Review: The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison

Title: The Princess and the Snowbird
Author: Mette Ivie Harrison
Released: 5/1/2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Number of pages: 232
Reading Level: Young Adult

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Thanks Around The World Tours for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.






Description from Goodreads:

From the author of The Princess and the Hound and The Princess and the Bear comes a companion novel that stands alone, filled with romance and captivating fantasy. Liva is the daughter of the hound and the bear, heir to all her royal parents’ magic and able to transform into any animal she wishes. Jens is an outcast, a boy without magic, determined to make his way in the forest. Though they are as different as night and day, from the time their paths first cross they are irresistibly drawn to each other. 

But a terrible threat is stalking all who hold magic: the Hunter, bent on destruction. Aided by a magnificent snowbird, Liva and Jens must figure out how to save the humans and animals terrorized by the Hunter, as well as magic itself. If they fail, all will be lost—but if they succeed, they could finally be together at last. 



My thoughts:


Liva is a special girl who possesses aur-magic just as the animals of the forest do.  This gives her the ability to change between many animal forms.  Her parents both gave their aur-magic to Liva, and chose to spend the remainder of their lives in animal form so they could better protect their daughter.  It is obvious Liva is destined for great things.  She avoids contact with all humans until the day she meets Jens.  Jens is devoid of both aur-magic, and the more common tehr-magic.  Tehr-magic is what most humans possess, and use for not so nice things. When Jens sees Liva in animal form he knows she is special.  They are immediately drawn to one another.  Liva is unsure because of her limited contact with the human world, but is fascinated by Jens’s kindness.  He has spent all of his life as an outcast because of his lack of magic, and shunned by his father who blames him for his mother’s death. Together they will have to stop the Hunter from carrying out his plans.


The Princess and the Snowbird is a companion novel, but I felt it worked fine as a standalone. At just 232 pages this was a very quick read.  I did enjoy the story and characters, but it didn’t wow me like I’d hoped. I would have liked to see more development of the characters, and their relationships.  Still an entertaining read, and with only mild violence a safe choice for even young teens.

Mette Ivie Harrison on the web:

Website