Official Review: The Forgotten Princess and The Shark

[Juliana_Isabella]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Forgotten Princess and The Shark" by Chidi Ezeobi.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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The Forgotten Princess and the Shark by Chidi Ezeobi is a children’s fantasy tale about how a baby girl and a shark come to be friends. In a kingdom far away, a king is told that a princess will be born who will one day reign over his kingdom. When his wife becomes pregnant, he is excited for the birth of his daughter, but his wife has a son. Eleven more sons later, the king becomes frustrated and starts to lose hope that he will ever have a daughter. After more attempts to father a princess, seven wise women come to visit the king, proclaiming that they have seen the princess in a vision and wish to bring her gifts. The king is confused, as he has not had a daughter, and realizes that the princess was not born to him and will come to take his throne. He proclaims that all of the baby girls in the kingdom must be killed, but an old man warns the parents of the princess, and they set her afloat in a basket to try to save her. When a shark comes upon the basket, he must decide whether to save the princess or make her his lunch.

This book had a lot of potential, as the opening sets up mystery, intrigue, and the possibility of surprises down the line. Unfortunately, it never delivers on these promises. At the end of the book, the loose ends aren’t wrapped up, and there’s no promise of a sequel. Even if there were a sequel, I don’t think this book’s plot is good enough for parents to be interested in investing more money into a second installment in the series. Characters and plot elements move in and out of the story with little explanation, and I kept wondering why the king made the decisions he did or how a character knew something they knew.

Even without the plot issues, the writing could use major improvements. There are many grammatical errors throughout the book, some of which made it difficult to understand what the author was trying to say. There are random instances of factual information being inserted into the narrative, and the vocabulary becomes much harder in these areas. For example, the author uses the word “cartilaginous” in a book that would otherwise be appropriate for beginning readers. In addition, there is a lot of violence for a children’s book. The king kills all of the baby girls in the kingdom, and the shark is not shy about his propensity for eating other animals.

Overall, I would rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. I might have given it two stars for the detailed plot line, but the many loose ends convinced me that I had to give it the lowest rating. The illustrations also did not add much to the book, as they were inconsistent in style and didn’t relate directly to the plot.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone in its current state, but the vocabulary would be appropriate for children ages five to nine if they had a parent around to help with the academic sections. I don’t think there are many children who could handle the vocabulary on their own and be interested in this muddled storyline.

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The Forgotten Princess and The Shark
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[Chimdi_3]

Thanks for the honest review.I want my kids to read a feel good story and not one that instills fear in them.We will pass.

[LynnS28+]

It's interesting that a few things mentioned in the review alluded to stories from the Bible. One example is when the baby was put in the basket on the water, like Moses. Another example is when the king killed the girls like the section of the Bible when the first born children were killed. It sounds interesting.

[Frannie Annie]

Sounds like the plot has potential but it's unacceptable to have so many loose ends not dealt with and no promise of a sequel. Good review.

[Jije2991]

I like the good and honest review over there. Every story deserves a good structure if it's going to pass its message with little effort.

[Elvis Best]

The killings and the shark scene doesn't convinice me that this book is appropriate for a younger audience. The storyline also sounds like a story I've heard before. Overall this book doesn't make the cut for me.