The Kari AnnAlysis

Released: November 14, 2007

I got this book from the Kelley and Hall book company for review. I was told this book was Stephen King meets J.R.R Tolkein and it was magical. I haven’t read either of these authors, but the book was magical.

There are two stories in this book. One is of Charles and his sister Tanya. Tanya is sick and one of the things to make her feel better is story telling. Every night her father tells them the story of Prince Cha Cha and Princess Ta Ta. This is the second story.

The Prince and Princess are in a bit of a bind. Evil has twisted its way into their kingdom in the form of a traitor. After the Princess is left in the woods, she has to find her way to the greatest wizard in the land. She doesn’t quite find him, but does find herself in an adventure. All the while, the Prince has changed. He’s not bratty and demanding as he used to be, but no one is really sure why. The two have to come together somehow and put their kingdom back in order.

Between story times, Charles and Tanya learn a lot about each other and Tanya’s sickness. Their relationship grows as Charles takes it upon himself to save his sister.

I do like wizard stories, so I was very optimistic when starting this. I thought it was written very well and I really liked how it went back and forth between the two stories. It wasn’t confusing at all, like some stories are when they go between fantasy and reality. You always knew where you were.

I also liked the characters in this story too. There were some that I didn’t like when the story started, but grew to love once I really got to know them. And vice versa of course.

There were many twists in this story that I didn’t expect. Some of them I guessed, but most caught me by surprise.

I didn’t have many complaints about this story, other than the bed time story part may have been a little adult for the kids. The story itself was kid friendly, but there were parts when I had to read and re-read and consult my dictionary. I guess this may actually be genius because it’s on a kid level and adult level at the same time. Kind of like Finding Nemo. If you’re a kid, you love it because it’s fun. If you’re an adult, you get the humor, it’s a win-win.

This is a little darker than I normally read, but I enjoyed it. I give the book 4 bookmarks and will look forward to Ronald Neal Green books in the future.