Helpful Score: 1
So I bought this for my ereader, thinking that "well, he's alex flinn and i really enjoy his novels." i also thought that it would only be one fairy tale within the novel. i was wrong about both of these assumptions.
i loved this book ! not just enjoyed, loved. it was so much more full than his other novels : full of characters and different tales and everything else you could possibly thing of. it wasn't just one fairy tale, or two but at least four, if i remember correctly. the characters were more in depth and you could find yourself relating and caring more about these characters than those of his other novels such as beastly or a kiss in time, which is saying something because the characters in both of those novels are very lovable.
overall, this novel was my favourite of the alex flinn collection of fairy tales. i'd recommend it to anyone.
i loved this book ! not just enjoyed, loved. it was so much more full than his other novels : full of characters and different tales and everything else you could possibly thing of. it wasn't just one fairy tale, or two but at least four, if i remember correctly. the characters were more in depth and you could find yourself relating and caring more about these characters than those of his other novels such as beastly or a kiss in time, which is saying something because the characters in both of those novels are very lovable.
overall, this novel was my favourite of the alex flinn collection of fairy tales. i'd recommend it to anyone.
Helpful Score: 1
First, a correction to the precious reviewer, Alex Flinn is a female! Any who, I first was introduced to Flinn, by finding the playaway version of Beastly and I must say I'm not big on audio books, but this one was brilliant! I picked up Cloaked and really didn't believe I was going to much enjoy it, so I held it for about a week and out of boredom and lack of anything else, picked it up! Boy am I glad that I did! It had enough charm and mystique to revert to my fairytale believing years! It made me yearn for some goos old spells and curses! It was enchanting! I read this book straight through, while walking through parking lots, eating dinner, I disnt put it down until the very end. I hung o to every morsal that she was feeding me and found myself craving more! Thankfully, I also had checked out A Kiss In Time! This may be in the youth section, but believe me it is a captivating story for any age! This and a Kiss in Time would be excellent movies! For once in a long time I could visualize everything in my head, thanks to Flinn's perfection with painting a picture with words!
I enjoyed Flinn's Beastly so when I was offered an advanced reading copy for Cloaked through the Amazon Vine program I snapped it up. This was an entertaining and fun fairy tale retelling. It mixes aspects from a number of fairy tales but pulls mainly from the Elves and the Shoemaker and The Princess and the Frog. It is fun, fluffy, and an easy read.
Johnny repairs shoes at his family's shoe shop; his mom and him are pretty strapped for cash and his dad is missing. Then a visiting princess (known for her public displays of drunkenness) asks him for a favor. She wants him to find her brother who has been turned into a frog. Johnny thinks she's a bit batty but when she shows him a magic cloak, a lot of money, and offers to marry him. Well, he can't turn her down. Now he is off on a quest to find a frog somewhere in Key West Florida. Along the way he will learn that much of the world is not what it seems and that maybe there is more to this love thing than a hot princess with wads of cash.
This book is written in a very lighthearted way and is full of slang and silliness. I loved that it was a fairy tale retelling, and I enjoyed the silliness for the most part. Overall a quick read that was a nice break from the serious epic fantasy I had just finished before it. This would be a great book for a light summer read on the beach.
Parts of the book get a bit over the top, but in general all of the characters are likable (if a bit over-stereotyped). You can't help but root for Johnny throughout the book, although you will occasional want to smack him for his blindness in matters of love. This book is more of an adventure than anything with some magic and romance added throughout. It was paced well and hard to put down.
I personally like my fairy tales retold with more beautiful description and irony than this book had. But this book was still a fun read and should be appropriate for middle grade readers and up.
Overall I had to say I enjoyed this book. It was a fun and light-hearted retelling of some more obscure fairy tales. It did a good job of incorporating a lot of fairy tale elements. Definitely not a work of fine literature but fun and sweet if that is what you are in the mood for; much less serious in tone than Beastly was. I will probably pick up Flinn's future works when I am in the mood for something lighter.
Johnny repairs shoes at his family's shoe shop; his mom and him are pretty strapped for cash and his dad is missing. Then a visiting princess (known for her public displays of drunkenness) asks him for a favor. She wants him to find her brother who has been turned into a frog. Johnny thinks she's a bit batty but when she shows him a magic cloak, a lot of money, and offers to marry him. Well, he can't turn her down. Now he is off on a quest to find a frog somewhere in Key West Florida. Along the way he will learn that much of the world is not what it seems and that maybe there is more to this love thing than a hot princess with wads of cash.
This book is written in a very lighthearted way and is full of slang and silliness. I loved that it was a fairy tale retelling, and I enjoyed the silliness for the most part. Overall a quick read that was a nice break from the serious epic fantasy I had just finished before it. This would be a great book for a light summer read on the beach.
Parts of the book get a bit over the top, but in general all of the characters are likable (if a bit over-stereotyped). You can't help but root for Johnny throughout the book, although you will occasional want to smack him for his blindness in matters of love. This book is more of an adventure than anything with some magic and romance added throughout. It was paced well and hard to put down.
I personally like my fairy tales retold with more beautiful description and irony than this book had. But this book was still a fun read and should be appropriate for middle grade readers and up.
Overall I had to say I enjoyed this book. It was a fun and light-hearted retelling of some more obscure fairy tales. It did a good job of incorporating a lot of fairy tale elements. Definitely not a work of fine literature but fun and sweet if that is what you are in the mood for; much less serious in tone than Beastly was. I will probably pick up Flinn's future works when I am in the mood for something lighter.
Cloaked is a mish-mash of old fairy tales, modernized. It mostly revolves around Johnny who despite his own hard work, does not think that anything in his life will change. He is used to keeping his head down and working hard to help his mother out with the family business, shoe repair. He meets a beautiful princess who choses him to go on an unlikely quest to find her brother who is the frog prince. Within the quest he finds 6 sibling swans, a fox, giants, magical objects, and even good and bad witches. What was great is throughout the adventure what was really happening was the adventure of growing up. Johnny was learning to follow through with his promises and how to stand on his own two feet. Luckily he also learns who he truly loves and what it is worth.
I give this book 3 1/2 stars. It is a fun and delightful book and really is for the younger YA crowd or even MG audiences. I think they will appreciate it more than the older YA crowd.
I give this book 3 1/2 stars. It is a fun and delightful book and really is for the younger YA crowd or even MG audiences. I think they will appreciate it more than the older YA crowd.
A quick (I read it in 3 hours), enjoyable, playful read. I love the elements of various fairy tales used throughout.
I'd recommend this for the younger teen crowd, maybe even the pre-teen crowd.
I'd recommend this for the younger teen crowd, maybe even the pre-teen crowd.
Cute, Funny, and Entertaining read. It was a retelling of several fairy tales rolled into one short book. Again Alex writes of people transformed into animals by an evil witch. Jhonny who is who fixes shoes in a big Florida hotel is given a quest by a Princess who is staying at the hotel. Her brother has been turned into a frog and now no one can find him.
So with a cloak that will take him anywhere he wants he sets out to find the frog prince only he's not the only one looking for him.
So with a cloak that will take him anywhere he wants he sets out to find the frog prince only he's not the only one looking for him.
The pace is almost too frantic in places.
Johnny lives a humble life repairing shoes at a resort. Then one day a real life princess comes to him asking for help saving her brother who has been turned into a frog. In exchange, she'll marry him. He initially thinks she's crazy, but when the cloak she gives him transports him to another place, he starts taking a closer look at what's going on around him. It turns out magic has been right in front of him all along. On the way to rescue the frog prince, he helps some swans and a fox who were also former humans.
Alex Flinn has done it again. She has a knack for taking classic fairy tales and putting them in a modern, entertaining setting. The nice thing about this book is that she chose some more obscure fairy tales that might not be familiar to the reader. My only criticism is that she tries to mix so many stories together that the plot doesn't always flow. But, overall, it gives everything I want in a YA fantasy: humor, a valuable life lesson and a happy ending.
Alex Flinn has done it again. She has a knack for taking classic fairy tales and putting them in a modern, entertaining setting. The nice thing about this book is that she chose some more obscure fairy tales that might not be familiar to the reader. My only criticism is that she tries to mix so many stories together that the plot doesn't always flow. But, overall, it gives everything I want in a YA fantasy: humor, a valuable life lesson and a happy ending.
