Pennyroyal Academy Audiobook By M.A. Larson cover art

Pennyroyal Academy

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Pennyroyal Academy

By: M.A. Larson
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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Pennyroyal Academy: Seeking bold, courageous youths to become tomorrow's princesses and knights. Come one, come all!

A girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons. There, given the name "Evie," she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realizes surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty. And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined.

Set in Grimm's fairytale world, M.A. Larson's Pennyroyal Academy masterfully combines adventure, humor, and magical mischief.

©2014 M.A. Larson (P)2014 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths Fantasy & Magic Geography & Cultures Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Magic Royalty Science Fiction & Fantasy Social & Life Skills Friendship War Witty Magic Academy

Critic reviews

“M. A. Larson has created a magical world of adventure - a world that shows who princesses truly are: people of character and courage and strength. No one rescues Pennyroyal princesses; they rescue themselves.” (Reese Witherspoon)

"Pennyroyal Academy is one of those books you want to parse out and make last. It is a breathtakingly exciting novel, and Evie deserves a special place in a new pantheon of capable, feisty, and yes, admirable literary princesses.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Flashes of inspiration light up a protagonist with plenty of spine… A sequel-worthy debut.” (Kirkus Reviews)

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when I first started I didn't think it was something I would enjoy, but it ended up being amazing.

Great book

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I loved it so much I love how deep the story is it's wondrerful right.

I love it because it's deep and it's a great story

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Was not the story i was expecting it to be expand was overall enjoyable with just a few flaws that I thing are due to myself not being it's target audience. Not sure if I'll pick up the next book but I'll keep it in mind for once I've completed my current pile of stories.

Enjoyable Enough

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I didn't know what I'd be in for when I downloaded this book, on a lark.
But I must say I am absolutely won over! The story is so engaging, I was drawn in by the action and taken by the vivid details. I confess, I even gasped, screamed, and cheered aloud in places.
If you're easily lost in a book, this is a wonderful adventure to wander into.

What a fun read!

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This book completely exceed my expectations. Got it after I saw Reese Whitherspoon mention it on Instagram and decided I get it with some of my Christmas money. My one complaint is that it didn't continue on long! I could have read it forever. M.A. Larson, you sir, need to hurry with book 2!

This book was bloody amazing!

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Audible shouldn't force me to choose "stars" for everything. I just gave 3 to the story because I haven't even heard the story. Maybe it's brilliant. I just couldn't continue listening to a lady who sounds like a BBC reporter trying to read a story always ending the last word of the sentence in a strange suspense-filled tone. What's that!

Can't tolerate the narrator

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I loved this book I would recommend it to any young adult that loves fiction!

Amazing

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Overall good, with some nice lore using established literature with a few good twists. A bit overdone with the “girls are scared of everything you can imagine every moment of their lives how do they even breathe” bit though. I think Hermione and Mulan are the only young, female characters who aren’t scared shitless all the time. Still, a good entry into a new series and a good audio reader though her inflections can be a bit odd to some.

Not exactly the next Harry Potter, but serviceable

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Pennyroyal Academy is a story about a girl with no name who travels through the forest and joins the Pennyroyal Academy to become a princess. By going to princess training, her goal is to join a female arm of the Queen’s military. There are three tribes of sentient beings, the Queen’s people, the Witches, and the Dragons. These three groups live amongst each other as mortal enemies. They are free to fight and murder each other at will and are encouraged to do so.

Cadet 11, our unnamed protagonist, arrives with the handsomest, most famous knight student, Remington, whom she met by chance in a situation in the forest. She is dressed in spider webs, which is very odd, gross, nasty, and sticky sounding, with twigs in her hair. This makes for a peculiar first impression with the other young ladies and one young man who is sent to princess school by a deranged mother who is trying to raise him as a princess.

Baker (2023) When evaluating fantasy books for logic and consistency this story falls short for a number of reasons (p. 23). The Pennyroyal Academy is keen on expelling princesses for unknown criteria and some mornings the girls will wake up and their classmates will be gone. Cadet 11 struggles to fit in with the higher born young ladies and with daddy issues throughout the story. Additionally, fairytales are randomly interwoven throughout the story. Flashbacks, dreams, contests, magic, intrigue, betrayal, lies, war, and confusion are all there too. This is normally a genre I enjoy; however, this story was lacking in intelligence and common sense. Too much was left unexplained. Why did she not remember her family? Why could she not tell she was not a dragon? Could she not see her arms and legs? Why did she only care about who her fathers were and had little interest in her mothers? Why were the girls kicked out of princess school? How did Forbes get cured from being a pig? Why did Remington act so hateful at the Ball/competition when he had been so kind the rest of the time? I can see being frustrated or upset, but the personality transplant was out of character. This story like someone is telling you about a long, weird dream they had and kept on going long past the point in which the listener’s disinterest set in.

Not sure if the book or repetitive voice intonation was worse

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This book is too scary. I am a mom & I fell asleep while listening & woke up from a night terror that left me unable to slow my heart or go back to sleep.

It should have been in the horror category (which I stay away from) Now I have this crappy book, that I can't Exchange for a credit.... Due to 1 of the 5 reasons.

The sample didn't clearly depict how the book was just full of horrific nightmarish images. Being trapped, helpless, unable to escape & nowhere safe to go if you did get away from the dark evil 🖤 creatures.

I don't recommend for kids of any age. I don't recommend if you are not a horror story fan. I like. fantastical stories with adventure, struggle, & triumph.
This book is not fun, no humor, no joy, no hope, only darkness & no reason to read, unless you want nightmares.

This is a family audible account under my husband's name, this is not his review it is mine ‐Mik (wife)

to frightening to be for children.

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