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    Cloaked
    Cloaked
    Cloaked
    Audiobook6 hours

    Cloaked

    Written by Alex Flinn

    Narrated by Alexander Cendese

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    I’m not your average hero. I actually wasn’t your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.

    It all started with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.

    There wasn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades.

    Don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it either. But you’ll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got CLOAKED.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 8, 2011
    ISBN9781441849823
    Author

    Alex Flinn

    Alex Flinn loves fairy tales and is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beastly, a spin on Beauty and the Beast that was named a VOYA Editor’s Choice and an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Beastly is now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens. Alex also wrote A Kiss in Time, a modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty; Cloaked, a humorous fairy-tale mash-up; Bewitching, a reimagining of fairy-tale favorites, including Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, The Princess and the Pea, and The Little Mermaid, all told by Kendra, the witch from Beastly; Towering, a darkly romantic take on Rapunzel; and Mirrored, a fresh spin on Snow White. Her other books for teens include Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, and Diva. She lives in Miami with her family. Visit her online at www.alexflinn.com.

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    Reviews for Cloaked

    3.5/5

    220 ratings32 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This book was totally fun. "Cloaked" is a mash-up of several lesser-known fairy tales. I knew about half of them, had heard of a few, and had NEVER heard of the rest (including the one that gives the book its title, the cloak is from a fairy tale called "The Salad" - also called "Donkey Cabbages." I had assumed the cloak in the title might have to do with the cloak in "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," but nope.) The story is about Johnny, a seventeen-year old boy who runs a shoe repair shop with his mom in South Beach, and struggling to make ends meet. His life gets turned upside down when he meets a princess in which she strikes a deal with him - Johnny must track down her missing brother, and Johnny can marry the princess as a reward. Reluctantly, Johnny embarks on this journey. Adventures of fairy tale proportions ensue. This book has got a bit of everything. It combines an irresistible premise for fairy retelling enthusiasts, adventure and magic, a sweet love story, sprinkles of humor and suspense, talking animals, an underwater hotel, a charming and modest hero, as well as a wonderfully strong female protagonist. Really, what more can you ask for when it comes to light-hearted young adult fantasy? I hope Alex Flinn keeps writing these fairy tale retellings forever.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed Flinn's Beastly so when I was offered an advanced reading copy for Cloaked through the Amazon Vine program I snapped it up. This was an entertaining and fun fairy tale retelling. It mixes aspects from a number of fairy tales but pulls mainly from the Elves and the Shoemaker and The Princess and the Frog. It is fun, fluffy, and an easy read.Johnny repairs shoes at his family's shoe shop; his mom and him are pretty strapped for cash and his dad is missing. Then a visiting princess (known for her public displays of drunkenness) asks him for a favor. She wants him to find her brother who has been turned into a frog. Johnny thinks she's a bit batty but when she shows him a magic cloak, a lot of money, and offers to marry him. Well, he can't turn her down. Now he is off on a quest to find a frog somewhere in Key West Florida. Along the way he will learn that much of the world is not what it seems and that maybe there is more to this love thing than a hot princess with wads of cash.This book is written in a very lighthearted way and is full of slang and silliness. I loved that it was a fairy tale retelling, and I enjoyed the silliness for the most part. Overall a quick read that was a nice break from the serious epic fantasy I had just finished before it. This would be a great book for a light summer read on the beach.Parts of the book get a bit over the top, but in general all of the characters are likable (if a bit over-stereotyped). You can't help but root for Johnny throughout the book, although you will occasional want to smack him for his blindness in matters of love. This book is more of an adventure than anything with some magic and romance added throughout. It was paced well and hard to put down.I personally like my fairy tales retold with more beautiful description and irony than this book had. But this book was still a fun read and should be appropriate for middle grade readers and up. Overall I had to say I enjoyed this book. It was a fun and light-hearted retelling of some more obscure fairy tales. It did a good job of incorporating a lot of fairy tale elements. Definitely not a work of fine literature but fun and sweet if that is what you are in the mood for; much less serious in tone than Beastly was. I will probably pick up Flinn's future works when I am in the mood for something lighter.
    • 4/5
      Narrated by Alexander Cendense. Johnny Marco and his mother struggle to pay the bills as they run a shoe repair shop in a Miami hotel. Johnny is pretty much resigned to a life of long hours behind the store counter until the gorgeous Princess Victoriana enlists his help in rescuing her brother Phillippe…who has been turned into a frog by a witch. Johnny embarks on a crazy adventure involving animals that used to be humans, an enchanted cloak and plenty of fairy tale magic.Some of the accents he uses have the feeling of bad caricatures but in a way it’s appropriate for a cartoonish fairy tale. There is fun to be had listening to this once you accept it as a contemporary fairy tale.
    • 5/5
      So we’ll written! Pacing was great, loved the story. Reader was just right for role.
    • 3/5
      The author has combined a selection of fairy tales to create a story about a boy who repairs shoes, witches, elves, and people turned into animals, including a prince turned into a frog.
    • 1/5
      I feel as if I've finally finished this book. It was really loosely crafted, and the plot was a combination of fairy tales not very strongly linked together. Johnny, the protagonist, was- to put it bluntly- an idiot, and the whole story was rather cliche. The setting in Florida was probably really neat for people who live there, but I felt as if Flinn was just inserting randoom local landmarks for fun.
      In short, this was an odd book, which didn't fulfill my hopes for quality YA, good fantasy, or even a good fairy tale. The bar was low, and this book went under it.
      Oh, and the accents were downright painful.
    • 4/5
      A nice combination of several fairy tales (which are discussed at the end) including Frog Prince, Seven Swan Brothers, Shoemaker and the Elves, and the Magic Fish, but also a nice fantasy story. The main character is a boy who figures out how to put all of these together and actually achieve his dreams (and figures out what his dreams are), with the help of his best friend, a girl, who does quite a bit to save him and deserves more than half the credit. She, in fact, is really the one who makes his dreams come true as much as himself or the quest.
    • 3/5
      Johnny works repairing shoes in his mother's shop at a fancy South Beach hotel. He doesn't want to repair shoes forever, at some point he would actually like to make his own fancy high class shoes, but Johnny and his mother are barely getting by so he has no idea how to make it happen. One day a rich, gorgeous princess Victoriana comes to the hotel and approaches Johnny about finding her brother, who has been turned into a frog. She gives him a fistful of cash, a magical cloak and earbuds that allow him to talk to animals that used to be humans. He sets out on his quest alone but eventually his best friend since forever, Meg who works at the coffee shop next door joins him and the two of them have the adventure of a life time.

      Alex Flynn takes bits and pieces from The Frog Prince, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Seven Swans, Seven at One Blow and several other lesser known fairy tales and makes an amazing story. I couldn't wait to see what fairy tale we were going to visit next! I absolutely loved the swans. In the long run I believe that they were my favorite of the fairy tale characters visited in this book and I kind of loved the ending they got. The book was especially funny when it broke fairy tale tropes, particularly at the end. I don't want to go into detail because I'm trying to avoid spoiler land.

      Now while I absolutely loved this book I admit that it was not perfect. I didn't feel like there was a bunch of character development on anyone's part but i think that was okay due to the quick pace of the book. I also felt like certain parts of it were maybe a tiny bit predictable and not in the "I know this fairy tale so I know what's going to happen" type of way. Particularly where romances were involved. I also have a huge question about a comment the frog made about Victoriana that was just never really addressed. While I guess I can sort of explain it away it just seems kind of left field and like the book could have done without it.

      Over all this was a funny, action packed read but it was definitely a little bit fluffy and best for those that love fairy tales and/or are looking for something light.

    • 4/5
      Not bad at all. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, because even though I liked Beastly, it wasn't super awesome. But Cloaked was pretty cool. I really liked how Alex Flinn wove so many fairy tales into one story.Johnny is a pretty cool hero too, so that was a plus. Meg was, well, stereotypical. But okay otherwise. Mostly I just enjoyed how Johnny kept having to go in different directions doing fifteen thousand different tasks just to get a frog.And like I said, I love all the different fairy tales. I'm a sucker for fairy tales.
    • 3/5
      Fairy tales. The perfect weekend book.
    • 4/5
      The funnest part of this novel is recognizing the fairy tale references. The story is a bit simplistic (much like fairy tales themselves) but fun too.
    • 3/5
      It's a cute, pleasant read. Johnnie's inner monalogue is hilarious! Glad I picked it up
    • 3/5
      A fun mixture of a bunch of lesser-known fairy tales. I enjoyed the mix and the growing relationship of the main characters.
    • 4/5
      3.5/5 for the actual story. 4/5 because of the audiobook. A delightful listen that is a cute twisted fairy tale and a bit more lighthearted after all some deep reads.
    • 5/5
      This was a very interesting book with a mixture of a variety of different fairy tales including ones that I had never heard of, despite being a huge fan of fairy tales. I really like Ms. Flinn's imagination and her way with words.
    • 5/5
      has a real sweet ending
    • 3/5
      3Q,4P. Cloaked by Alex Flinn takes seven fairy tales, some well-known and some not, and weaves them into a present day tale that begins in an upscale Miami hotel when a princess enlists the help of a teenage cobbler. Even though the book is supposed to be a mystery adventure (of sorts), it is a fairly obvious read and it is easy to get irritated when the main character, Johnny, doesn’t pick up on the clues. That being said, Cloaked has merit; it is a quick read, enjoyable, and casually flips gender expectations. I think teenage readers would enjoy the story, even if it doesn’t leave them biting their nails.
    • 3/5
      Great take on several different lesser known fairy tales. I loved how Flinn patched together several different stories to create this very unique and entertaining story.
    • 4/5
      Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.comWhen you pick up an Alex Flinn fairy tale, you know it's going to be fun and fast reading. Cloaked is no different, though nailing down that one particular fairy tale its retelling is a little impossible. You see, this is a combination of fairy tales, in one big, glorious, modern mix-up! The main theme is "The Frog Prince," but "The Elves and the Shoemaker" is also a key player, as are "The Twelve Swans." There are also sprinklings of so many other fairy tales too, I loved it!It all starts when Johnny happens to meet the Princess of Aloria - Victoriana - somewhat by accident. (He's a humble teenager, repairing shoes for the wealthy patrons of a swanky hotel in Florida, not exactly the type of guy management wants hobnobbing with royalty). The Princess sees something she likes, and enlists Johnny's help in finding her brother - who has been turned into a frog by a wicked witch. After a bit of convincing, involving promises of marriage and wealth, not to mention experimenting with the magic traveling cloak, Johnny finds himself on an impossible quest. Wandering around the Keys, talking to animals-who-were-once-humans and passing (or failing) test after test, Johnny soon discovers that there is so much more to the world than what meets the scientific eye. And once his best friend Meg (who has plenty of secrets of her own) joins the quest, Johnny begins to take a closer look at all aspects of life - trying to see what lies beneath the surface.As with any good fairy tale, there is a happy ending. Or several happy endings, since there are multiple fairy tales taking place simultaneously. The course of true love never did run smooth, and what's a good story without some unexpected twists and turns and "oh my gosh!"-moments right at the end? This was a fun, lighter read than Beastly, but I enjoyed the mish-mash of fairy tale goodness.
    • 4/5
      Pages: 341Release Date: February 8th, 2011Date Read: 2011, March 24th - 26thReceived: OwnRating: 4.5/5 starsRecommended to: 14+(This is an old review I wrote for Fairy Tale Fortnight in April, so the layout isn't updated...but rest assured, my feelings are the same!)Summary -Johnny is a pretty normal guy. He lives in Florida and fixes shoes for a living. Or really, he fixes shoes not just as a living but to pay rent, phone bills, electricity bills, for food, etc. You know, all the every day things your father usually manages to pay for. Johnny's father would pay for theses things - but he disappeared when Johnny was a toddler. Ever since, Johnny's been the man of the house, working to feed and care for his sweet mother who in turn works hard to provide for him. Johnny would love to become a shoe designer, make millions of dollars, and give his mother the life of ease. But, how likely is that to happen? Unless you meet the princess of Aloria, who is filthy rich, thinks you're a good boy, and consequently wants you to find the Prince of Aloria who has been turned into a frog by an evil witch...in return for her hand in marriage and millions of dollars and a life of ease.Yah...that can be a hard one to pass up.___________________________________________My thoughts -Once again, Alex Flinn knocks us all out with a fantastical fairytale that makes you feel like you've never read a fairytale before in your life.Talk about original. I mean, this book was so original it was almost strange. It was neat, though! From the ear-piece that lets you talk to animals, to the cloak that transports you to wherever you want to go; from the princess who (apparently) wants to marry the boy from South Beach, to the witch who has a grudge and a slightly evil but really predictable plan. It was awesome, on all levels.For a while I thought the Cloak would be like the one from 12 Dancing Princesses, one that makes you invisible. But no, it was totally different. And the ear piece was a neat idea and added a "technological" magic twist to the story. There were a few other fairytales thrown in there that only added, built, and made the story more enjoyable. The animals that Johnny meets give him quests to test his loyalty and to make sure he's really going to save the prince, which made everything feel a bit more "old fashioned". This all played in to create an atmosphere that was highly original and definitely Alex Flinn. I was hooked from the first pages.Favorite character (character thoughts) -Meg is such a great character that I just have to say that she's my favorite. She was strong, honest, and just lovely. She was deserving and totally inspired me. She and Johnny's relationship was hilarious at times and sweet at others. Everything about her made the story all the more lovable.And while she's my favorite, I can't move on without pointing out my honorable mention, Johnny. He was quite a character as well. He compliments Meg perfectly. He's a klutz (hilarious!), a doubter, and he doesn't follow instructions well. I found that these things, on top of the fact that he's honest, reliable, and loving, made him a great character. I loved that he couldn't always see what was right in front of him. I love a good, teasing love story where you just want to yell at the guy - "SHE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, STUPID!"Also, raise your glass to Alex Flinn herself for creating a character like Johnny who is, specifically, a completely different person than his competitors, Kyle from Beastly and Jack from A Kiss in Time. I found this extremely refreshing, as I'm sure you will.Pretty much the only downer in this book for me: I found that I didn't really, at all, like Victoriana, the Alorian princess. She was funny in parts, but I thought she was ubelievable. I couldn't picture her as clearly as the other characters, even her brother Philippe, and I couldn't hear the accent in the way that Alex Flinn typed it up. It just didn't click for me...but maybe that's just me.Favorite aspects/scenes -There are too many aspects of this story to choose from, so I will name as many as I can without spoiling anything for you. The love story was soooo amazing and much more passionate than that of A Kiss in Time. It was believable and well-developed and gave me strong, gutsy butterflies so many times I lost count. The tests Johnny has to go through to gain information are also a favorite part. The lessons Johnny learns...the twist that involves the animals...the amazing shoe quotes that easily become a lovable part of the story. And the perfect ending to a great story.Some favorite scenes: The sunset scenes with Johnny and Meg........ And I was totally taken by the perfectly smooth scene in the beginning during which Johnny realizes that the Cloak and the ear-piece are really magic. It was amazingly well-told and Johnny's reaction to the magic was normal and hilarious and pretty much perfect. Bravo to Alex Flinn!One phrase to sum up this book (final thoughts) -Wonderfully original are the words that come to mind when I think of Cloaked. I could not help but fall in love with this book - and I hope you will, too! I recommend this book highly!For the parents: A few kisses, with little or no description. A handful of underhand jokes directed toward girls, and a couple of direct comments. None are explicit. A pretty darn clean book. Definitely can be read by a younger audience than Alex Flinn's previous fairytales. I'd say 14 years old is a good age to start. :)
    • 4/5
      This doesn't get five stars because it was sort of predictable and sometimes Johnny was annoyingly dense! That said, it was still worth reading and the blending of so many separate stories into such a cohesive and enjoyable plot was pretty ingenious. But then again, Alex Flinn has already proven he's pretty awesome at that!
    • 4/5
      Fairy tale mashup at its best! Johnny works long hours at his mother's show repair shop in a very upscale South Beach hotel in Miami, FL. His best friend Meg works at her family's coffee shop beside the shoe repair shop, and both of them know how much their families depend upon their work. Johnny dreams of designing shoes instead of fixing them, and he thinks his chance might have arrived when European Princess Victoriana arrives at the hotel. She sees Johnny as a possible savior -- the one who might find her missing brother, Prince Philippe, who has been turned into a frog and frognapped in order to blackmail the princess into agreeing to marry a man she hates. There are magical items (a bluetooth headset that lets him understand and talk to animals who were once human), talking swans and a fox, and a couple of extremely destructive and dimwitted giants. Action, humor, and romance! Lots of fun for 6th grade and up.
    • 3/5
      Cute, Funny, and Entertaining read. It was a retelling of several fairy tales rolled into one short book. Again Alex writes of people transformed into animals by an evil witch. Jhonny who is who fixes shoes in a big Florida hotel is given a quest by a Princess who is staying at the hotel. Her brother has been turned into a frog and now no one can find him.So with a cloak that will take him anywhere he wants he sets out to find the frog prince only he's not the only one looking for him.
    • 5/5
      This book was totally fun. "Cloaked" is a mash-up of several lesser-known fairy tales. I knew about half of them, had heard of a few, and had NEVER heard of the rest (including the one that gives the book its title, the cloak is from a fairy tale called "The Salad" - also called "Donkey Cabbages." I had assumed the cloak in the title might have to do with the cloak in "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," but nope.) The story is about Johnny, a seventeen-year old boy who runs a shoe repair shop with his mom in South Beach, and struggling to make ends meet. His life gets turned upside down when he meets a princess in which she strikes a deal with him - Johnny must track down her missing brother, and Johnny can marry the princess as a reward. Reluctantly, Johnny embarks on this journey. Adventures of fairy tale proportions ensue. This book has got a bit of everything. It combines an irresistible premise for fairy retelling enthusiasts, adventure and magic, a sweet love story, sprinkles of humor and suspense, talking animals, an underwater hotel, a charming and modest hero, as well as a wonderfully strong female protagonist. Really, what more can you ask for when it comes to light-hearted young adult fantasy? I hope Alex Flinn keeps writing these fairy tale retellings forever.
    • 4/5
      Being the fan of fairy tales that I am, I had heard of Alex Flinn, of course. But for whatever reason, I had never read anything by her, so Cloaked is my first. And I have to start by saying: SHE USED THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER!!!Let me set the scene for you:Misty, as a small child, had 3 books she was obsessed with. One was The Velveteen Rabbit, which we don't need to discuss here, other than to say she still has it, of course. The other 2 were fairy tales: somebody's beautiful version of The Twelve Dancing Princesses (?), and 2 copies of The Elves and the Shoemaker (one was a Little Golden Book, the other was part of a fairy tale series).Misty read The Elves and the Shoemaker constantly, and always hoped to catch little cobbler elves doing something -- anything -- to her shoes.Misty dreamed about the day she'd see them, and even though it would make her sad to see them go, she wanted to make tiny clothes for them.(If you don't know what Misty is talking about, go read the story)[I'm now done speaking in creepy 3rd person; you can relax.]So, years later, I've often said "I wish someone would do something with The Elves and the Shoemaker. But I'm afraid they'd make it creepy, and I liked my Elves."Well, among other tales (this is a mash-up), Flinn uses The Elves and the Shoemaker, and she didn't make them creepy! It's incorporated in such a sweet, cute way. I just had to start with that, because it made me endlessly happy to see the tale even included. And I think it was a good indicator of the story over all. It makes use of some lesser known tales right alongside the more obvious ones, and it uses them all in a way that I can't help but describe as cute. It's sweet, it's wholesome, it's completely kid-friendly -- but this isn't to say that it's saccharine or boring. One of the things I discovered reading my first Flinn is that she is genuinely funny. Like really lol funny. Her writing has an air of playfulness and silliness that's enjoyable to read, and makes for a nice balance to the darker, more depressing tones many fairy tale retellings take. It's fun and refreshing and thoroughly modern, and I think will appeal to a variety of readers because of that. In a strange way, it reminds me of The Sea of Monsters, the 2nd book in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. That's partly due to the location and the quest aspect of it, and some of the character interactions. But it's also got the same silly/funny style that works for lots of age groups and style preferences.There are a few things I want to point out quickly: Alex Flinn writes in accents. If you watch my video, you'll see what I mean -- I'm reading it as written (albeit a little over the top and ridiculously...) There are characters with French and German (?) accents in the book, and things are spelled/pronounced accordingly. I found it amusing, and think it adds to the charm and silliness, but it bears keeping in mind because I know things like this can irritate or frustrate some readers. I would suggest popping online somewhere, like Amazon, where you can look inside, and see if this bothers you before you decide to buy it.Also, I think some people may find Johnny irritating. I liked him, but he can be completely bumbling and clueless. I found this to be in keeping with fairy tales in generally, actually (men in fairy tales seem to be either riding up on white horses to save the day, or doing incredibly stupid things), but some readers may wish for him to wake up a bit and use the brain we know he has. But the great thing about him being kind of clueless is Meg -- Meg is a great foil for Johnny, and she's intriguing and strong and really interesting. It's fun to watch them work through things together, and to know what's really going on when Johnny is completely lost.
    • 3/5
      The author has combined a selection of fairy tales to create a story about a boy who repairs shoes, witches, elves, and people turned into animals, including a prince turned into a frog.
    • 4/5
      Johnny spends countless hours from sun-up to sun-down working as a shoe cobbler in the hopes of making enough money to support himself and his mother. When he encounters a young princess in need of help who promises marriage and the wealth he needs - he'll find himself searching for an arrogant prince magically turned into a frog. Along with his BFF Meg, he'll find himself on a journey full of extraordinary creatures, magic, evil witches, and... love? I love modern day fairytale remakes. I was actually quite intrigued when I heard this was not only a remake but also a mash-up of several other fairytales. Oh yes, fans of Grimm's fairy tales will see bits and pieces of "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "The Frog Prince," "The Six Swans," "The Golden Bird," and "The Brave Little Tailor."Johnny was such a cute boy. He was nice, sweet and had an open heart. All the adventures he finds himself in are all selfless. He's always trying to do things for other people no matter what sort of magical mayhem ensues. I did expect more of a dramatic storyline, but I was happily surprised to see that Ms. Flinn took more of a comedic route. I loved all the talking animals, furry sidekicks and magical powers. This was very light-hearted, fast-paced and action-packed. It is not one to be taken too seriously but rather it is one to just sit back and enjoy. I also found it very PG, so it can easily be read to listeners of all ages.
    • 5/5
      Once upon a time in Miami, there lived a boy who dreamed of making shoes...Aside from the whole Miami bit, it sounds like it could be straight out of Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm, right? Well, Alex Flinn is leading the charge (or at least she's up there in the front lines, holding a really big heraldic banner or something) in transforming fairy tales for the modern age, mashing them up to create fun new stories. With their origins in older fairy tales, books written by Alex Flinn always feel like you've read them before, back when you fell into her targeted demographic (or maybe it's just that she makes anyone with an appreciation for whimsy believe that they are, once again, in her targeted demographic), and that makes them feel cozy. Cloaked is her latest and it's quite charming.Johnny and his mother run the shoe repair shop in a posh South Beach hotel, across from his best friend Meg and her family's coffee counter. Dad disappeared years ago and with financial difficulties aplenty, Johnny and his mom work night and day to keep themselves afloat. His dream is to become a famous shoe designer and he spends his free time (or what little there is of it between repair jobs) sketching masterpieces on heels. He's no flighty kid, though; Johnny knows that there's no such thing as magic and it's hard work that will get him someplace... hard work and maybe a lucky break. Enter the much-photographed partying Princess Victoriana. If she got photographed wearing his shoes, he could launch his career and she's scheduled to check in to his hotel, but how to get her the shoes? As the hotel prepares to cater to the princess's every whim, nothing could prepare Johnny for the Princess singling him out to ask for his help. She invites him up to her room and tells him a secret: her brother, the crown prince, has been turned into a frog by a witch. If the princess agrees to marry the evil son of a rival monarchy, the witch will change the prince back -- otherwise, the prince is doomed to be a frog until he's kissed by a girl with love in her heart. The princess insists that she can't even trust her personal bodyguards, as she fears that one of them is spying on her, and so she needs the help of one who is hard-working and loyal. Johnny is about ready to declare her totally insane when he accidentally makes use of a magic cloak given to him by the princess which transports him to any location he wishes. Suddenly, the world is full of magic and used-to-be-humans turned animals -- and Johnny will need a great deal of help from six swans, a rat, a fox, and his best friend Meg if he hopes to save the prince and achieve happily ever after... but is "happily ever after" even close to what he might expect?For Cloaked, Flinn draws upon a number of classic fairy tales, many of which have fallen out of popular knowledge: "The Elves and the Shoemaker," "The Frog Prince," "The Six Swans," "The Golden Bird," "The Salad," and "The Fisherman and His Wife." It's unfortunate that the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog came out before this book, but so it goes. Little girls already knew the whole princess-kissing-a-frog outline and this simply returns to the roots of the tale. The other stories are threaded in for a delightful mix of flight and fancy, with the ultimate moral being that it really is hard-work and a good heart that will triumph over all. Meg is a wonderfully competent girl while Victoriana proves to have a great deal more substance than the paparazzi would have folks believe. Johnny is a winning hero, even if he isn't the stereotypical male lead that one tends to find in YA novels. (He isn't a brooding paranormal creature, for one.) Johnny is a young man who means well and works hard... just the kind of guy that those of us older than the intended teen readers would encourage our younger selves to sigh over, as he's sweet and caring even if he (like most boys) can be a little clueless. He's the stereotypical male best friend who too often doesn't get the girl... cute and sweet with a heart of gold and his only real stumbling comes from (a) trying to do the right thing or (b) having issues expressing his real feelings. Ah if only they were all so easy in real life... and all liked shoes to this degree.Overall, the best description for Cloaked really is "charming," and I hope young adult/older-than-young-adult readers agree. This book is perfectly fine for even the younger teens, as there isn't really any objectionable content. Flinn's got a knack for updating classics (just check out Beastly, her previous book which is being made into a movie that hit theaters this past weekend) and I'm already looking forward to her next creation.Please note that this isn't an entirely impartial review, as this book factors in to my professional world, but this is still a truthful review written in my personal space, so weight my opinion as you will.
    • 3/5
      So, Cloaked was my first time ever reading anythings by Alex Flinn and to be honest, I was a little disappointed, I expected more. Cloaked was a fun read, but I, for the most part, like to read more serious books, and Cloaked was a bit to much on the playful and silly side for my taste. But if you are a fan of more light-hearted romances, then this might just be the book for you. Cloaked is the story of Johnny, whose family, which consists of him and his mother, is struggling to make ends meet with their tiny shoe repair business. When the gorgous princess shows up and asks him to save her brother, she promises that in return, Johnny may have her hand in marriage and all the money that he could ever need. Hesitiant at first to agree to help the princess, Johnny eventually agrees, enticed by the princess' beauty and money. He then goes off on a journey to save the princess' brother in order to fufil her request and claim his reward.Johnny's character just kind of starts of as your normal, average boy, that is until everything changes once he meets the princess. Nothing really stuck out to me about Johnny, to be honest, and I didn't really find that he had a whole lot a depth, which was made even more clear to me when all Johnny could think about when he met the princess was "she's so hot". Although this was my least favourite quality about Johnny, it was also the one that made his character seem more realistic to me. Johnny's 17 year old boy who has a stunningly beautiful and rich princess offering to marry him and give him all the money that he could ever want. I'm pretty sure that that would be a dream come true for most teenaged boys and that they wouldn't care whether or not they loved the princess or not, they would just want her for her beauty and her money, just like Johnny. Although this didn't impress me about Johnny, it was probably an accurate response for a teenaged boy in Johnny's situation.As the book went on, I did find that Johnny started to loose some of his shollowness as he started to realize that just a pretty face and some money might not make him really happy, but this wasn't really enough to change his mind about anything, which kind of unimpressed me. Luckily, Johnny somewhat redeemed himself when he finally realized (beware, tiny spoiler ahead) that he was in love with his best friend Meg, who had always been there for him. After this realization, Johnny knew that he couldn't marry the princess because he could never truely be happy with someone other then Meg, and so he decided that he couldn't marry the princess even if it meant giving up the money. Meg was Johnny's best friend. They had been best friends for quite a while and Meg was always there for Johnny, supporting his dream of one day becoming a world renowned shoe designer, and anything else that he did. From the very beginning, it was plainly obvious that Meg was in love with Johnny, but Johnny, being a somewhat thick-headed teenaged boy, never realized it. Meg gives Johnny so many hints towards her feelings throughout the book, but Johnny is so distracted trying to find the princess' brother, that he doesn't notice her hints. I quite liked Meg's character, so I was happy that she got her happy ending when Johnny finally realized on his own that it was Meg that he loved and wanted to be with and not the princess.The way that Alex Flinn mashes up numerous different fairy tales all into one book is quite interesting and cool. All of the different bits and pieces of faity tales mixed together made for quite an interesting journey for Johnny and Meg. They came across many talking animals, such as swans, rats, foxes and frogs. They even had to fight giants. Because of this, I was never really able to predict what was going to happen next and that is always a quality that I enjoy in a book. Trying to identify all of the fairy tales that were incorperated into Cloaked as well was really fun and brought me back to my childhood as I was reminded of some of my favourites!As a whole, Cloaked was a pretty good book, but a little too on the silly and playful side for me to really enjoy it. As I mentioned before, I'm into more serious books and Cloaked was missing this. If you enjoy books that are very light-hearted and not so serious, then I would definitley recommend picking up Cloaked! Or, if you are like me and like something more serious for the most part, I wouldn't cross this one off your list, but just save it for a day when you want something light and cute to read.
    • 4/5
      Summary: Johnny has worked at his mother’s hotel shoe repair shop for as long as he can remember, and he’ll probably continue working there for the rest of his life. Johnny’s mediocre adolescence is spiced up when a gorgeous foreign princess comes to stay at the hotel and offers him a way out of the rut he’s stuck in. That is, if he’ll find her brother—a prince who happens to have been turned into a frog. Armed with a magical transporting cloak, Johnny and his best friend Meg embark on a crazy adventure that changes their lives forever. My thoughts: I’d like to start off by giving Alex Flynn mad props for writing a paranormal book with a male narrator. You don’t see that very often! Johnny’s voice was well written and believable, and though he might have been a bit dense when it came to romance, it was very fun to read the story through his perspective. Though the premise of Cloaked sounds cheesy, the book was actually quite good. Alex Flynn effortlessly blended classic fairy tales with the modern world, and I enjoyed picking out the parallels to tales such as “The Frog Prince” and “The Six Swans”. The whole story had a fantastical, magical feel to it, and it was easy to suspend disbelief for the sake of joining Johnny on his journey. Cloaked was quite a wild ride—there were so many different parts of the story to keep track of, but everything was tied up nicely in the end. Each part of Johnny’s adventure had its own humor and purpose. I suppose to sum up my feelings of Cloaked, I’ll throw down a few adjectives: exciting, fun, imaginative, and hilarious. Definitely check this modern fairy tale out! It’s got everything—a princess, a frog prince, talking animals and an evil witch (if only there had been some moments of spontaneous song)!