A Bit About The Story

King and Queen Deere have been waiting for a child, living in their kingdom of Denebdeor. When Rosalba, a fair and beautiful little girl is finally born to them, King Deere discovers his wife Queen Ursula, used a witch’s spell to conceive their baby. He also learns the witch is understandably upset when she fails to receive an invitation to Rosalba’s christening.

All hell breaks loose, a curse cast, and a string of tests are set for Rosalba. Facing defeat time after time again, Rosalba must discover the truth behind the witch’s life altering actions.

My Review
4 stars

The Stone Kingdom is a highly vivid, carefully formulated story, written in a time frame similar to early fairy tale writers like Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, and the Brothers Grimm. You might have heard of The Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, or Rapunzel, and if you love these types of stories with lessons about life, you’ll definitely love Shipley’s The Stone Kingdom.

The Good.
Her writing style. Clean and pointed, Shipley draws you in with her brilliant character and landscape descriptions where you quickly adjust to the time frame of castles and kingdoms. She has a style all on her own, and it’s lovely.

She took pleasure in sharing her father’s willowy form and self possessed countenance, her mother’s resolute mouth and chin, as well as her eyes, an elusive gray-green more subtle than sage, (page 6).

The Great.
Her scenes. Her real characters. Shipley builds on the emotions of a 15-year-old princess losing her freedom for the necessary protection of the kingdom. First, Shipley captures the feeling of war in a young woman struggling between dependence and independence who desperately wants to grow up. Next, she explores the idealistic vision of love and how it’s easy to believe someone else will save us from our troubles. How they can change everything we don’t like about our present state of being and can magically give us our one simple heart’s desire. I loved how Shipley shared Rosalba’s struggle with her wish to find love to save her kingdom, and yet she wants someone to see her, and get her for who she is. Lastly, Rosalba’s journey for acceptance is humbling. I appreciated how Shipley created a strong female MC who refused to give up by growing up.

The Ohmigoodness.
The lesson learned. True to any fairy tale, the lesson at the end of the story is the driving force. The Stone Kingdom is no exception to this fable structure, all wound in to the delightful twist at the end, and I admit, I chuckled. I enjoyed it very much, and fairy tales will always have a special place in my heart.

To see find out more about The Stone Kingdom, book two of the Wilderhark Tales, visit Danielle Shipley’s Website.