This time, I have chosen How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by
Sarah Strohmeyer, a book aimed at young adults that revolves around Fairyland Kingdom, a fairy tale theme park. This story revolves around Zoe, an upcoming high school senior who has landed a summer internship at Fairyland along with her cousin, Jess, and thirty-something other teenagers the same age to work as cast members in the various fairy tales that have been brought to life in this theme park. While the internship is unpaid, but their living expenses are covered for the summer, all of the interns have the chance to win the Dream & Do grant for the two most exceptional interns, one boy and one girl, who have shown "exceptional Wow™ spirit" and with this, they get to join the Fairyland Executive Training Program.
Rating: 9
Recommended To: Teenage girls and girls in their early twenties
Favourite Characters: Ian - funny and many other reasons; Zoe - relatable despite what she's been through
Favourite Part: He bowed deeply before me and slipped to one knee, taking my hand in his and gazing with the perfect Fairyland combination of princely adoration and chaste love. Andy actually applauded, and even my own heart skipped a head - which Ian must have felt because he squeezed my fingers gently.
"Am I forgiven, dearest?" he asked again, batting his eyelashes.
I mouthed, In your dreams! - Page 178-9
Good Points: The story; the queen; easy to read; the concept of the Dream & Do grant
Bad Points: The backstabbing teens; the message takes a while to come about
How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True opens with a prologue for Zoe as she chases her boss's dog, Tinkerbell, through the Forbidden Zone of Fairyland Kingdom, somewhere that no one is allowed to enter due to health and safety concerns, such as quicksand, snakes, and ticks. This forbidden zone is meant to prevent the staff and guests from coming to any harm and is monitored all the time; however, if an intern enters this area, it is considered an automatic disqualification from getting the Dream & Do grant. Unfortunately for Zoe, as she chases Tinkerbell, she ends up falling into a quicksand trap and is rescued by a mysterious male intern. In Fairyland Kingdom, eight of the male interns are cast as Prince Charmings to the princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty) and along with their costumes, they wear a cologne that is meant to trigger a chemical reaction so little girls fall in love with them and also makes them extremely distinguishable from the other cast members (such as Puss in Boots and the Wolf from Red Riding Hood).
I love this story, and not because it's different from the ones I've read in other books (which are mostly of a completely different genre), but it is because of how simple and sweet the story is initially. The title immediately implies that this is a fairy tale with a simple female protagonist who is looking for her Prince Charming but Zoe's dreams are bigger than a boy; she dreams of helping her cousin get the Dream & Do grant, though she could use it herself to pay off her mother's leftover medical bills. I love the sense of reality that comes from this story too, with the teenagers working in a normal(ish) environment and while there is a boss who is a complete nightmare, there is no sense of rebellion, showing that these teenagers know that they need to please their boss and can't just start a revolution because they don't like the way their would works, which is refreshing.
Though the Queen wasn't one of my favourite characters, she really appealed to me as I was constantly thinking that she couldn't be that much of a pain in the arse as she seemed and there had to be a reason why she was acting like this. I loved how Strohmeyer wrote the Queen as she made her realistic right near the end while still being completely dramatic and an utter nightmare for Zoe throughout the story which is what I expected from the Queen of Fairyland Kingdom.
I loved how easy this book was to read; despite the prologue which takes place part way through the book, the rest of the book is a linear narrative that doesn't overcomplicate the story. I adored the use of the prologue because it establishes the story of Zoe trying to find the prince that saved her and make sure they are both safe from being discovered by the Queen, the teens' nightmare boss that runs the Fairyland Kingdom.
The concept of the interns competing for the Dream & Do grant is appealing because it shows that teenagers can work hard, which Zoe definitely does, from running around after the Queen and her pet to ensuring that the entirety of Fairyland Kingdom is running smoothly, ensuring that she can use her role as the Queen's assistant to get her cousin the Dream & Do grant.
The way Ian was written really appealed to me because he could be considered the perfect love interest in How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True because he is good looking but doesn't act like he's better than anyone else because of his looks (unlike Dash, another intern that Zoe crushes on), he's good humoured (as shown when he is playing his part of Puss in Boots which is a big body costume much like Mickey Mouse in Disneyland), he's not overly cocky about being promoted from Puss in Boots to Cinderella's Prince Charming, and his flirting with Zoe is light and careful which is good for a girl who's lost her mother to cancer and has been dumped by her boyfriend just after her mother's funeral within the last year or so. Many love interests are just shown to be eye candy in young adult fiction that the female protagonist tries to catch the attention of and it is brilliant to see one that has a personality before the protagonist falls completely for them.
Zoe is a strong contender for my favourite character, coming a close second behind Ian, because of the way she's been written yet again. Even though not everyone has been through the death of a mother and their boyfriend dumping them following the funeral, Strohmeyer's prose goes into enough detail on how Zoe feels and what she is thinking, making her relatable. Having Zoe so relatable is another factor to making this book so easy to read as her inner dialogue flows so well and as a reader, I was able to understand and connect with her point of view without questioning anything and it kept my full interest. Another thing about Zoe that I like is how she has an emotional connection to Fairyland Kingdom as she came with her mother as a child, establishing Zoe's past history. However, her past could have held her back from really committing to her job because of the memory of her mother at the park but it doesn't, in fact her memory inspires her to go to the abandoned Storyland in the forbidden zone. This shows a strength of character which makes her more interesting than the other female characters in this book and it is also noticed by the Queen from the very beginning which I found really sweet.
For me, one of the things that brought the book down in my rating was the backstabbing teens that come with any teenaged drama in fiction. I can't relate to this at all because I never had any backstabbing teenagers around me when I was one, or I don't remember them being there. It didn't ruined the book for me, it just annoyed me slightly because it seems like every piece of American fiction aimed at teenagers, from film and TV to books, there is always someone being stabbed in the back, which can eventually become predictable and annoying.
The only other thing that brought it down for me was that the message didn't come until the VERY end as it came with the twist and while the story was good, I would have liked the message to have come earlier and it could have been discussed more thoroughly. It just seemed to take ages for this message to come out and then when it did, everything happened very fast and the end came about in under 20 pages.
For me, one of the things that brought the book down in my rating was the backstabbing teens that come with any teenaged drama in fiction. I can't relate to this at all because I never had any backstabbing teenagers around me when I was one, or I don't remember them being there. It didn't ruined the book for me, it just annoyed me slightly because it seems like every piece of American fiction aimed at teenagers, from film and TV to books, there is always someone being stabbed in the back, which can eventually become predictable and annoying.
The only other thing that brought it down for me was that the message didn't come until the VERY end as it came with the twist and while the story was good, I would have liked the message to have come earlier and it could have been discussed more thoroughly. It just seemed to take ages for this message to come out and then when it did, everything happened very fast and the end came about in under 20 pages.
He bowed deeply before me and slipped to one knee, taking my hand in his and gazing with the perfect Fairyland combination of princely adoration and chaste love. Andy actually applauded, and even my own heart skipped a head - which Ian must have felt because he squeezed my fingers gently.
"Am I forgiven, dearest?" he asked again, batting his eyelashes.
I mouthed, In your dreams! - Page 178-9
I absolutely adore this part because it sums up the funny and sweet side of Ian so simply. I also love the innocent flirting between Zoe and Ian because Zoe barely describes herself but the way Ian is with her, using this part as an example, there is an implication she is attractive, or at least in Ian's eyes (though it can be assumed that she wouldn't be in Fairyland Kingdom if she wasn't either). The flirtation is light, fluffy, good humoured, and a good source of entertainment for when you have the holiday/exam blues.
After reading this book, I begun considering whether or not to read Strohmeyer's so I'm thinking maybe after I've read ALL of my other books, I might read some.
After reading this book, I begun considering whether or not to read Strohmeyer's so I'm thinking maybe after I've read ALL of my other books, I might read some.
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