Review: My Royal Pain Quest by Laura Lond

From Goodreads: How far would a villain go to help a friend? Lord Arkus of Blackriver Castle thinks doing three heroic deeds is a bit too far. Not only it’s plain detestable, it can ruin his reputation and get him in trouble with the Villains League. On the other hand, it’s not like he’s got friends to spare. And losing the League’s membership isn’t the end of the world, one can always work independently. 

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: In My Royal Pain Quest, the sequel to My Sparkling Misfortune, Lord Arkus is back, determined to find a way to awaken Jarvi. A book of fables may provide the answer, but is Arkus willing to spend the time and effort to go on a quest that might just prove to be entirely useless?

In My Sparkling Misfortune, Arkus was a proud villain who slowly became more heroic/less villainous (depending on how you want to see it) thanks to the efforts of Jarvi. Here, Jarvi’s presence is initially noticeably absent, but it’s quickly filled up by the additions of Cassandra, a girl who’s more than she seems to be - I guessed her secret halfway through the book but keep in mind that the book’s target audience is MG readers - and the Swirg named Reggie. It’s not all new characters though; Prince Kellemar also appears in My Royal Pain Quest – and perhaps will be seen by Arkus in a new light.

An amusing sequel to one of my favourite books I read last year, My Royal Pain Quest was published in November 2011.  

Comments About the Cover: It’s nice that the covers for the series match. For some reason though, my copy has the cover of My Sparkling Misfortune but with the title saying “My Royal Pain Quest.” 

This ebook was received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Review: My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond

From Goodreads: Lord Arkus of Blackriver Castle readily admits that he is a villain and sees no reason why it should stop him from being the protagonist of this book. After all, Prince Kellemar, an aspiring hero, has defeated him in a rather questionable way. Bent on revenge, Arkus attempts to capture a powerful evil spirit who would make him nearly invincible, but a last-minute mistake leaves him with a sparkling instead - a goody-goody spirit that helps heroes, watches over little children, and messes up villains' plans. Bound to Lord Arkus for five years of service and sworn to act in his best interests, the sparkling is not easy to get rid of, and of course his understanding of best interests is quite different from what Lord Arkus has in mind.

My Rating: 5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: My Sparkling Misfortune is a humorous middle grade novel written by Laura Lond that will appeal to anyone looking for a lively fantasy read. The story is narrated by Lord Arkus, a villain, who at the beginning of the book is being haunted by a monster and has been betrayed by Prince Kellemar, a man who wants to become a hero. Determined to get revenge on the prince, Arkus decides to try and catch a gormack (an evil spirit). Unfortunately, he manages to capture a sparkling (a good spirit) named Tulip instead. With no use for a sparkling, Arkus releases Tulip from his servitude, but when Tulip proves his usefulness, Arkus changes his mind and chooses to keep Tulip (whom he calls Jarvi because no servant of Arkus would have a name like Tulip).

Jarvi is so mischievous and made me want my own sparkling! I loved the way he would trick Arkus into doing heroic things or send Arkus into bursts of anger that made Arkus throw things at him.

Even though Arkus proclaims he’s a villain, it’s impossible not to fall in love with him. One can’t help but chuckle as Arkus keeps trying to convince himself, Jarvi and the reader that he really is a villain and not a hero.

In spite of its lighthearted tone, My Sparkling Misfortune does manage to convey an important lesson about how easy it can be to categorize people and expect them to act a certain way without knowing them very well. Just like the world isn’t divided into “good” and “bad” people, sometimes a hero may do something non-heroic or a villain may turn out to have some scruples. 

My Sparkling Misfortune was released by Dream Books LLC in April 2010.

Comments About the Cover: By depicting Arkus, Jarvi, a white tower and the monster haunting Arkus, the cover does a great job reflecting the fact that My Sparkling Misfortune is a fantasy novel aimed at an MG audience.   

This ebook was received from the author in exchange for an honest review.