Wellspring of Magic: Book Review

What happens when six creative girls accidentally open a Secret Door to a Magical Realm?

It doesn’t take long for adventure — and danger — to find them! Upon arriving in the Realm, eleven-year-old Shaylee and her friends learn they are the long-awaited princesses of the Six Kingdoms, and each girl has a unique magical power tied to her creative talents. But the kingdoms are in ruin thanks to an evil force that has drained nearly all of the power from the Wellspring of Magic. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the door between the real world and the Realm is stuck! It can’t be opened again — and the girls can’t go home — until the magic is restored to the Wellspring. Shaylee and her friends must work together using their creative abilities, such as dancing, painting, and beading, to channel powers they never knew they had and fight the dark forces threatening to destroy the Realm.

I first read this book when I was under 11. A friend had it, and when I saw what the story was about, I just had to read it.

Fast forward 10+ years later, and I had been searching tirelessly for this book (despite being unable to remember the title, book cover, characters names, or plot) since the day I moved overseas and decided to get rid of it at a yard sale (the worst mistake my 11-year-old self ever made). This day (10+ years later) I went into a local used bookstore, headed to the children’s section as I always do, and halfheartedly scanned the shelf for the book, expecting to find nothing.

I gasped. Could that be it? That tiny spine hidden away among hundreds of others?

I removed it from the shelf, and all my lifelong dreams came true. It was the book! The famed book that inspired my writing career so heavily at the age of 8!

Obviously, I had to purchase it. It didn’t matter that the book cover is slightly terrifying. I had waited too long to abandon it now. I read it over the course of a few days (too many, but life is busy) and I can safely say I completely understand why little me was so obsessed with it.

Princesses? Magic powers? Sea serpents? Bears? Mermaids? IT’S EVERYTHING I COULD EVER DREAM OF.

8-year-old me gives this book a 10 out of 5 stars. Nothing can compare to the glory that is this book.

But what about 21-year-old me?

I have to admit, it’s not the best book ever written. There are quite a few typos, the story is pretty “basic” from a plot perspective, there’s not a lot of super intense world building or anything, and the characters are fairly simple to make it easier to keep track of them.

But this is not The Lord of the Rings. This is a children’s book from 2007.

It has some redeeming qualities. I think the basic concept (world is losing magic, girls must come restore it) is a cool concept. I think the author handles the large cast of characters fairly well considering how short the book is. And I think there’s just a little bit of fairy dust sprinkled throughout the pages, perfectly hidden from the eyes of adults and impossible to miss in the eyes of young girls (or at least Young Me).

This particular children’s book happened to inspire my entire journey as a writer. While I was re-reading this I realized just how much I stole from this book as a child (don’t worry; I no longer plagiarize, I promise).

The main character in the book I wrote right after reading this? Alison. One of the main characters of this book? Alysa. Both of their nicknames? Aly.

Character introductions at the beginning of 8-year-old-me’s plagiarized story, just like this one? Check! Writing style basically just this book, copy and pasted? Check!

I could go on. I mean, I knew I stole from The Secrets of Droon books, but this is just getting out of hand.

The fact of the matter is, this book is not made for grownups. Grownups cannot possibly grasp the magic that can be found within these pages. I know because I no longer grasp it the way that I did when I was little. Reading it now, it’s just a short book with too many typos and a basic plot line. How much of a tragedy is that? Young me saw the beauty this book has, and I still got glimpses of it when I was reading. But it’ll never be quite as clear as it was when I was little.

The point of this long rant is this: will you, an adult, enjoy this book if you read it now? No. Will your daughter, probably around the age of 8-10, who loves fantasy stories, enjoy this book if you read it out loud to her or if she reads it herself? I think so. I certainly did.

I give this book 4/5 stars, because 8-year-old me gave it 10/5 and 21-year-old me gives it a 3/5, so that seems to be the best happy medium.

If you stayed for this rant, bless you. I had a lot of fun writing it! This story holds a special place in my heart, even if I can see now, as an adult, that there are some ways it could’ve been improved.

If you have a young daughter looking for a fun book to read, maybe you can hunt this one down and let her read it. It might even turn her into an author some day, just like me 😉