Natalie L.
I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. The Return of King Lillian by Suzie Plakson is a delightful fairytale of a story. Ms. Plakson writes a wondrous adventure where our heroine, Lillian, is for all intents and purposes an orphan raised by a benevolent woman in the Forbidden Forest. (Everyone in the Forbidden Forest loses their memory so they don’t really recall what goes on from day to day.) When Lillian gets to a certain age she is set out on an adventure to find her way home. From here Lillian travels from place to place experiencing the most fun filled adventures. She meets all kinds of fantastical creatures and characters. Ms. Plakson really creates a magical world that both children and adults will delight in. Ms. Plakson’s writing style is lyrical and exuberant. The descriptions make the world she builds come alive in your imagination. As Lillian goes from place to place I just found myself enthralled and wanting to know more about this magical place. I will put a little warning in here to parents that Lillian’s language isn’t necessarily proper gramatically. Her language pattern is that of a child, raised largely on her own with the help of an absentminded “aunt” and animals with very little in the way of proper schooling. While the words are not necessarily grammatically correct, there is a lyrical quality to the prose that gives everything a literary flow that counters the imperfect grammar. Honestly I’m not sure I’m characterizing this correctly but it just really works. Lillian is just this exuberant, poetic bundle of energy that you can’t help but love. This story would be great for people who love fairytale adventures. The book has a middle grade feel to me. It does have minor moments of violence and at least a couple of deaths. There is also a chapter where Lillian meets her mate. Nothing racy occurs but there is a definite relationship that develops as the two characters tackle adventures together. I feel like most middle grade books skirt around relationships entirely but this is definitely two young adults forming a relationship. Honestly it is a relatively minor part of the story and the kids probably won’t notice. I just wanted to mention it in the interests of full disclosure. I do think these chapters would be easy to skip if parents felt it was inappropriate. Overall I think the story is a magical tale that would be fantastic for kids. Suzie Plakson did a phenomenal job narrating this audiobook. Ms. Plakson is an actress and it shows vividly in this narration. She is energetic and enthusiastic and just so much fun. She brings magic to the production and brings every character to life in the most wonderful of ways. This is one audiobook where there is definite value added by purchasing the audiobook version. It takes the vision in the book and adds dimension and brings it to life.