Moonflower and the Pearl of Paramour

The Fairy Chronicles #12

by J.H. Sweet, Holly Sierra (Illustrator)

Inside you is the power to do anything An evil curse is keeping the last brownie prince from marrying his true love—possibly ending the brownie royal family forever! Moonflower and her friends must race against time to find Paramour, the Goddess of Love, and ask for help in freeing Prince Henry and a fairy named Rose from their magic prisons. But Paramour only grants wishes on a whim, so the fairies must work together to inspire her to help them. Will the fairies win over the good fortune of Paramour or will Henry and Rose be doomed to a life apart? What if you discovered you had magical fairy powers? Meet the girls of The Fairy Chronicles, otherwise normal girls like you with special gifts. Their extraordinary adventures will change the world! Read all of The Fairy Chronicles Marigold and the Feather of Hope, the Journey Begins
Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams
Thistle and the Shell of Laughter
Firefly and the Quest of the Black Squirrel
Spiderwort and the Princess of Haiku
Periwinkle and the Cave of Courage
Cinnabar and the Island of Shadows
Mimosa and the River of Wisdom
Primrose and the Magic Snowglobe
Luna and the Well of Secrets
Dewberry and the Lost Chest of Paragon
Snapdragon and the Odyssey of Élan

117 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I’ve finished the first 13 books of this series, I’m going to go back to rate and review each one. I’ve not read beyond the first 13, and I don’t plan to. Because I yam who I yam and because this series is beloved from my childhood, I’m probably going to be more thorough than necessary for a relatively unknown series for seven-year-olds. These reviews will contain very mild spoilers – nothing beyond what is mentioned in the blurb on the back or on goodreads – unless otherwise stated.

4/5 stars

Moonflower and the Pearl of Paramour begins with Erin (aka Moonflower) and Bailey (aka Rosemary) making Valentine’s Day cards and friendship bracelets for the upcoming Fairy Circle. At the Valentine’s Day Fairy Circle, Madam Toad lets Christopher, a recurring brownie character throughout the series, recount a very timely tale of love, heartbreak, and a curse that has separated a moss brownie named Henry and a fairy named Rose for several decades. The fairies learn that a rare astrological phenomenon will be occurring that night. This wishing star event is the only chance they have to locate the Goddess of Paramour, who is the only person who may be able to reunite the cursed couple. Madam Toad assigns Moonflower, Rosemary, Primrose (aka Taylor), and Luna (aka Hope), under the supervision of Madam Mariposa (Moonflower/Erin’s grandmother), to take on this mission.

Though all of the books in this series are inspired by folklore creatures, this book especially had a fairytale atmosphere. The story of Henry and Rose felt like it could be a folk tale passed down through the ages. The solution also felt very fairytale-esque, especially in its absurdity. I’m a lover of fairytales and folklore, so I really enjoyed the plot and structure of this book. As an aside, I’m not sure why the book is titled after The Pearl of Paramour rather than The Goddess of Paramour. The Goddess felt far more significant than The Pearl. Perhaps putting “The Goddess of Paramour” in the title would’ve come off as too salacious for a children’s book.

In addition to the enjoyable story within the story, this book drops some major brownie lore. I was baffled by some of it, but I was happy to see more world building. Also loved seeing the brownies get emotional about the story of Henry and Rose too.

My biggest complaint, echoing many of my complaints from previous books, is Moonflower’s lack of distinct personality. I feel like because all of these fairies are supposed to be ultimately good and be upholding their responsibilities, J.H. Sweet makes a lot of them really flat and boring to avoid them coming off as bad in some way. Give me more flawed characters! They’re more fun! Not to mention, seeing flawed characters face the consequences of their actions is good for children.

As I mentioned in my review for Dewberry and the Lost Chest of Paragon, the last three books of the traditionally published series seem to have lower print quality than the rest of the series. The front covers are flimsier, and many of the illustrations were washed out and overexposed. That said, the illustrations that weren’t overexposed were some of Holly Sierra’s better ones, especially those related to Henry and Rose.

Various minor spoilery things that I liked in this book include:
- Moonflower and Rosemary giving two brownies friendship bracelets and the brownies immediately putting them on but being shy about it
- The jackrabbit that was scared of things that fly. I liked the illustration of the jackrabbit, although Moonflower was flying in it, which contradicts what was written
- This is more a neutral statement, but how did the candle not go out??
- Moonflower asking the brownies if they have girlfriends and all of the fairies being shocked by that bold question was funny
- Loooved the motif of the moss and roses growing up the walls of the castle

Overall, a quick-paced and fun fairytale with a largely unremarkable main character.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the thirteenth book in the Fairy Chronicles series, although they are meant to be read as stand-alone books. We discovered this series of books because our oldest is in the middle of a fairy craze right now. She has finished numerous series in the Rainbow Magic collection and she just loves them all. But these books are a bit longer, and more complicated in their plot lines and I think better overall. The characters are richer and the story is more sophisticated. So where our library has holes in the series, I purchased the books, with the idea that we'll donate them when we are done.

This is a sweet story about love and it involves an exciting adventure for the fairies. Our oldest really loves these books; she reads them every day as part of her reading homework and then we discuss them afterward. I love being able to share and discuss books with her and I hope to do so for a very long time.