The Read & Chill-A-Thon is hosted by Rebecca @ Bookishly Rebecca and Malanie @ Malanie Loves Fiction. This readathon consists of four prompts and runs throughout the month of November. The goal is to take it easy and read as much or as little as you want.
PROMPT FOUR: Read the group book, The Hating Game, or buddy read a book of your choice.
It’s a fact that buddy reads are one of Mandy and I’s favourite posts to create for this site. We had to go with option number two for this prompt!
MY UNFAIR GODMOTHER
We’ll be buddy reading one of our favorite books ever. I’m ready for all the funnies and adorable romance that this book brings to me and Sha!
Title: My Unfair Godmother (My Fair Godmother #2)
Author: Janette Rallison
Pages: 352
Released: April 12, 2011
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary / Fantasy
Goodreads Rating: 4.14 (of 6,837 ratings)
SUMMARY
Tansy Miller has always felt that her divorced father has never had enough time for her. But mistakenly getting caught on the wrong side of the law wasn’t exactly how she wanted to get his attention. Enter Chrysanthemum “Chrissy” Everstar, Tansy’s fairy in shining, er, high heels. Chrissy is only a fair godmother, of course, so Tansy’s three wishes don’t exactly go according to plan. And if bringing Robin Hood to the twenty-first century isn’t bad enough for Tansy, being transported back to the Middle Ages to deal with Rumpelstiltskin certainly is. She’ll need the help of her blended family, her wits, and especially the cute police chief’s son to stop the gold-spinning story from spinning wildly out of control.
Note from SHA: Yes, this is the second book in the series, but you can read it as a standalone without issue. Book one is just as good, but Mandy and I read it recently so we decided to review this one.
Do Three Wishes a Plot Make?
Chrissy stepped towards me. “I’m glad you brought that up. It’s true most maidens earn their fairy godmothers by doing good deeds or by helping poor beggars who turn out to be fairies in disguise. But to tell you the truth, I’ve never been big on dressing up in rags and waiting around in the snow to see if someone offers me their coat. If I’m out in the snow, it’s because I’m skiing with some buff elf guys. […] I needed an extra-credit project, and your life qualified according to the pathetic-o-meter.”
Mandy: To answer the question, YES, YES IT DOES. This story features a struggling fair (yes, FAIR, because she hasn’t graduated fairy godmother school) godmother trying to get a little extra credit. Her assignment? Tansy Miller, a girl who desperately wants attention from her father who has started a new life, and who accidentally makes a giant mess of her own life— whether it’s her criminal boyfriend, bringing Robin Hood back to rob Walgreens at sword point, or transporting her and her fam to the Middle Ages and right into a very bad fairytale.
Sha: I was pretty rattled when I went to record My Unfair Godmother’s genre and was like, Oh, wait, right. It’s fantasy. (Rattled might be a little on the dramatic side, but I definitely did pause.) This book just has alll the contemporary feels with magic sprinkled in. Mandy gets it spot on: this is about Tansy, figuring out her life with a little magical nudge in the right direction. Oh, and a lot of laughs.
Mandy: One of the major parts I loved was how seamlessly that Rallison intertwined fairytale plots into contemporary moments. I mean, you literally have Robin Hood running around with his Merry Men in swords and tunics and is snatching up pennies instead of actual money. I don’t understand how Rallison made it work as effortlessly as she did, but even the most outlandish ideas WORKED and felt thought out.
Sha: YES. Such a pro in this story is how the fairytale elements blended into the real world and then, midway through the book, the real world jumped into the middle ages. But BUT bUt I do need to comment on the ending. (Without any spoilers.) Tansy undoes an event that contributed to major character development and plot sequencing. I understand why she did it (happily ever after, make people happy) but it felt cheap. Like I said, it undercut a lot of character development and sometimes, events happen for a reason. Sometimes, it must bE NO WISHIE TIME.
Characters of Future Old
I never expected to feel like part of a family with Sandra, Nick, and Dad. But I did, and I wasn’t sure what was odder: that I felt this way or that it had taken me so long to realize that a family could expand to include other people.
Mandy: Oh, the characters. There is nothing Rallison does righter than hilarious, lovable characters. Tansy, Hudson, Chrissy, Clover, and more bring the funnies and the feelings. I instantly wanted to root for all of them, and I loved them dearly. Clover the grouchy, gambling leprechaun has always been a personable favorite. So sassy. So fiesty.
Sha: Tansy does not have an easy start in this book. She’s determined to make her father’s life miserable, but does it by failing her English classes (a subject her father is passionate about), avoiding all books, and hanging out with the local bad boy. Her sabotage attempts just drag herself down. Somehow, between running around in the middle ages in evening gowns (“heroines are always beautiful” – Chrissy Everstar), Tansy realizes just how much her family loves her. If that’s not a character arc, I don’t know what is.
Mandy: I do love a good character arc in evening gowns. Brings out the true princess in me.
Sha: However, a good question here might also be: did Chrissy learn a thing? Annndd the answer would be a solid: uh, nope. Chrissy is still the same old, same old fair godmother but then again, could we ever bear for her to change?
*the world collectively whispers no and by the world, I mean, Mandy*
Shipping the Good Ship
My gaze drifted over to Hudson and Robin Hood again. I couldn’t help but compare them. They were both tall and handsome, but Robin Hood didn’t seem nearly as … solid and sturdy as Hudson. I didn’t know how else to describe it, and I didn’t know why I found it so attractive, but I felt it every time I’d touched Hudson: that solidness.
Mandy: Omg, Hudson and Tansy were my ship. Well I mean after Cresswell. And Ismae and Duval. And then THEY MY SHIP in the past. I just feel the feels. There is enough tension and enemies to lovers that I just sit here going MY FEELS. There were some problematic moments with him. So they definitely got bumped down on the ship radar. Not a complete shipwreck since they had some really cute moments, but still. Not numero tres.
Sha: Sometimes Hudson didn’t give Tansy a fair shake. (In fact, sometimes several of the characters didn’t.) Yeah, she was rebelling, but no one actually asked her why. I think Hudson’s a well-developed love interest and his interactions with Tansy were super fun. (And if they were my friends, I would encourage them to pursue a relationship.) But my advice to them would be to actually sit and have a conversation because too often Hudson is like, “Okay, Tansy, but you’re complaining about non-issues,” without actually hearing her out. And if I dated someone like that, uhhh, it would be a real problem.
Mandy: Okay, yes, totally agreed. I was too blinded by his muscular thighs that Tansy described in detail at the police station. I lost all ability to realize he was a bit too much in the “enemies” portion.
Sha: The thighs’ll get you every time. He did care for her and always look out for her well being. But if he could have listened a little more? It would have been great. Still a good romance for me! Just not Ismae and Duval status, uh, that is sacred.
CONCLUSION
Mandy: Read, read, readddddddddddddddddddd the story. Omigosh, it is PACKED with funnies and cuteness and light hearted fluffiness. It works in all the magicness and fairytale you could ever want and then adds in a great romance and moreeeeeeeee. 4.5 crowns and an Anna rating.
Sha: Yes, I recommend, definitely a fantastic contemp/fantasy read. The humour is so. On. Point. That should be the number one genre classification for this book: humour. SO many hilarious moments! 4.5 crowns.
Buy Now
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Book Princess Reviews 
The story seems so entertaining!
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Yay! I’m so happy that you two decided to join us and that you made posts like a professional even though Malanie and I didn’t but we still had fun 😀
So glad you were able to buddy read together and enjoyed it, too! ❤
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Fun is the most important part!! and Mandy and I definitely did have a lot of it. You and Malanie gave us a reason to dig into our bookshelves and *finally* do another buddy read.
(also I got to make another graphic, which I love doing, but don’t tell Mandy because I always pretend and complain when she asks me)
❤
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