The Secret Life of Prince Charming

Deb Caletti

Apr 2009 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Quinn teams up with the half-sister she’s never met to right their father’s wrongs in this thoughtful, funny, and layered novel by National Book Award finalist and Printz Honor medal winner Deb Caletti.

Maybe it was wrong, or maybe impossible, but I wanted the truth to be one thing. One solid thing.

Quinn is surrounded by women who have had their hearts broken. Between her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother, Quinn hears nothing but cautionary tales. And when she is abruptly and unceremoniously dumped, Quinn starts to think maybe there really are no good men.

It doesn’t help that she’s gingerly handling a renewed relationship with her formerly absent father. He’s a little bit of a lot of things: charming, selfish, eccentric, lazy… But he’s her dad, and Quinn’s just happy to have him around again. Until she realizes how horribly he’s treated the many women in his life, how he’s stolen more than just their hearts. Determined to, for once, take action in her life, Quinn joins forces with the half-sister she’s never met and the little sister she’ll do anything to protect. Together, they set out to right her father’s wrongs…and in doing so, begin to uncover what they’re really looking for: the truth.

Once again, Deb Caletti has created a cast of lovably flawed characters who bond over the shared experiences of fear, love, pain, and joy—in other words, real life.

Ratings and reviews

i started reading this book last summer, but it was so boring and slow that by the time i was only a fourth of the way into the book, i couldnt motivate myself to finish it -which means it is bad because usually i can finish a book, even if it is really bad just because i fell bad about quitting in the middle. sadly this book was so boring, and i had better books in stack in my room to read so i just quit reading it and picked up a different book.

The Hoffman women have absolutely awful luck in the man department. At least that is what Quinn concludes after analyzing her mother, Aunt Annie, and Gram. All have their fair share of failed relationship experience, stories of young girls in love only to have their hearts shattered by unfeeling men. After Quinn is spectacularly dumped, over the telephone, she develops her own jaded view of men. Daniel seemed so nice - polite, responsible, and respectful. But like mom says, it's the nice ones that you have to watch out for. They are apt to turn around and cheat on you when you least expect it. Who can blame Quinn for her bleak outlook? She doesn't exactly have a role model father figure in her life. Her real father, Barry, vanished when she was younger and has only recently appeared back in her life. Now Quinn and her little sister, Sprout, visit him on weekends, where they eat takeout, play video games, and meet his younger girlfriends. It is only after he dumps his latest conquest, Brie, whom they refer to as "the cheese," that Quinn uncovers a startling truth about her father. He has stolen something from every woman he has ever been involved with - and not just their hearts. Barry has the most prized possessions, from an African mask, to a statue originally belonging to Humphery Bogart, from each woman adorning his house. A twisted tribute to his womanizing ways. In a karmic quest, Quinn, Sprout, and Frances Lee, the half-sister she hardly knows, set out to return the items their father stole from the women who loved him. Sure, Quinn's mom thinks that Quinn and Sprout are in Disneyland with their father (an advantage of having divorced parents is the ease of lying), but what she doesn't know won't hurt her. It sounds crazy, but Quinn desperately hopes that this adventure will help her get to know her father a little better, and understand why he is the way he is. Even if he is completely narcissistic, inconsiderate and over-confident, in the end, he is still her father. Just because a person is bad, doesn't necessarily mean that they are all bad, right?

I loved this book, and everything that it told. It was a fast read, but the message was important. I've read books about a group of women who have that You-Betrayed-Me feeling towards men. But this story- Quinn's story- was different. The twists added a bit of unpredictability (is that a word?) to the story. The characters were great. They were real, as well as relatable. I reccomend this book to anyone. It is one of my favorite of Caletti's books. :)

About the author

Deb Caletti is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of over sixteen books for adults and young adults, including Honey, Baby, Sweetheart, a finalist for the National Book Award; A Heart in a Body in the World, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book; Girl, Unframed; and One Great Lie. Her books have also won the Josette Frank Award for Fiction, the Washington State Book Award, and numerous other state awards and honors, and she was a finalist for the PEN USA Award. She lives with her family in Seattle.