Ignore the blurb: This book is nothing like the Disney movie Tangled, DreamWorks’ Shrek or the book or movie version of The Princess Bride other than they’re all fairytales. You might as well say that Cinderella is just like The Little Matchgirl and Jack and the Beanstalk.

With that out of the way, it’s time to judge The Orange Curse on its own merits. And that would be meh. Author Kristina Kamaeva, in her foreword, explains that she’s based this children’s book on an old Italian fairytale. I just wish I could have read that, instead! Alas, Kamaeva gets that fairytale voice perfectly, just as Kate DiCamillo does in The Tale of Despereaux; where Kamaeva fails is that, while I could not put down The Tale of Despereaux, I simply didn’t care about any of the characters in The Orange Curse, not even the oranges. I simply couldn’t force myself to finish.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.

A middle grade fantasy that reminded me of an older version of a Strega Nora picture book. It also gave me a bit of The Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia vibes as well.

The Orange Curse
Kristina Kamaeva
Fata Nocha was a jealous fairy and sister to King Arancio. The evil fairy cursed the kingdom and baby Prince Mateo. In order to save his kingdom King Arancio turned into an orange tree; he sent the prince to the land of man. Fata Nocha was thrust into the land of man; she is determined to find the young prince and return him to the kingdom.
Eleven-year-old Prince Mateo has orange fever; there is only one cure. He must travel to the magical kingdom and find the three oranges. He doesn’t want to leave his home, but he has no choice. He is joined by Tessa, an eleven-year-old very clumsy girl, she is also cursed. Together they travel to the fairy kingdom, Magarfala. The prince is very courageous, and Tessa is very bold. Along their journey they meet a talking cat, a parrot, bandits, trees, fates fairies, shifters, three sisters, a royal family, and sorcerers; some are helpful, and some are not. The cursed magical kingdom, Magarfala has not had sunshine in years. The path to the cure is not an easy one; there are obstacles in their way: blood sucking trees, bandits, and an evil witch.
This magical tale is humorous and both young and old will enjoy it. I saw similar elements of other fairy tales in The Orange Curse. Kudos to author Kristina Kameva.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of The Orange Curse for review.