The Princess and the Unicorn Book Review

Author: Carol Hughes

Despite its name, The Princess and the Unicorn is not just about a princess and a unicorn. Half the story follows a young fairy named Joyce who lets her curiosity get the better of her. She lives with a community of fairies in the heart of Swinley Forest. One day, she spots the forest’s unicorn for the first time—something most fairies have never seen. Unicorns are extremely important to their forests: without its unicorn a forest will die. Similarly, a unicorn will die without its forest.

The Human Encounter

When Joyce follows the unicorn to the edge of Swinley Forest, she sees big people, or humans, for the first time. One human, Princess Eleanor of Swinley Castle, spots her and chases her into the forest. There, the Princess finds the unicorn and takes it back to live in the castle’s stables. Joyce is horrified. Somehow she must rescue the unicorn before their fairy community and the entire forest is destroyed.

Flying to London

But things go from bad to worse when Princess Eleanor ships the unicorn off to Buckingham Palace in London. Now Joyce must fly by herself all the way to London and bring the unicorn back before their forest dies.

The Bottom Line

This book starts off slow, and sounds too childish for the intended audience. But once the plot gets going, the story flourishes. There’s deception, betrayal and high-speed car chases. On the surface, the story seems a little fluffy. After all, it’s about a princess, a unicorn and a fairy. How deep could it be? But behind the fluff is a lot of deeper messages—messages about family dynamics, trust and friendship.

The Princess and the Unicorn Rating:

Related Stories: