Book Review- Young Queens Collection: A Most Mysterious Manor by Megan Hess

I really like to collect Megan Hess’ books, but my favorite books by her are her children’s books. I don’t have children, but I still enjoy buying children’s books whenever I find one I like. Usually I’m drawn to the illustrations. Sometimes it is the story. Still, I enjoy buying my favorites and adding them to my collection.

In the case of Megan Hess’ children’s books, I enjoy the art. I like the stories, but sometimes I don’t enjoy them as much as others. This is why when I discovered a new series by her, called Young Queens Collection, I felt unsure. Since it is a different series to her well known Claris, The Chicest Mouse in Paris collection, I didn’t know if I would like to start buying them and may enjoy them.

After a lot of consideration, I decided to give the series a try and decided to purchase and read the first book in the series: A Most Mysterious Manor.

The front of the book looks like this…

It is really pretty! It has metallic gold on the cover. The gold is also found on the first and last pages of the book…

As per usual, the book is beautifully illustrated…

 

 

 

The book’s synopsis from Amazon is…

Stories stitched and spun with gold, in far-off lands, forever told. From tiny huts to kingdoms wide, every girl has a Queen inside.

In A Most Mysterious Manor, a girl called Poppy Grace is waiting for her best friend Bella to come back so that they can play together again. But when she hears a mysterious creak coming from somewhere in her manor, Poppy starts to explore – and soon discovers that she can have fun on her own too …   A surprising and mischievous fairy tale about independence and making your own fun, with a twist!

Like I said, I decided to purchase and read the book even though I wasn’t sure about it. I really liked the art, so I thought it would be a book I would like to keep even if I don’t like the story.

After reading the book, I liked it! It is a really cute story. As a girl, I went through times when I would wish my friends would come over and play. Poppy Grace is a character that I could relate to and I believe other girls could as well. The book is written in the same rhyming style as the Claris books. The pacing of the story is perfect for anyone in the book’s target age group. (The target age group is preschool and older) It also has a very surprising twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting, but really enjoyed.

I highly recommend this book. It is great for children and children at heart. It is also a great alternative to normal, well known fairy tales such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. It is a feminine story, but it doesn’t paint a picture of femininity in a way that it would bother feminine girls.

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!