell agreed and came over to the palace to “work”, but instead, he just stuffed himself with food and slept all day! He called it his “necromancy”. (LOL!) But he explained that to change someone’s heart and make them nice again, you have to shake up their mind and their heart. Christian and Marigold found this piece of information useless because they couldn’t shake Olympia up. So they began to give up hope, especially when they found out that King Swithbert, Magnus and Ed were captured.
Marigold and Christian apologized to each other and thought of an idea. Marigold would climb in through the dungeon way and go up to the palace as a maid in disguise and try to convince the servants to rebel against Olympia. The rebellion will be the day when Swithbert, Magnus and Ed are going to be in the trial. While Marigold was convincing the servants, Swithbert, Magnus, and Ed’s guard soldier, Finbar, was being convinced to rebel;;/; by Christian in the dungeon.
After all of them were persuaded, Christian then put on a disguise and went up to meet the captain of the guards. The captain of the guards was sided with Olympia but Christian explained to him that he was King Christian and asked him if he will rebel against Queen Olympia, the captain said yes because he liked how King Swithbert has been kind to them and Queen Olympia has been nothing but unkind so all the soldiers were on Marigold’s side.
Meanwhile, Lazy Susan was in the Queen’s palace and was a handmaid. She had to scrub pots which she hated until the head housekeeper explained to her that once you finfished with your work, you will feel very happy. Slowly, Lazy Susan didn’t become Lazy anymore and enjoyed her work. Mr. Lucasa also pleased the Queen with making dresses with her but he, like Susan, did not liked to be ordered around.
Finally, the day of the trial, when Swithbert, Magnus and Ed were about to get killed, Wendell and his pet elephant came! The rebel’s separated and was armed. But before anyone could move, Wendell’s elephant charged up to Olympia, picked her up with its trunk and started furiously shaking her. Nobody could stop it. The elephant threw Olympia on the hard floor and she got taken away to get medical care because Marigold, Christian, and King Swithbert didn’t like to kill someone, even if they are that evil.
When Queen Olympia woke up, she lost her memory again and turned into Angelica. So when Wendell’s elephant was shaking her, he mixed up Olympia’s heart and mind. Wendell explained that there are two people living inside of Angelica’s body and needed to banish Olympia but he can keep nice Angelica.
After that, Lazy Susan and Angelica worked with Mr. Lucasa because he had an idea of making toys for children, a dream Mr. Lucasa always wanted to complete. They decided to work at the top of the world (The North Pole) and call their company after Mr. Lucasa, Lazy Susan rearranged the letters of his name, Stan Lucasa, and made it into Santa Claus! It is a fun twist to the ending! I loved how Jean Ferris ended the ending of Christian and Marigold! She wrote, “And they lived happily (aside from a few normal disagreements, misunderstandings, pouts, silent treatments, and unexpected calamities) happily ever after.”
I really liked this ending, a creative way to show not everything is always perfectly happy; there are always some difficulties here and there.
My favorite character in this book is Mr. Lucasa; I enjoyed reading how creative he is with food and dresses. I also liked reading how he put up with Queen Olympia’s tantrums and complaints, he just simply ignored the complaints and she eventually focused on the dresses Mr. Lucasa has brought up. Mr. Lucasa can also speak more than twelve languages and was teaching Lazy Susan too!
In Twice upon a Marigold also has some misunderstood romance, it talks about each other’s problems about one another and how they try to fix misunderstandings. Ed admires a girl troll and needs to be brave to tell her that he loves her, after seeing Christian and Marigold’s happiness. At the end of the story, Ed decided to tell the girl troll. But Ed stood up and decided to declare his love! (And I still don’t know how it turned out! It’s not in this book!) Christian and Marigold also have a problem of starting to fight over unimportant, very small details. Even the blurb of this book says, Even Royalty Doesn’t See Eye To Eye, so even though they aren’t a perfect couple, being together and making them happy is nice too.
I enjoyed reading Twice Upon a Marigold, and rate it five stars, an excellent book for 4-7th graders, because of the complex plots and interesting characters!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!!! Book number two! As soon as I got it this morning I started reading, and it was so hard to put it down. Just as exciting and thrilling as the first one. Be sure that you read them in order because that will make the much more fun and you be able to understand them better!

[0emmalyn987 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twice Upon A Marigold was a wonderful fun filled adventure that keeps you awake and alive. It was told in the third person omniscient point of view. I am so envious of this authors talent to keep the story so entertaining and awakening. She added thrillers and twists to this story that i wouldn't have thought of if you gave me a hundred years.
The novel was set in a town called Beaurivage, it is a fictional town ruled under a monarchy. although the story begins in a boring little village called Granolah i can assure you that it is as action packed as a fairy tale can get.
The main character Marigold is a sweet,energetic and caring queen of Zandelphia, she rules along side of King Christian whom in his early years if age lived in a crystal cave with a troll for an adopted father. Now if none of that makes you want to jump up and go read the book for yourself then maybe this will.
When Marigold was a teenager her mother Queen olympia set her up with many suitors that were princes of other kingdoms, JUST to get rid of her! It's not that Marigold is meant or unpleasant to be around, but the current queen of Beaurivage was! But then when Marigold did find someone she wanted to be with, olympia tried to kill her on the wedding day! Now just so you know, that was NOT a book spoiler from this book, but it was from the last one.
The book has plot twists and magic and mystery, it has all of the ingredients for a beautiful novel.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, there were things that I really liked about this book, but unfortunately, one of them was not the plot. I love Jean Ferris and I love the way she writes. She has lots of little fun devices that keep you giggling the whole way, and she has a TON of great one-liners! She understands life and helps the reader to understand it better as well.

The problem is that this fun little sequel just didn't grab me. I didn't like the evil queen, didn't want her to come back, and the characters who were supposed to NOT let her take over were a bunch of pansies! So, I didn't want to read about them being so pathetic.

Even still, I have to just finish with some of her great tidbits of wisdom:

"Sleep is the escape hatch for overburdened minds" (how true!)

"I'm starting to believe that happily-ever-after includes people doing things that upset each other...The important part is that we feel sorry about what we've done and make up for it."

"True evil has a hard time operating in the face of strenuous manifestations of good."

Thank you Ms. Ferris, for some great bits of wisdom!

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I definitely loved this book. Olympia loses her memory and spends a year living in Granolah as Angie, a sweet loving person. She suddenly regains her memory and goes back to her kingdom to cause more trouble. As soon as she arrives she begins to cause trouble again, as if the force of her personality causes people to let her have her way. However this time, Swithbert, Chris and Olympia decide they aren't going to take it (especially since she has Swithbert, Magnus and Ed in prisoned for treason, she plans on hanging them). They spearhead a revolution. In this book we also meet Lazy Susan, Sleeping Beauty's sister, Wendell the magician, Mr. Lacost, and we find out Rollo is not as horrible as he seems.
There are lots of lessons in this book about hard work, standing up for what you believe in and that in relationships nothing is perfect, but they don't come across as being shoved down your throat.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable, quick read book. The plot gives the reader a chance to think about those evil people that mess with our lives and that we have a choice to get revenge or to move ourselves above that. I loved how Jean Ferris threw in tidbits of fairy tales.

Favorite quotes:
"No matter how good somebody else's life looks from teh outside, you can be sure there's something about it you wouldn't want to have in your own life".

"It's important to do more than just complain when there's something you don't like. You need to try to do something about it, or you're nothing but a whiner".

"Sleep is the escape hatch for overburdened minds".

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my 8-year-old daughter, so I let her rate it. And any book with a princess in it will automatically rate high with her. But this was definitely an enjoyable read, being the sequel to Once Upon a Marigold. Some new characters are added - which adds to the fun - such as Lazy Susan, half-sister to Sleeping Beauty. Of course, the evil Olympia is back and no longer an amnesiac, and wants the throne all to herself. The story contains light-hearted humor but some good life lessons as well.

[Laramort · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost painful from its cheasiness. The conversations are difficult to read. The good people are just a little too flawless and the only bad person is a little to evil. The ending I'm sorry, made no sense either. Vaporize the evil? What?

If I pretend I'm eight and reading this book its not so bad. Definitely would be perfect for a 8-12 year-old.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book better than the first one. I loved the last sentence. "And they lived happily (aside from a few normal disagreements, misunderstandings, pouts, silent treatments, and unexpexted calamities) ever after." Haha! THey should have that caveat in every fairy tale. That is so true.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is like a G-rated Galavant: silly, over-the-top & fun.

[Kellie Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had more humor and a better plot for me. Hopefully Olympia is done causing terror.

[Jamie Tukpah · Rating 5 out of 5]

King Christian and Queen Marigold, rulers of Zandelphia, can hardly believe how much their lives have changed. Only a year before, they managed to get rid of Marigold’s evil mother (not stepmother, though not blood-related either), get married, and take over Zandelphia with enough flair to become de facto royal trendsetters. Blissfully enjoying their happily ever after, it comes as a shock that it only takes one argument for Christian and Marigold to devolve from happily eating breakfast on their terrace into an argument so intense death threats are involved.

Soon enough, they realize their volatile tempers are due to a source of malevolence they thought was gone forever. Olympia is back! Apparently, after her fall into the river, she was carried to a town far away. Fished out of the river without her memory, she’d spent the past year as a delightful young woman named Angie. However, to the dismay of… everyone, Olympia got her memory back and is more than ready to take up her mantle as queen once more. Even if it means she has to resume her plans to make sure she’s the only monarch in Beaurivage.

-

Marigold and Christian have been living happily since their marriage. Their first argument surprises them and is something that they have to work through. Which they do beautifully as they are very committed to communication, honesty, and each other’s happiness. Consequently, it’s no wonder that so many characters in the book consider them the model for a happy marriage.

King Swithbert made progress in his relations with Olympia. He didn’t let her railroad him. However, he still struggled to minimize the damage she wrought. In the end, he recognized how his own indecision impeded his ability to be a good ruler. He also recognized that the best thing he could do for the subjects of Beaurivage would be to provide them with a competent ruler who could lead them in the best direction despite difficult obstacles that might crop up.

Both royal couples are models of what a monarch should and shouldn’t be, as well as examples of the best way to treat people and how to work through problems. I’d give it 5 stars! Recommended to anyone interested in peaceful revolutions, monarchs in disguise, and the true wisdom of an albino elephant.

[Lily-Mae B · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read Once Upon a Marigold I was twelve years old. I became obsessed with the incredible fantasy world that Jean Ferris had created. I am now twenty-one and reading the sequel. I am at a loss of words for how much joy this series has brought me so far. I recommend this series to just about anyone with a good sense of humours.

The characters throughout display strong morals and there are lot of positive lessons that people can learn about in this book. Twice Upon a Marigold has a fabulous way of teaching people that negative emotions and energy can affect those around you. It was nice to see the challenges that both Marigold and Christian faced as a newly wed couple and as rulers of a kingdom. I found their disputes quite charming and realistic. What I love about Jean Ferris is that her characters show strong emotional growth in every chapter. Lazy Susan was inspired to work hard and grow out of bad habits and became MRS Santa Claus, Mr Lucasa was finally able to work for himself and start his own business (he was literally so wonderful he became Santa Claus), Ed went to propose to Wendolyn, and Swiftbert retired and started doing things for simple enjoyment such as play snipsnapsnorum with Wendell.

Jean Ferris single-handedly sparked my passion for reading and I am regretting putting off reading this book for so long.

If you cannot take anything else from this review, just know that I want you to read this book 😘✌️

READ THIS BOOK.

Encourage your loved ones and kids to read it! It’s a fabulous story for all age groups!❤️

[Theresa Linh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was more juvenile than the first one. I enjoyed the first book more than this one. Twice Upon A Marigold felt a little rushed, and the plot, in my opinion wasn’t well-written or thought out. This book felt more silly than charming.

Marigold and Christian’s approach to love and marriage is very naive. Swithbert, was the most annoying character. For a king, he does not add much content. There were also more characters, but they didn’t really enhance the story either. With Olympia’s return it could have gone in any direction and could have gone in a more creative/interesting direction, but it fell flat. This book wasn’t memorable.

Again, it’s a quirky and cute book, but not anything serious at all. However, I’m not complaining, I’m an adult reading this book that is obviously meant for a very young audience.

Will still read book three, and hopefully it will bring back the nostalgia I had when I first read Once Upon A Marigold in middle school.

[Grashanon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series of Jean Ferris. The premise is just seemingly absurd and genius at the same time. I think its for children who wants to be told a fairy tale and its for adults who just want to have fun and understand all the adultlike jokes in the book. I was never bored of the premise of fairy tale land. I love the way Chris and Marigold's relationship is portrayed-its the after happily ever after -fights. (after honey moon phase). Olympia was such an interesting mix and oh Wendel and that elephant-gosh. The details about daily life in the kingdom was so descriptive I would imagine it would be a great comic or even an animated movie. I am going into the 3rd book now. So far this series has been a real fun read.

[Kiran Galsinh · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Queen Olympia fell in the river the kingdoms spirit has been the best that it could be. Christian and Marigold have just married and are very happy. The kingdom might have thought that Olympia was gone but it turns out she had just lost her memory form the fall. One day she woke up to all her past memories and she is determined to get back her throne. She is accompanied by Sleeping Beauty's sister Lazy Susan on her way back home. But when she returns things aren't as she expected.
I recommend this book to people who read fantasy, young adult, fairy tale, romance, humor, fiction, and magic.

[Hannah Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet re-calibration on the idea of happily ever after- with all of its miscommunications, good intentions, and the frustrations of actually sharing space with that perfect creature who for some reason finds knock-knock jokes hilarious. Throw in a case of a recovering amnesiac, a collection of treason accusations, and an elephant and you've got another fun tale to read aloud!

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second time reading and I remember not enjoying it nearly as much as the first.
It isn't TERRIBLE. But the end had sort of a weird and slightly darker bit, which included bad energy, an encantation, and how to stay positive even if there was lingering bad energy. It was just a bit... odd. For a middle school geared book, especially. And for a more fun and silly one, at that.

[Cecilia Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prince Christian and Princess Marigold are still newly wed,
when Queen Olivia unexpectedly returns and takes over
the kingdom.
Marigold and the servants in the castle organize a rebellion.
The story is filled with silly fairy tale themed jokes and puns.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little bit longer to read this book compared to the first one. I liked Lazy Susan’s transformation and I admired Mr. Lucasa’s patience with Olympia. It was a good continuation to the story and I enjoyed it

[Kim Staley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed a brain break. I remembered how cute the first book was, so I thought I'd give this one a chance, too. Not as cute as the first one. In fact, I thought that the way Olympia was handled was rather odd. But still a super light read that ends happily ever after.

[Roxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will always be so fond of these characters! If you loved the first book this is definitely worth a read! Charming and cute, a lovely little addition to the story of Marigold and Christian. A reminder of what happens after the “happily ever after.”

[Allison King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as whimsical as the first and not as grounded as the third. Still, there are delightful moments sprinkled throughout, such as my most favorite quote: "How do we get down from here?" "You can't get down from elephants, down comes from ducks."

[Katie Hamstead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable! I liked Once Upon A Marigold more, but it was fun to continue the story. The characters are sweet and endearing, and the entire book is wholesome and clean. Highly recommend for people looking for something safe to read for themselves or their kids.