Willow Takes The Stage

Personal Review:

The best of the 6 books, and the only one that didn't leave me feeling "Oh God I'm wasting an afternoon reading children's books."

It's still a children's book, but it's certainly a decent one. Willow's plights as an artist are definitely a lot more down to earth and relatable than “The rocketship I built with tin cans won’t send me to space :(” and “My massive army of blindly loyal pigs are SO incompetent!!! >:(”

As for her character development, I expected them to go the cheap route of having her go "Oh I'm so shy!!! :(" and have her learn to simply Not Have Social Anxiety by the end.
Instead, however, they have her battle with self-doubt, amongst a myriad of other internal conflicts throughout the book!

One plot point I'd like to draw attention to: When the flock starts choosing roles for the play, Willow is immediately chosen to be the director, and is thrust into a position of leadership she is wholy unprepared for, whilst Stella, someone more familiar with leading the flock, is instead unanimously chosen to be the leading role, which Willow orignally desired.
I thought the book would end with the two finally swapping roles, as Willow wished. Y'know, kid's story stuff, the main characters get what they want and everyone's happy. However, that doesn't happen. I mean, the "everyone's happy" part does happen, but instead, Willow tries her best as the director, and during the play she has the time of her life being the best damn secondary character there ever was!

Honestly, I like this message more! Life won't always give you what you want, and may force you out of your comfort zone, but that doesn't mean you can't make the most of it, and even learn a few things in the process! That's a decent message for children!

I'm hyping this book up too much, it's still a children's story for babies, but I absolutely wouldn't mind gifting this to a younger relative or something. It's a decent read with a good message for young readers.

Beyond that, it even brings a few other things to the table for Angry Birds Stella fans:

First of all, a little bit of Stella + Gale lore. Three whole pages, in fact! That's a whole lot more than even Stella and Gale's book!

A screenshot of page 49 of Willow Takes The Stage
''This looks really good,' Stella said as she looked at herself in the mirror.
'Yeah! Even Gale would approve of that outfit. Except Gale would never agree to put on anything that was made out of trash,' Poppy said.'
An illustration of Stella in a princess costume, looking into a mirror. Her reflection reveals a sad look on her face.
'Stella's expression changed. She tried to hide it, but I could see how sad she was at the mention of Gale's name. Gale used to be Stella's best friend, you see. They were inseperable, or at least that's what we all thought.'

A screenshot of page 50 and page 51 of Willow Takes The Stage
'At some point, Gale started to change. At first, she just got more arrogant and would always be checking herself out in the mirror. Clearly, we weren't good enough for her. Then Gale left us. Now she thinks she's a princess, and I don't mean in just her attitude. None of us knows what got into her. Or had she always been that snooty, and we just didn't realize it?'
That last line was crossed out by Willow.
'Stella was powerless to do anything about it, and I think it affected her the most. I think she believes Gale wouldn't have turned out the way she did if only Stella could have given her enough help and support. Stella blames herself.
We don't know for certain everything Gale's been up to since she left. All we know is that she bosses the pigs around, and they do whatever she tells them to. She lives on the other side of the island, and we don't go there unless we absolutely have to. Maybe we should keep a closer eye on her, but right now none of us feels like it. I used to paint a new group portrait of us every year, but since Gale left I haven't done one. I also hid all of my old paintings.'
An illustration of a group portrait on a canvas.
'So you see, Diary, things are pretty bad.
In any case, I think Gale's situation is a lot worse than ours. We've got each other. She doesn't have anybody but the pigs. She must feel very lonely!
But there's no use dwelling on the past. I ought to focus on the here and now. Tomorrow I get to try on my own dress! I can't wait!'

The first line of page 50 seem to suggest that Gale was a lot more humble in the past, until Something happened(completely unrelated to the crown and the egg, no less!), which changed her for the worst. But then again, Willow immediately acknowledges that she's somewhat of an unreliable narrator. Perhaps Gale always was a bitchass motherfucker, because red flags just look like flags when you're wearing rose-tinted glasses.

yes I stole that line from Bojack Horseman, what of it.

Additionally, I've had my doubts before, but yeah Willow's autistic.
This bitch stims.

A screenshot of page 34 of Willow Takes The Stage
'I have always loved art. I've never told anybody this, but someday I'd like to become a painter or writer. The feeling I get when I create a painting or poem... I just can't describe it <3!! Well, maybe if I become a writer someday, then maybe I'll be able to. Not now. Art just makes me so happy. Sometimes I get so excited I can't hide my feelings. That's what happened recently, when I got a brilliant idea to write my play. When I finished it, I was jumping and bouncing around and laughing so much that my friends gave me some funny looks. Well, these days they're pretty much used to my 'enthusiasm' :) '

A screenshot of page 72 of Willow Takes The Stage
'Sometimes I feel like I'm too sensitive. I feel things too strongly. It would be a lot easier if I felt things less. But then again, feelings are what make life so amazing!
When I'm happy, I'm really, really happy.
I feel like shouting and can't sit still. That happens when I finish a painting I've been working on for a long time, or when I suddenly get a great idea. As if somebody else were guiding my paintbrush for me. I don't think about anything, I just do. Sometimes it just happens out of the blue, if the weather's nice or the cloud makes pretty shapes or for no reason at all.
Sometimes I think I care too much. Sometimes that's painful.'

Finally, here's a collage of screenshots I made for no reason in particular.

A collage of screenshots from various pages of Willow Takes The Stage

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Personal Review: