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cendi's review against another edition
4.0
Reviewed By: Paperback Princesses
Stray is a straight up fairy tale. It’s a cross between The Handmaiden’s Tale and Wicked, and it felt like Once Upon A Time might have had some influence as well. In this book, Princess Aislynn is a student who is having difficulty controlling her magic, which all women have. The men make the women believe their magic is a curse, and use it against them in their married lives. Since Aislynn cannot gain control of it, she’s stripped of her princess title and sent to another school to become the fairy godmother to the matriarch princess Linnea. She still cannot grasp her magical abilities, and makes mistakes in her fairy godmother classes, but she sees some similarities between herself and Linnea. Aislynn realizes that her own fairy godmother when she was a princess may have been breaking some rules to cover for Aislynn’s magical mishaps, and discovers that magic may not be as bad as it’s made out to be.
Stray felt a bit underdeveloped, relying heavily on the synopsis to grab readers for the whole series. It moved slowly for majority of the book, but had enough to keep me interested. Its a relaxing read. Most of this book felt like setup for the sequels. It did take some turns I didn’t expect, and that was a good thing.
I probably won’t read this one again, but I might read the sequels.
Stray is a straight up fairy tale. It’s a cross between The Handmaiden’s Tale and Wicked, and it felt like Once Upon A Time might have had some influence as well. In this book, Princess Aislynn is a student who is having difficulty controlling her magic, which all women have. The men make the women believe their magic is a curse, and use it against them in their married lives. Since Aislynn cannot gain control of it, she’s stripped of her princess title and sent to another school to become the fairy godmother to the matriarch princess Linnea. She still cannot grasp her magical abilities, and makes mistakes in her fairy godmother classes, but she sees some similarities between herself and Linnea. Aislynn realizes that her own fairy godmother when she was a princess may have been breaking some rules to cover for Aislynn’s magical mishaps, and discovers that magic may not be as bad as it’s made out to be.
Stray felt a bit underdeveloped, relying heavily on the synopsis to grab readers for the whole series. It moved slowly for majority of the book, but had enough to keep me interested. Its a relaxing read. Most of this book felt like setup for the sequels. It did take some turns I didn’t expect, and that was a good thing.
I probably won’t read this one again, but I might read the sequels.
thearosemary's review against another edition
2.0
Stray was a unique kind of fairytale, with fairy godmothers and magic and secrets. The world within this book was interesting, though I felt it wasn't touched upon too much.
That was a recurring thought of mine throughout this book: that several topics remained vague and unspoken. I would have liked to have read more backstory about some of the characters, like Aisslyn, Thackery, and the Evil Queen.
Sussman's writing style is extremely pretty and poetic. I was able to picture the world clearly, and I would have even enjoyed more details about the scenery.
The overall storyline was great, but there are definitely a few holes within the book. Even by the end, I still had many questions, though I suppose those could be explained further in the companion series.
Still, this was a diverse form of a fairytale, and I did enjoy it.
That was a recurring thought of mine throughout this book: that several topics remained vague and unspoken. I would have liked to have read more backstory about some of the characters, like Aisslyn, Thackery, and the Evil Queen.
Sussman's writing style is extremely pretty and poetic. I was able to picture the world clearly, and I would have even enjoyed more details about the scenery.
The overall storyline was great, but there are definitely a few holes within the book. Even by the end, I still had many questions, though I suppose those could be explained further in the companion series.
Still, this was a diverse form of a fairytale, and I did enjoy it.
theodoralang's review
5.0
super enjoyed this! saw a description that said fairytales plus handmaid's tale and i think thats so true. classic fantasy, and i loved it.
alliebee333's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
evamaria7's review against another edition
1.0
I wanted to like it, but it just left me disappointed and confused. Its a little boring especially the character Aisylnn.
lavendermarch's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. Good. I liked Aislynn most of the time.
periodicreader's review against another edition
2.0
I was hoping for more adventure and less feelings of helplessness, I think. I'm one of those people who has to finish things (like series of books) but I don't think I'm going to continue on with the series after this one. Meh.
iselenamethod22's review against another edition
5.0
i thought this book was exquisite, with it's honey words that described the most beautiful scenes and emotions, with its hybrid fairytale/religious church cult/etc. It is the perfect mixture of dark, fairytale, mysteries and magic. and of course, it tells us what me know to be true...women are magic ;)
honestly, if you're looking for a book that presents the Church and all it's cult-like, repressive tendencies, along with tingly romance, lasting friendships across classes, I would honestly recommend this over the newer "Serpent & Dove" which also goes in that church-but-through-a-different-lens plot scheme.
honestly, if you're looking for a book that presents the Church and all it's cult-like, repressive tendencies, along with tingly romance, lasting friendships across classes, I would honestly recommend this over the newer "Serpent & Dove" which also goes in that church-but-through-a-different-lens plot scheme.
siobhan27's review against another edition
3.0
I am a sucker for retellings and this one drew me in from how different it sounded from the ones i had read before. This is not about a certain fairy tale character, but of the fairy godmothers and how they are born to be. I loved this aspect of the story because it is something we don't normally think about. We think about the princesses, the princes and the villains but we don't thunk if those who take care of these characters. This made me like this book even before I opened the first page.
I will admit that I had a hard time connecting to the characters in the book. I felt a bit of distance between them, and I really do not know why. I think they seemed young to me, younger than i thought. I did not feel as invested in the story as I wanted. I wanted to be immerse in the culture of this story and the world that the author created, but sadly something was holding me back. I felt myself skimming passages in order to get to more interesting parts. I felt that the plot lagged in places and therefore I was bored at times when reading. I thought there was not enough character interactions for me and that is usually the best part of a book for me, and how I get to know certain characters. I just felt like there was not enough of that.
There was a small mystery element in this story and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I felt like if it was a more prominent aspect pf the overall plot I would have enjoyed the book a lot more, but we never really got to invest in the mystery as much as I would have liked. And since this is the first book in a new series, I was not captured enough to really want o keep reading. I am interested in where this series goes, and I might pick up the second book but for me this book lacked many aspects that a good series needs, and I was a bit disappointed in it.
I will admit that I had a hard time connecting to the characters in the book. I felt a bit of distance between them, and I really do not know why. I think they seemed young to me, younger than i thought. I did not feel as invested in the story as I wanted. I wanted to be immerse in the culture of this story and the world that the author created, but sadly something was holding me back. I felt myself skimming passages in order to get to more interesting parts. I felt that the plot lagged in places and therefore I was bored at times when reading. I thought there was not enough character interactions for me and that is usually the best part of a book for me, and how I get to know certain characters. I just felt like there was not enough of that.
There was a small mystery element in this story and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I felt like if it was a more prominent aspect pf the overall plot I would have enjoyed the book a lot more, but we never really got to invest in the mystery as much as I would have liked. And since this is the first book in a new series, I was not captured enough to really want o keep reading. I am interested in where this series goes, and I might pick up the second book but for me this book lacked many aspects that a good series needs, and I was a bit disappointed in it.