Tag Archives: Robin Palmer

Booked

Cindy Ella (Robin Palmer)

Rating: [rate 4.5]

Cindy Ella (Robin Palmer)Prom fever has infected LA—especially Cindy’s two annoying stepsisters, and her overly Botoxed stepmother. Cindy seems to be the only one immune to it all. But her anti-prom letter in the school newspaper does more to turn Cindy into Queen of the Freaks than close the gap between the popular kids and the rest of the students. Everyone thinks she’s committed social suicide, except for her two best friends, the yoga goddess India and John Hughes-worshipping Malcolm, and shockingly, the most popular senior at Castle Heights High and Cindy’s crush, Adam Silver. Suddenly Cindy starts to think that maybe her social life could have a happily ever after. But there’s still the rest of the school to deal with. With a little bit of help from an unexpected source and a fabulous pair of heels, Cindy realizes that she still has a chance at a happily ever after.

I love retellings. Ever since I read about this NaNoWriMo story about putting characters from Greek mythology into one story, I’ve always wanted to write my own retelling of something. I like to see how authors make an old story into something entirely new, but still sticking to the original story.

Cindy Ella is one of those books. I already liked Robin Palmer’s Geek Charming, and I was thrilled when I found Cindy Ella in National Bookstore. It’s obviously a re-telling of Cinderella, set in Castle Heights High, the same setting as in Geek Charming.

Here we draw the similarities with the original fairy tale:

  • Cindy Ella – Cinderella, obviously
  • Clarissa – her stepmother
  • Ashley and Britney – her stepsisters
  • Adam Silver – prince charming
  • Noah and Craig – Cindy’s fairy godmothers
  • Prom – the ball

The only people I can’t put into the original story are India and Malcolm, Cindy’s friends, and her dad.

But who cares, really? Cindy Ella is such a fun book that sometimes you forget that it’s based on the fairy tale. There are a ton of laugh out loud moments, especially with Malcolm and his gay antics, as well as some more “I crush on this guy but he turned out to be gay” quotes. The ending brings us right back to the original fairy tale, which felt a bit anticlimactic for me, but it’s still good with just the right amount of tingles. :)

It’s cute, fun and definitely enchanting. :) I definitely have Robin Palmer in my favorite authors list now. :)

Booked

Geek Charming (Robin Palmer)

Rating: [rate 3.5]

Geek Charming (Robin Palmer)Dylan Shoenfield is the princess of L.A.’s posh Castle Heights High. She has the coolest boyfriend, the most popular friends, and a brand-new “it” bag that everyone covets. But when she accidentally tosses her bag into a fountain, this princess comes face-to-face with her own personal frog: selfprofessed film geek Josh Rosen. In return for rescuing Dylan’s bag, Josh convinces Dylan to let him film her for his documentary on high school popularity. Reluctantly, Dylan lets F-list Josh into her A-list world, and is shocked to realize that sometimes nerds can be pretty cool. But when Dylan’s so-called prince charming of a boyfriend dumps her flat, her life — and her social status — comes to a crashing halt. Can Dylan — with Josh’s help — pull the pieces together to create her own happily-ever-after?

Don’t you just love the cover of this book? It screams young adult/chick lit! No wonder I wanted it! Okay, fine, I’m not such a fan of how they cut the head off (at least it’s not at the neck — big no no!), but it’s so pretty, and the actual cover has glitters on it. Talk about whimsical. :P

I’m glad that this book is really good inside too, aside from having a pretty cover. I’m starting to get really fond of re-telling of fairy tales and old stories I know, much like Jasper Fforde‘s Nursery Crime series. Geek Charming is a retelling of The Frog Prince, set in the bright, sunshiney and somewhat materialistic world of Castle Heights High. I don’t know why, but I could somehow imagine the setting even if I haven’t ever been to Hollywood. And then again, I imagined everything just bright and sunshine-y too — maybe it’s a personal stereotype I have.

It’s a really cute and charming story, much like it’s title. Told in alternating point of views between the protagonists, it’s somewhat cliche, but not really. Then again, it’s a re-telling, so what can you expect? Dylan was really annoying at the first few chapters and I really wanted to sock her for being so stuck up. I mean, yeah, you’re rich, and you could probably afford one or more car insurances for your BMW, but do you really have to be so selfish? However, she started becoming more human after some time, and I started sympathizing with her. I liked Josh from the beginning, being the geek that he was, although I kind of felt that his “sickness” is kind of exaggerated.

It’s really more of a friendship/self-discovery story more than a love story, which was refreshing in a way. I liked how Dylan and Josh’s friendship developed throughout the book, and it gave the characters more depth. The other characters were just as amusing, especially Sandy, Josh’s mom.

It’s a quick and light read (I read straight it over the weekend), something that helped me get over the darkness that is Adam. :P It’s cute, but not exactly stellar or life-changing. It’s something I’d recommend someone to read but not really get something really deep, unless if you’re around that age, I guess. But it’s good, just not as good as say, Flipped. I can’t wait to get a copy of Cindy Ella, and all other books that Palmer will come up with. I think I just found myself another author to watch out for. :)