Book Review: The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo

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Genre: ✨ Fantasy Fairy Tale Retelling | Age: πŸ‘©πŸ½ Young/NewAdult (14+) | Buy: Amazon | ⭐See star rating


Burndee is a cantankerous fairy godfather who would rather bake than talk to humans. He develops a plan to give two of his wards a happy ending with the least amount of effort possible.

😠 A Grumpy Main Character

Burndee is very grumpy. His grumpiness provides some excellent comical material, however, so it was really necessary for the atmosphere of the book.

Because Burndee is a fairy godfather and not a human, some of the observations he made about humans were very funny because they provided some interesting perspective on humanityβ€”and also insight into Burndee’s personal take on the world.

I did have one complaint about Burndee and that was that he seemed much older than he was supposed to be. I pictured him from the start as a gray-haired fellow and had a hard time changing my mental picture to the mid-twenties he was supposed to be.

βœ… I Like the Changes

There were several deviations from the original tale (well, from the original Disney tale) that I found enjoyable.

Ella was our main female character who was slightly exaggerated. She seemed a little flighty at first but her sweetness grew on me as the story progressed.

The evil stepmother and one evil stepsister were there, but they were not a huge part of the story. I like that the β€œevil” aspect of things was downplayed.

One of the stepsisters was actually a sweet and kind character who was already making her own way in the world. I liked her character and could have used a bit more of her.

There is a wonderful twist in this book (that I will share in the spoilers section below) that I kind of saw coming, but it caught me by surprise all the same.

πŸ¦‰Who Would Like This Book

You will probably like this book if you like:

  • grumpy/sunshine dynamics
  • fairy tale retellings
  • an unexpected twist
  • squeaky clean fun
  • an ending with all the warm fuzzy feelings.

I hope you enjoy this one!

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πŸ€– Always written and edited without the use of AI.

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