The Princess Pawn

Mistolear #1

by Maggie L. Wood

Willow Kingswell thinks of herself as an ordinary fourteen-year-old. Although she has been hearing her grandmother's stories about the enchanted realm of Mistolear for as long as she can remember, being a princess is the furthest thing from her mind. What's worrying Willow these days is finding a way to get accepted by the in-crowd at her high school without betraying her friend Abby. Suddenly, Willow finds herself magically transported to the real Mistolear, where it turns out she actually does have a large family--and a royal one at that. Willow's courage and intellect are put to the test as she attempts to save the kingdom from a terrifying spell that turns people into chess pieces. Willow must decide the right course of action before the spell that threatens her newfound family takes away all her choices. In The Princess Pawn, the traditional fairy tale is turned upside down. This princess doesn't wait to be rescued, nor does she plunge into the fray without a backward glance. And in a world in which queens have all the power, violence is not assumed to be the only solution to conflict. The Princess Pawn is an engaging, fast-paced tale and is both a quest and a coming-of-age story. The Princess Pawn will appeal to all those girls who wished that Hermione could have been the hero of the Harry Potter series.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Fiction, Romance, Magic, Historical

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2003

About the author

Maggie L. Wood lives in London, Ontario, where she writes in between doing the cooking and cleaning, reading her favorite YA authors, and watching her favorite AMC, HBO, and Netflix shows. Her books, Captured and The Darkening, of The Divided Realms series have had two different publishers and have both been orphaned by their former publishers before the 3rd book in the series (Auralict) could be published. Maggie has decided to publish Auralict and the Divided Realms series herself as e-Books, and as paperbacks through Amazon's CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform!

Reviews

[Emma Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magical book about good and evil, Maggie portrays Willow's struggle between the part of her who wants to stay in her own world, and the part that wants to venture to a new one. Amazing book, one of the best I've ever read.

[Denae Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful tale of an ordinary girl finding the truth of her past in an extraordinary world where she finds she's princess in a magical realm. I love the way MLW describes her main character's indecision and common problems. This book also has a wonderful conclusion. It's all wrapped up nicely, though a reader will never know if Willow goes back to earth or not.

[Jessica G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood favourite

[Suzy Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute book. Some action, some fantasy, a girl who was just trying to accept her new body in the midst of puberty only to find out that she is a princess smuggled to the human realm for her own safety.

A love develops as she tries to foil plans to kill her by a rival for the throne and save her world.

[Evan Þ. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our protagonist, Willow, was born princess of the magical realm of Mistolear but sent to Earth as a baby; we open with a portal being opened to return her to Mistolear. A powerful Fay has pitted the kingdom against its neighbor in a live-action chess match, and Willow finds that her growing up on Earth has given her unexpected powers and skills to use in unexpected ways, both here and in the sequel.

There was a lot I liked about this duet, including its use of the Fay, its chess references, and its twist on portal fantasy by having the protagonist really have been born off-Earth in the first place. But as I read it, I found myself getting tired of the protagonist's out-of-place modern attitudes. For example (at the start of the second book), why must she insist on sunbathing in the castle courtyard wearing an Earth-style tank top? The contrast between Earth postmodernism and fantasy quasi-medieval is interesting in the abstract, but as it's presented, I find myself sympathizing less and less with my own world.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise for this story was cute, but it dragged on for so long without anything really happening. I was also disappointed that the author felt like a youth fiction book was a good place for swearing. Sorry, but my daughter and I will avoid books from this author in the future because the swearing was easily replaceable.
language: mild swear words, but numerous; romance: none

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Princess Pawn is basically the same story as Maggie L. Wood's book Captured, but in a different retelling with a few changes. Overall, it is the same beautiful story in a different voice, and its still awesome. I loves it.~ :)