Pennyroyal Academy

Written by M. A. Larson

Narrated by Susan Duerden

Pennyroyal Academy: Seeking bold, courageous youths to become tomorrow's princesses and knights….Come one, come all!

A girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war.  She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons. There, given the name “Evie,” she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realizes surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty. And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined.

Set in Grimm’s fairytale world, M.A. Larson’s Pennyroyal Academy masterfully combines adventure, humor, and magical mischief.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9780698175907

Reviews for Pennyroyal Academy

[jennybeast · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is an ok story, with reasonably good flow. Unfortunately, I'd be reading along happily enough and then refocus on the idea that this is about a militaristic school in which princess cadets harness their compassion and courage into magical powers... and my mind would stop. Not my cup of tea.

[wrightja2000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fun story but some plot holes and a very similar story to"The School for Good and Evil", which I felt was done better than"Pennyroyal Academy" "The School" raised more questions about fate and free will, and our ability to change our "natural" behaviour. "Pennyroyal" had great potential to address these questions but did so in a shallow manner.

[anyaejo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow, this one is a lot deeper and intense than expected! I love how the definition of a princess is reworked into something I'd love girls (and boys!) to aspire to, and the main character goes through a lot of great growth. Definitely recommended.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pennyroyal Academy is a very nice book to read and has been nominated to the Lone Star 2016 list. The author takes the idea of what a princess is and turns it upside down, so leave your definition of a princess behind.

A young girl is running through the forest, which is very dangerous because of witches, giants, dragons, and other creatures. Hungry, she goes into a cottage only to realize that it doesn’t feel right. Suddenly, a witch comes through the door and throws a young man into a cage. When this teen sees the girl hiding, he tells her to help. They escape the witch, and he introduces himself as Remington. Luckily, he is going the same place she is, Pennyroyal Academy. She wants to train to be a princess, and he is training to be a knight. When they arrive, we discover that she doesn’t have a name. The assumption is that she has forgotten her name because of a memory spell. They name her Cadet Eleven, but one of the girls, Maggie, doesn’t like it, so she names her Evie.

At Pennyroyal Academy, one learns to be a princess--to have courage, discipline, compassion, and kindness in order to fight witches and other creatures; they also learn to work with knights. Evie most wants to defeat witches most of all. The cadets will have to learn quickly because the witches have been aggressively taking over the country. Cadets are asked to leave regularly because it’s a difficult training. Evie is determined to stay and grows through the book into a princess who fights evil to save the land.

I love the whimsy woven through this light fantasy novel. The tailor is Rumpleshirtsleeves; their drill sargeant is fairydrillsargeant; and, an enchanted pig is really a teenage boy. It’s a clever book that is really rather fun to read. Honestly, I was surprised a man wrote it. It’s worth reading.

[4hounds · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was odd. When I started reading, I got right into it - the horror of the witch, the forest, the confusion of the protagonist. The next night, when I began reading, I felt bogged down. I'm not sure if the author started with a silly story - the fairy drillsargeant, etc., then added more horrific elements or vice versa, but things don't seem to mesh. There's a lot of really good ideas in here - the way the princesses fight the witches is great - but it feels like the whole is less than the sum of its parts.