Review: "Frogkisser!" by Garth Nix

One of things I miss most from before the pandemic (besides the ability to just...go pray in the church, and hugging people) is browsing in the library. The joy of walking along the shelves scanning the titles with one's head hung to the side, sliding out interesting-looking books and finding new favorites...gah, I miss it so much. But. I belong to two libraries, and one of them is adding an extra service--surprise bags, by age/genre! (It's pretty obvious at this point which one my favorite library is.). So I got a surprise bag of YA. And I really enjoyed all the books! It was great. Today, I'll review one of my new favorites from that bag. 

Poor Princess Anya. Forced to live with her evil stepmother's new husband, her evil stepstepfather. Plagued with an unfortunate ability to break curses with a magic-assisted kiss. And forced to go on the run when her stepstepfather decides to make the kingdom entirely his own.

Aided by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischievous wizards, Anya sets off on a Quest that, if she plays it right, will ultimately free her land -- and teach her a thing or two about the use of power, the effectiveness of a well-placed pucker, and the finding of friends in places both high and low.

With Frogkisser!, acclaimed bestselling author Garth Nix has conjured a fantastical tale for all ages, full of laughs and danger, surprises and delights, and an immense population of frogs. It's 50% fairy tale, 50% fantasy, and 100% pure enjoyment from start to finish.

Worldbuilding/Writing Style
Garth Nix's writing style AND worldbuilding reminds me of a mix between Diana Wynne Jones, E. D. Baker, and Lloyd Alexander. Excellent! I love all the worldbuilding touches like the difference between sorcerers, wizards, and witches--creative and clever. Also, Gerald the Herald is simply fantastic. The politics of the realm is also realistic, along with its backstory, which I really appreciated. The way magical objects and magic don't always work the way they should is one of my favorite bits, as well as the way everything wizards create is flawed. One of my favorite parts about his writing is the clever tips of the hat to other books--there were fairly obvious allusions to The Chronicles of Prydain and The Lord of the Rings, as well as possibly Ranger's Apprentice? Impressive! And fun to watch for!

Plot
This is a classic quest story, but only sort-of. It's also a coming-of-age story, but only sort-of. The plot does follow a journey to find certain things, but the twists and turns make it unique. Besides the journey, it also ends up centering on Anya's change from, as my D&D playing siblings would say "Chaotic neutral" to "Lawful good". I could probably say more about it, but I'm not going to, because I don't feel like doing hidden spoilers right now. :) 

Characters
I loved all the characters! Nix does a good job of making them unique, and not having too many characters to keep track of. I especially loved Anya, who just wants to get back to her library, people! But will do what needs to be done for the good of the kingdom. One of my favorite parts about her is *spoilers* her realization that the power that comes with sorcery is something she's tempted to, but the evil that comes with attaining the power is not what she wants, and so her turning towards good magic. *end spoilers*. Many of the characters are close enough to stereotype that the stereotype is recognizable, but far enough away that it's satirical. I especially liked this in the Good Wizard. Also, the idea of Royal Dogs? My favorite! Not to mention how much I liked Shrub, Smoothie, and so on and so forth. I could probably talk about these characters for hours.

Romance
None to speak of.

Content
Also none. Lovely!

Overall Rating
4 stars, for sure! 

Reminded me of...
The Arkadians by Lloyd Alexander, and The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones. (Convoluted quests with fun casts of characters). 

Do you love convoluted quest books? Do you miss going to the library and browsing? Has your library opened again? (If so--please can I live with you?)

Comments

Post a Comment

Hi! I'm so glad you are here and taking the time to comment. I love all comments, even ones on old posts! I just ask that you are respectful and keep the comments section clean. Thank you!