Diary of a Teenage…
Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess by C. B. Smith
Book Review by Kari Wolfe
C.B. Smith’s novel, Diary of a Teenage Faerie Princess, is a sort-of coming of age novel about a young girl, Jaymie, who discovers that she is the Faerie Princess and must set out to find her mother who mysteriously disappeared when she was three in order to take her place as the Faerie Queen in six months on her birthday.
The first time I sat down to read this book, I quickly put it back down after the first chapter or so. And, unfortunately, it took me quite a while to be able to pick it back up. It opens with a fantastical explanation of how the universe was formed with quirky odds and ends thrown in there to amuse you. As much as I enjoyed this explanation, this chapter ended and did nothing to grab my interest in the story – I kept reading because I didn’t know what the actual story was about, much less a passing interest in the first chapter.
The quirky odds and ends continue throughout the book, appearing as long-winded tangents, unneeded to the main core of the story, yet they serve to keep you in a lighthearted mood. However, and more importantly, they also serve to bring you out of the character’s thoughts and into your real world where you ask yourself questions like, “Does this author think this is funny?” “Whose head am I in anyway?” and the much more popular “Doesn’t the laundry need folded?”
The main character, Jaymie is sixteen years old and has the stereotypical “Valley girl” attitude that we all can remember from the 1980’s. You can feel the blonde radiating off the pages. Jaymie feels less real and more like a promiscuous caricature of a sixteen year-old girl than any one of the sixteen year-old girls that I know or have known in my lifetime.
The pace of this story alternates between nice and easy-going and a lengthy, drawn-out “my God, will it ever get back on track?” I have a strong suspicion that this book could have used an impartial editor to bring it back on track as the narrator continues to ramble on and on and on at times about things that are not pertinent to the story at hand.
If you’re considering picking this book up, take the time to, at least, read the first chapter or so. As far as novels go, you could indeed do worse and perhaps your sense of humor is different from mine. Once you weave through the chaff to get to the wheat, I believe you will find yourself entertained; however the road to separating the two can be long and arduous.