My Little Pony: Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #4

by G.M. Berrow

Rarity is excited to welcome her new apprentice, Charity, to Ponyville. Rarity is sure that the two of them will become best friends, bonding over their love of fashion and glamour. But after Charity dyes her mane and tail to look more like her mentor, and begins to copy the fashionista's every move, Rarity realizes this pony is a problem!

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Middle Grade, Animals, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Gillian M. Berrow (G.M. Berrow) is a writer and television industry professional living in Brooklyn, New York. When she was little, she aspired to become either a princess or a magical pony. Things seem to be right on schedule.

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing how much of a punch Berrow can pack into 128 pages. And with a large font This was a riveting story following so close to the tone and structure of the show it feels like an actual episode... but this is an original story! I can totally hear and see every scene in my head, the character voices are so authentic. EveryPony is true to their show counterparts and I love this book for it. It was such a fast-paced read and wasn't childish, even when the back said "5+". I adore the illustrations too, identical to the Friendship is Magic style. For such a short book this is another favourite, I'm stunned by the originality yet authenticity and the impact it had on me.

[Megan Hawley Steinfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My review is that it was really good and it earned 5 stars since it was so good. Do you want to know my favorite part? It was every part of the book. 😊"

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was completely true to the show. I liked this a lot!

[Beatrice Fox · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a chore to read this book. It was really work. Nothing happens in it. Nothing. The only thing CLOSE to anything actually happening in it doesn't really come for about 9 chapters. Quite different from GM Berrow's other MLP works like Twilight and the autumn books. That one was a page-turner with high stakes and exciting things happening. This one is Rarity having an apprentice and she is also worried about finishing a new line of dresses for a show. Sound familiar? Well it's basically every Rarity plot of the first two seasons. NOthing at all original here. I DO like that Rarity is getting a student and is actually a teacher now. What is very good about this whole series is that the books advance the characters a little in life and give them more responsibilities. The plot of this book is that Rarity's apprentice thinks Rarity is the greatest and tries to be like her. That's it really. That is it. You realize that in the first chapter you see her because they not only show it but they say it. Rarity not only notices this but keeps ignoring it. She's very inconsistent about it really. Sure she can be embarrassed about other people's reactions but when alone she still does nothing. This is basically a concept like the movie Single White Female. I've also seen a version of this on Regular Show. But there the character tried to take over Rigby's life by magically morphing into him. Something like THAT would have made this more dangerous and appealing. Make Charity a villain instead of just a groupie. Have the Jennifer Jason Leigh moment of her copying Rarity's mane happen in the middle of the book, not at the end. Have her kidnap or magically change Rarity's look into someone else so that Rarity has to try and get people to see who she really is. THAT would have been worth reading. Instead we get pages and pages of Rarity saying stuck up things and Charity copying her and then they worry about dresses. So when things are finally resolved and they try to confront the problem, the problem just goes away. She says oops sorry and they say "okay I forgive you". and that's that. There's not even any real climax. Given the other good stories I've read from this author I wonder if there wasn't something more interesting planned and they said no and she was forced to dumb everything down. She does capture the essence of the show and the writing is good except for the spelling the obvious things out.

Edit: Of course I've doing something maybe not good. Saying "Do it THIS way". Okay this ISN'T a magical story but could have gone that way. THis is more a slice of life and learning story. No magic, just relationships. Hoever the rest of it stands. There needed to be build and consequences along the way. There aren't. The pacing is just wrong. Rarity is never really horrified as she should be. Even when she's at that brink, everything dissipates. ""You did this." "I know." "It's okay. " And that is how every part of it goes.

[Liana · Rating 4 out of 5]

So close... yet just missed perfection! This book could have pulled off an excellent message of being true to yourself, but it kinda... gave up on itself at the end. I didn't think it was handled very well. :( Wrong choice of words, muddled emotions and lack of expression... Don't get me wrong, the story is great and all, and it does get the message across, I just didn't think it got it across well.

Still great book though.~ 8)

[Mystic DreamClouds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rarity is known for her boutique’s fashion and so she applies for a role to take on an apprentice. But what happens when the apprentice takes Rarity as a role model too far, will Rarity be able to stop her in time?

This was probably the longest one so far and had more chapters in it. This book is steady and slow and pretty uneventful in the first three quarters of the book. Similar to the other installments, it was told mainly from Rarity’s viewpoint and definitely rings true to her character in the show. However, the plot starts thickening around the last quarter but is weakly supported. The events and situations that have already occurred are vaguely written and described making it hard to see the buildup in a relevant manner.

The “friendship” element in this book seemed lacking and it felt like the book gave up near the end. Rarity doesn’t talk or need her friends to help when things get tough. Rarity is able to figure out a solution by herself and it’s quickly resolved after quite a bit of buildup. It was disappointing to read at first, but on further thought Rarity does prefer to be independent and her friends were there for reassurance and thought.

Overall, the book was good but not great. I think the plot needed to be flushed out more and the moral of the story could have been written more convincingly. I like Rarity as a character and she’s quite under represented in the show, so I did have high hopes for this book.

Read more reviews @ Mystic's Review Shelf

[Dr. Mechano · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity focuses on Ponyville's cultured clothier herself, and faces her with a unique conflict: Someone who appreciates her a little TOO much.

Sweetmint, Rarity's new apprentice, idolizes Rarity so much that she begins to imitate her mannerisms, her inflections, even her name - beginning to call herself "Charity." Rarity is understandably unnerved by this attention, and has to deal with it in her typical fabulous way.

A fun little slice-of-life story, and a good showing for Rarity's character. G.M. Berrow does an excellent job capturing Rarity's "voice" in the way she speaks and acts, and it really feels true to the character in the show. Definitely recommended for Rarity fans or MLP fans in general.

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For more bookish opinions, visit my blog: Craft-Cycle

A fantastic fashion adventure starring Rarity. Rarity can't wait to meet her new apprentice, Sweetmint... or rather Charity. But when Charity takes her idolization of Rarity too far, Rarity must switch gears and figure out how to be the mentor Charity needs.

Well-written with a nice, quick pace and great flow.

Nice themes about being yourself, honesty, and procrastination.

Dive in to this all-new adventure that perfectly matches the tone of the show.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not my favorite, but my kids liked it. It's about a pony named Rarity who becomes a mentor for a young pony named Charity. Charity tries to be just like Rarity, including physically imitating her. The point of the story is that its better to be yourself, but I was so annoyed by all the pony puns. They say things like somepony instead of someone and other things that just felt like overkill.

[Kate Wilkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are tough for me to read aloud. Bouncing from Applejack's to Rarity's voice and written cadence is a nightmare. The stories have wonderful lessons but the author needs some flow assistance when writing in 6 different voices.

[Alesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right Demetrius is obsessed with My little Pony! So excited they had a few of these books at our library so I can read them to him. Love seeing him be excited about books and reading!

This book was cute. I love the message it sends about hard work and being your own person!

[NekonomeSA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es como ver un capitulo de la serie, aunque por desgracia el conflicto principal sucede demasiado rápido.
Al final la gran paranoia sucede en la cabeza de Rarity. Simplemente puedo decir pobre Charity

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't quality literature or anything. It is a MLP book. However it does have sophisticated vocabulary and a good message.

[Effie Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good because at the end they decided to start over again instead of being mad at each other .

[Dominique · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that Charity shouldn't of gotten her mane done purple and Rairity Shouldn't of gotten mad at her.

[Tiffiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this series isn't dumbed down. It makes reading aloud to my daughter much easier. Actually, I enjoyed this one and it had a great message.

[Elisa Hoopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

rarity is my favorite pony.

[Arjin Eren · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is very fun, immersive and gives a great lesson about being yourself. love this book

[Markus Pietilä · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Little Pony - Rarity ja tapaus Charity

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friendship is generosity.

[Adelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarity is so swag

[Gwen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing uses a lot of puns and random -often outdated or made up- sayings. It was confusing for my 4.5 year old. She follows other chapter books we read to her no problem. I don’t recommend.

[Adrienne Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old liked this book a lot, and I thought it had a cute plot.

[xol · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was honestly the best one out of the three that i've read <3 love rarity my little diva

[bry:3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

my little pony book rarity little gay lady

[Jasper McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute quick read, I'm an adult mlp g4 collector and received these for Christmas. Definitely worth it if you're an adult or child fan :)

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writting made me feel comfortable and inside of the story and rarity's head. Although, the one thing that made me feel disappointed was the final. I think it would had been a better criticize of the mainly topic about not looking for find yourself but just copying the people that you admire. Looks like the autor just give up at the end, and so it wasn't any proper moral at all.

however it has totally the vibe of my little pony, still adorable.

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on a whim during my downtime at the library because I love the show. I didn’t expect anything, but it turned out to be great!

The writer is apparently one of the writers for the show, so it was totally canon-compliant, funny, and very well-written (I actually think the target audience might have trouble with some of the vocabulary?). And they didn’t go out of their way to make the characters unrealistically perfect role models (ex. There’s a comical moment where Rarity lies to Sweetie Belle to make her feel better.)

The plot was so-so: it features Rarity and so of course they had to make the plot about fashion. Boooo. She has more complexity than that. Anyway, she gets a sort of fashion apprentice and isn’t a very good teacher, which is combined with the fact that her student is absolutely obsessed with her and tries to be like her in every way. Of course, they all learn lessons about being yourself and accepting help when you need it.

So it was pretty predictable, but still, I adore these characters and it was pretty much like getting a bonus episode of the show. Definitely going to check out the rest of this series at some point, though not anytime soon. I’ve got too many books to finish already!


Why did putting this on a shelf change the date of the review 😭 I read it April 2023 I believe

[Lanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the insight to Rarity's point of view. It was cute to get a little more information about how Rarity thinks. :D the writing was simple and meant for little kids, but it was decent, at least as good as the show's. The new character Charity/Sweetmint was interesting enough. . . at least from a kid's point of view. The whole story had a nice simple plot line, and would've made a good episode. :)

The downfall here was the climax.. . . . . god, the climax! it was practically non-existent. I mean, the horse tried to steal Rarity's thunder and she barely does anything. If I were Rarity, I would have mule kicked that thieving little copycat all the way back to Manehatten. >=D but, that's mostly because I'm nowhere near as nice, or generous as Rarity. I guess her niceness at the end of the story was to be expected. be generous and helping others with fashion is engrained in her being (hello element of harmony!) but COME ON! even for a kids' book this ending sucked. I really was hoping for more conflict than dyed manes and wigs.

[Sarah Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute MLP kid's book. Again, great chapter book series for kids. I really like how this author doesn't dumb things down just because it is a series for kids. the use of "purloined" certainly had my approval. I'm always glad to see any book that wants to help expand a person's vocabulary and this series/author definitely does that.
(as a note, currently reading these before I potentially give them as gifts/read them with kids I babysit. I will definitely look forward to reading these with my own kids when I have them.)