A Book Review by a Teen! How to Ditch Your Fairy

Here is a book review for teens, written by a teen:

How to Ditch Your Fairy
Book by: Justine Larbalestier
Review by: Spencer, age 16

3/5 Stars

Charlie is fourteen years old and current possessor of a parking fairy. The premise of the book, which starts before the reader enters the story, is Charlie’s never ending attempts to get rid of her fairy and find a new and improved one. As story concepts go, the ideas of invisible (and controversial) fairies giving people special talents was definitely interesting enough to hook me, but never seemed to really reach its full potential. New Avalon, Charlie’s home, was similarly underdeveloped. The boy whose affections she’s trying to win, Steffi, is from out of town and lends new perspective to our narrator’s insistence that New Avalon is the center of everything, but though this point weaves throughout the story it never really makes it to the foreground. So too with the touched-on idea of fairies being peoples’ natural talents and not fairies at all, which I though could have taken some interesting turns.
Aside from some unfortunate sub-plots though, the story and characters in “How to Ditch Your Fairy” were realistic and the world well created, from new slang to intense Art and Sports schools. Charlie is convincing basketball loving fourteen year old who wishes she was taller, and her relationship with Fiorenze, her every-boy-loves-you fairy possessing arch-enemy, is easy to follow on its course from hostile to friendly. I gave the book 3/5 stars because it was entertaining and highly original, but certainly not flawless in its execution.