The Scarecrow King

A Romantic Retelling of the King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale

By: Jill Myles

Narrated by: Cassandra Morris

Princess Rinda of Balinore knows of only one way to get her cold father's attention - be an obnoxious, spoiled princess. When she finds out that the king plans to marry her off to a far-flung nobleman, she puts on her best bratty show in front of the entire court. But Rinda's plan backfires, and she soon finds herself married to the most ineligible man ever. Her new husband is monastery raised, poor as dirt, and a traveling minstrel. A very, very bad traveling minstrel.

But Alek isn't what he seems on the surface, and neither is Rinda. She won't take this marriage lying down and schemes to find herself a new husband - a king. But as she and Alek travel together, they learn that not only are appearances deceiving, but goals can change in the blink of an eye, and love can get in the way of the strongest plans....

The Scarecrow King is a romantic retelling of the King Thrushbeard fairy tale.

©2013 Jill Myles (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Entertaining with a side of frustration -_-

Snobby princess who learns a lesson in a very hard way. Lots of time passed without really being told towards the end.
Only regret is that her father doesn’t get put in his place at the end.

Really good.

I loved this book. it was so intresting and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a love novel.

Oh Aleksander!

I know the fairy tale about Thrushbeard King, mainly from the film, so I don't know how very much the author changed the original.
Generally I liked it, although I have reservations about a heroine. In the first scenes even I sympathized with her, but before the ball and later appeared to me as the moody brat which isn't taking nothing and nobody into account.
I think that she isn't deserving Aleksander, but he has a good effect on her, so there is a good chance that she will grow into respectful woman and queen.
The book runs quite fast, the whole lasted about a month. At some point one scene reminds me of Lord of the Rings ;-P

Magical King Thrushbeard retelling

The story is clean. Princess Rinda has grown up in a home where her mother passed away when Rinda was born, an older, beautiful, well-loved sister, and a father who despises Rinda, but dotes on her sister. Be aware, Rinda is only 16. The overall story would've been better if she was at least 18, considering she is slated to be married.

Following the King Thrushbeard tale, Rinda is forced to marry the first man who comes to the castle after she scorns all the suitors her father invited to court her. One man is the King of a neighboring country, who has a beard so scraggly that she calls him the Scarecrow King to his face. (In the original Thrushbeard telling, she claims his beard looks like a thrush nest and expects a bird to peek out at any moment.)

The next man to arrive at the castle is a wandering minstrel, who her father forces her to marry, then she must leave the castle and kingdom immediately.

This retelling is very nicely done, and it does not include any of teaching the princess a lesson in humility as some versions do. There is magic, a bit of adventure, and a chance for Rinda to grow without being taught any harsh lessons. The ending is quite good, though there is a bit of bloodshed. Even Rinda is quite bloody from being tied up, and from using her magic, which required a drop of her blood to use.

My only complaint is the narrator. She was fine for Rinda, and any other female voices, but her male voice reading tended to sound like pre-teen boys who haven't reached puberty yet.

Poor Narration ruins story

Once you get through the awful brattiness of the Princess in the first half of the story the book could have become both intriguing and enjoyable......the high pitched narrator ruins it though and sounds like a whiny 8 year old.

It was a struggle.

This was a struggle from start to finish. I really hated Rinda, she was a brat from start to finish.