Garth Nix

Princess Anya has a big problem: Duke Rikard, her step-stepfather is an evil wizard who wants to rule the kingdom and has a habit of changing people into frogs, and her older sister Morven, the heir, is a wimp--so with the help of the librarian Gotfried (who turns into an owl when he is upset), and the Royal Dogs, she must find away to defeat Rikard, save her sister, and maybe even turn Prince Denholm back into a human being.

Frogkisser!

Kirsten Simkiss

Guys, this book was an adorable godsend. Do you like books where the princess saves herself? How about where the princess becomes queen without needing a man to validate her right to the throne? How about and entire book where there isn't a love interest at all, but instead there's a motley crew of sweet characters that never betray each other? How about a princess who recognizes her privilege and respects her friends? YA GIRL ANYA IS ALL OF THOSE THINGS. 

I walked into this book expecting this to be a retelling of the Princess and the Frog, naturally. And it is, sort of. But the frog prince ISN'T her true love (it's her sister's - kind of) and there's NO marriage requirement attached the changing him back. Legitimately, Anya just goes about trying to change him back because she made her sister a promise and it's better than being shipped off to a foreign school by her evil mage stepstepfather (yes, you read that right) who will likely have her killed en route. As she travels, trying to collect ingredients for a lip balm that will help her change magically transformed humans back into their human forms, she gains a collection of transformed individuals that choose to help her in exchange for her eventually helping them. Not to mention, she's slowly amassing forces to overthrow her stepstepfather and prevent him from taking over their kingdom.

This book is great. The characters are great. The world has this wonderful whimsical quality to it - talking dogs, dwarven craftsmen, evil wizards, flying carpets, etc. The characters remain allies, never once turning on each other because of a disagreement. There's always respect and politeness shown, even when tensions are high. And god did I love that the teenage main character doesn't have to have an instant love interest. The whole book, I worried that the frog prince she was trying to save would love her now and they'd fall into a happily ever after without much more than a few croaks between them. I braced, I stressed, I worried, AND THEN IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. I was so thrilled. I love when a female character stands on their own for a full book and doesn't need a man to validate their right to the throne. Also, the book blatantly describes at least two characters as being non-white, including the Good Wizard herself, who I loved.

My only complaints about this book are the loose ends that were never tied up: the cockatrice, the other magicians, whether or not Anya decides to become a good wizard after all, what happened to her stepmother - to name a few. I want to know if it all worked out in the end and if the rules of order they fought so desperately to uphold actually stayed that way.

This book was a delight and I definitely recommend it.

Nadine 

I have to admit that this book needed two tries and I'm really glad I gave it a second chance. It was hard going the first few chapters, but then I decided to try the audiobook to get me other the "hump" as it was one of the Red Dot Book Award finalists.

It's a fractured fairy tale, about a princess and a frog that needs to be kissed so he can be transformed back into a prince - except she's not in love with him and she ends up on a quest to deliver the world from the evils of sorcery. But she'd far rather be curled up in the library with a book (wouldn't we all). Anyway, needs must and the book evolves into a quite good contemplation on rights and responsibilities and has some pretty good strong female characters - always a plus in my eyes. Read it.

'Wise and wondrous' - Holly Black Garth Nix is on hilarious form as he spins his very own fairy tale, featuring Princess Anya, who, with her loyal dog, must embark on a terribly important (capital Q) Quest to acquire the ingredients for a reversal lip balm, the vital item needed to change a frog back to a prince . . . oh, and save her kingdom from her villainous step(step)father. Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, 2018 A brilliantly funny take on fairytales and quests for younger readers. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Georgia; color: #232323; -webkit-text-stroke: #232323} span.s1 {font-kerning: none}

A Magical Romp of a Fairytale

Liz Carpenter

3.5 stars. An entertaining and slightly wacked-out mashup of fairy tales, fables and legends, with a really lovely mostly-ending. Probably most suitable for middle grade and YA fans.

Story Eater

Garth Nix usually blows my mind with his really cool, random stories (like Mister Monday, etc.), but Frogkisser! put me off with the socialist commentary hawked by the robber's guild full of "ethical" robbers that take from people who simply "have more" than others. That's it. There's no specification of how those who have more got more-you know, like if they worked really hard and made it themselves or if they were actually bad people that exploited the poor like Prince John and his ridiculous taxes in the Robin Hood stories. 

The plot was drawn out for the first 3/4 or so of the book and then hurriedly wrapped itself up at the end. All the loose ends neatly tied with all the characters deserving of life still alive at the end. Just not the good story I'm used to from a Garth Nix novel. Disappointing.

Lysh (She/Her)

Frogkisser! is a fairytale and coming-of-age story appropriate for all ages. Although it took me a while to read due to other life commitments, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the adventures of princess Anya as she journeyed with her growing party, on a mission to turn her sister's frog prince back into his human state, and save her kingdom from the reign of the evil sorcerer, her stepSTEPfather. Each chapter was quick and to the point. Humour was bountiful and stereotypes were broken. A thoroughly enjoyable read which mixed together many favourite fairytale elements from my childhood. I think my class next year will love it! 
Rating: 4/5
Would recommend for ages 9+.

Lisa Beasley

This was a really fun, really easy read. I particularly liked the nod to old fairy tales and the characters were easy to like and understand. Overall a smart funny light book.

Frogkisser!

Reviews