Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Release Date: September 12th, 2011

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Age Group: Middle Grade/Young Adult

Format: ARC

Source: Book Club/Publisher

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Princess Wisdom, known as Dizzy, longs for a life of adventure far beyond the staid old kingdom of Montagne.

Tips, a soldier, longs to keep his true life secret from his family.

Fortitude, an orphaned maid, longs only for Tips.

These three passionate souls might just attain their dreams while preserving Montagne from certain destruction, if only they can tolerate each other long enough to come up with a plan. Tough to save the world when you can't even be in the same room together.

Magic, cunning, and one very special cat join forces in this hilarious, extraordinary tale by the author of Dairy Queen and Princess Ben. An incredibly creative tale told with diaries, memoirs, encyclopedia entries, letters, biographies, even a stage play, all woven together into a grand adventure.

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Oh Tips-how you tease us so! 

Wisdom's Kiss is a funny and whimsical novel that takes its hilarity off and on the page. (The front ARC cover has little quotes from the characters in the book praising the book. I know. That was confusing.) The most unique part of this original piece of work is the format of which it is written it; eight different perspectives, however each is told in a different medium (letter, story, diary, etc.) I've read a few books before that have had this similar concept: Trial by Journal and Regarding the Fountain are some favorites of mine that handle this situation fairly well, which is a bit lacking in Wisdom's Kiss. The switching, however, though not as smooth as I would've enjoyed it, is distinct and visible and each character shines through in their storytelling.

Another thing that kind of bugged me was the word choice. This is really just a matter of opinion-the old words just kind of tugged on my vocabulary. That's all I have to say on that.

The only thing that really really really annoyed me about this book was the ending. Oh, just remembering the ending makes me want to curl up and cry and listen to Adele. Because I have never really read a really good book with a love triangle and seen the character get the wrong person (well, in my opinion, at least.) How could Catherine Gilbert Murdock torture me so?

If you have not read Princess Ben (which is kind of like an indirect prequel to Wisdom's Kiss), don't hesitate to delve right in to this one. It is definitely stand alone-you don't really have to know anything about the previous book to read this one (I didn't,) though one perspective is from the now grandmotherly Princess Ben.

I think I'll go drink some hot chocolate now. This review brings back too many painful bibliophile related rants. But still-please read it!