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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In Kris Nedy's The Fairy of the Enchanted Lake, Michaela is a girl from Summerscent, a mountain village. Children mock her appearance until she follows a butterfly into the forbidden forest and finds the Lake of Lacrima. A fairy grants her wish to become beautiful, but the change has a price, tied to a shadow-snake that entered Michaela at the lake. When royal soldiers bring her to King Edward’s castle as a companion for Princess Jasmine, Michaela sees beauty as a way to power. Her attraction to Prince Andrew soon pulls her toward betrayal, while Sylvia, the friend who helped her at court, becomes the person Michaela most wants displaced. As the Lord of Light begins warning her, Michaela must decide whether she will seek healing before the lake claims its debt.
Kris Nedy’s The Fairy of the Enchanted Lake is a fantasy where a girl measures her worth against an impossible idea of beauty, believing a different look could finally make the world choose her. This is actually a really relatable theme, and Nedy makes it work in a fantasy where Michaela’s wish has a lasting cost. What's amazing is that readers still root for Michaela, as most can totally understand wanting to be accepted. Even after wrong choices, her search for help shows that she still wants to become kinder. The landscapes are cinematic, from Michaela standing in torn clothes on red stone below the glasslike Crystal Mountain, to the Heart of the Four Marshes, where bats sweep over the swamp as witches cross the moon above the reeds. The writing style, language, and content are perfectly age-appropriate for middle-grade readers who enjoy magical kingdoms and dangerous wishes. Recommended.
