This review can also be found on my blog.

After my third or fourth reread, I've decided that this book officially goes on my all-time favorites list. It's got everything I love - magic, royalty, danger, and subtle humor - without falling into any of the tired cliches that characterize most books that involve royalty and magic. In fact, Molly, the kitchen girl, is the MC - not the cute royal prince she rescues. I love seeing her roll her eyes at the prince's clueless-ness in the real world when they're hiding - like, "gee, sure, give them your royal brooch in gratitude for helping you. I'm sure no one will think they stole it if they try to sell it for, you know, actual money to replace all the food and medicine they just used on you." Okay, she didn't phrase it like that - like I said, the humor is subtle - that's just my paraphrase.

Okay, characters. As I already wrote, Meg is awesome. She's smart, and clever, but not in that really cloying cliche way. She's a bit of a wild-child in the first few chapters, but we quickly watch her flash forward about ten years. Even though she's wild, as soon as she goes to work at the castle (at age seven) she catches on to the fact that she has to do anything people ask, and not get into any trouble, if she wants to keep her post. Her stubbornness is not a tool to show that she's a flawed character (but secretly not, because stubbornness just shows strength of character!). It's a part of her personality, but a part that she knows how to deny when she needs to.

Meg also has this mysterious ability to sense the future, which isn't explained much in this book (the author delves a lot more into that in the second and third book, both of which are good but not quite as good as this one). I love how she's not going crazy with excitement about her powers: she actually sees them as a curse, not a blessing, and is deathly afraid of her visions through not only this book but actually most of the entire trilogy. She fears the burden that has been placed onto her.

Tobias is Meg's best friend, and a great character in his own right. A bit more cookie-cutter, he has all the usual side-kick bits: loyal, funny, smart, helps the MC catch her bearings in a new place (in this case the castle), and has a sad back-story to boot. However, you can't help but like Tobias. He's just so nice!

The prince doesn't actually get a huge amount of screen time in this book, because Molly the servent girl doesn't really get to interact much with Alaric the prince in the first half of the book, and then later he's pretty wounded and spends quite a bit of time unconsciouse. However, the bits that you do see give the bare outline of a compelling character. From the moment Meg (shamelessly eavesdropping) overhears him arguing with his parents as a child, you know that he's not going to be a cookie-cutter prince. Later, I love how strong he is. He still even keeps a bit of his humor! I won't go into it more than that, for fear of spoilers.

I can't really think of anything else to say, besides "read this book!" Like I said above, this is one of my all-time favorite books, and I recently bought it so I could have it forever. If you have any questions about the book, post them in the comments below! Also, I want to hear about your favorite books. Let me know what book you never get tired of, and I might just review it! ( )

Molly has the ability to see what is going to happen to the royal family by peering into a beautiful silver bowl. While this seems like a good thing, she keeps it to herself, fearful of being branded a witch. Strong, fully-fleshed-out characters, abundant plot twists, and entertaining dialog make this a standout in fantasy titles. Fans of l[b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted|Gail Carson Levine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308737674s/24337.jpg|2485462] and Hale's [b:Princess Academy|85990|Princess Academy (Princess Academy, #1)|Shannon Hale|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316729835s/85990.jpg|3299770] will love being introduced to Stanley's titles. ( )

I started this book with low expectations, knowing it was a young adult book, and was pleasantly surprised. The author, Diane Stanley, plays with the classic "scullery maid meet a handsome prince" motif and gives it many an original turn. The book has magic, romance, coming of age narrative, and a murder mystery. What else could you want? ( )

Molly, a young scullery maid, gets promoted to assistant silver polisher. While polishing one of the kingdom's treasures, an elaborately wrought silver basin, she hears a voice which speaks to her and shows her visions of a plot against the royal family. She confides these visions to her friend Tobias, another servant, but she is powerless to do anything but watch as the plot unfolds, until a key moment when she realizes that she might be able to save the king's youngest son. Molly, Tobias, and Prince Alaric flee the castle together, hiding themselves until the moment is right for Alaric to reveal that he has survived, and take his place on the throne. Before he can do that, though, there is one more service that only Molly can do for him -- and it relates to that same silver bowl that showed her the visions in the first place.

Stanley's writing displays good attention to detail, and she deftly throws in a few historical tidbits about medieval life. Character development is not the book's strong suit, and some critical readers may find the plot a bit simplistic. Neither of those details is likely to bother young readers, though, who will relish Molly, Tobias, and Alaric's adventures and the story's satisfying conclusion. ( )

The Silver Bowl. This was an good interesting story. It is about a girl named Molly. Molly works at the palace. She has a special gift were sometimes she hears voices in her head, and they come true. The royal family of the castle is under a curse. They have been for years. When Molly learns of this, she and her friend Tobias work together to save the prince Alaric. Fiction/ Fantasy.
This was a good book and I reccomend it. ( )