Pennyroyal Academy (Pennyroyal Academy, #1)
by M.A. Larson 

2.5 out of 5 stars
A girl with no name arrives at the Pennyroyal Academy and signs up to be trained as a princess. She is given the name Cadet Eleven, which her new friends shorten to “Evie”. Gradually, Evie begins to realize that being a princess is not at all what she imagined, because the princesses are at war against the witches, just as the knights are at war against the dragons. They train to fight against the dark magic of the witches, using compassion and courage as their weapons.

This was a fun story and I liked Evie’s character. She is full of fear, but finds the fortitude and courage she needs in dire circumstances. I liked her determination to succeed in the difficult Princess training. Her character development wasn’t amazing, but it was good. I felt like her entire character growth was just to find her courage when facing down the witches, but she didn’t really grow in any other ways. Maybe the next books in the series will focus more on other aspects of her personality.

In addition, a lot of the actions of the supporting characters didn’t make sense sometimes. Their motivations were unclear, and their personalities were sort of wishy-washy. There is one boy who is described as “crude” and “boorish”, but I never saw him do or say anything that made me think that of him. He’s kind of grumpy, but he has good reason to be, so I thought he was just that grumpy side-kick guy. It’s like the narrative wants to “tell” you about a character, but never “shows” you the evidence to back up that description.

There are a lot of plot twists that were surprising and interesting, but also a lot of plot holes. For instance,… spoilers……it is revealed that Evie grew up with dragons since she was five years old. Their dragon cave is described as being completely bare. They sleep on the bare rock. There is no description of furniture or cooking utensils or any sort of human items. Evie is clothed in spiderwebs because they don’t even have human clothing for her. And yet when Evie arrives at the Academy, she is able to read and write with no problem. Where did she learn to read? Do dragons have books? How did the dragons teach her write? They couldn’t even hold a pen in their huge claws, so how would they be able to teach her? Ridiculous plot hole. There were a lot of little details like that which didn’t make any sense.

The students are told that near the end of the school year there will be a Grand Ball, and a prize will be awarded to whoever meets certain criteria at the ball. The prize is that they will be exempt from a very dangerous final exam physical trial, and they will automatically pass to the next school year. So I’m thinking, wow, these criteria must really encompass all that it means to be a princess, so that if you could show that you excel in all these areas, then you will automatically pass the rigorous final exam. And the characters get to the ball… and all they do is dance. And someone is awarded the coveted prize for… the best poise and grace while dancing. All the other students now have to endure the final exam where all their skills will be tested against witches and dragons and other dangerous creatures. But if you can dance, then I guess you pass. It’s just so stupid, because they build up this big Grand Ball and how important the prize is, and then it was just so idiotic. I thought there would be more to it.

Another problem with the Grand Ball was that the princesses all have to design their own ballgowns, and weave the fabric and sew the dresses themselves, and then they are graded on their ballgowns. But Evie’s ballgown is destroyed by her bully, so the sewing teacher gives Evie a dress that he made, so that she has something to wear to the ball. But is Evie being graded on a dress that she didn’t make? Why is she allowed to cheat when all the other girls had to make their own dresses? This is never explained.

I liked the world-building, but I think it would have been better without the constant references to other fairy tales. The fantasy world would have been much stronger if they weren’t always referring to Snow White, Cinderella, and other fairy tale characters. It did nothing to enhance the story.

The writing is okay. Sometimes it seems like the author is trying too hard, and the writing doesn’t flow naturally.
But for the most part, I enjoyed the story and I liked the characters. I don’t think I will bother to continue with the series though. The plot wraps up enough for me to feel comfortable to quit at this point, although there is obviously still a lot more to come as the war against the witches continues. But there are no major cliff hangers that make me feel like I need to continue reading.

To see any sensitive content in this book, you can check it out on the Screen It First website! https://screenitfirst.com/book/pennyroyal-academy-903498