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gabi_715's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder
samanthas92's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Really long and drawn-out, pretty sure the ending was the best part (literally the last 20 pages) didn't think I was every going to finish it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
meganm1587's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, and Grief
aeoliandeductress's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed it but wanted to like it more. I love fairy tales and am always up for a new re-telling. The queer rep and diversity discussions are great. This is an area where it being on the surface works- teens are hardcore in the identity formation phase of life so they do discuss all of this more upfront. I liked the beginning with the murder and seeking answers. I love a good magical book.
However this was a nearly 400 page book that should have been 250. The middle was a really slow burn with not a lot of progress. I could live with that except the number of editing errors in this book is egregious. I respectfully acknowledge that English is not the author's first language and if I'm understanding the acknowledgement section correctly, she did write this one in English first instead of opting for translation. And if that is the case, she did a very good job considering. However, all of her editors failed her. There is not a chapter in this book without noticeable errors. Some of which made sentences or paragraphs incredibly difficult to read. Subjects of sentences were just dropped, missing articles and function words, things that are key to understanding what going on. Her editors should have caught these for her.
I will be reading the second one because I do want to know how she wraps it up, but I do agree with others that Yuki's magic feels underdeveloped. That said, I hope this duology pushes others to make their own versions and we get more cool modernized fairy tales.
However this was a nearly 400 page book that should have been 250. The middle was a really slow burn with not a lot of progress. I could live with that except the number of editing errors in this book is egregious. I respectfully acknowledge that English is not the author's first language and if I'm understanding the acknowledgement section correctly, she did write this one in English first instead of opting for translation. And if that is the case, she did a very good job considering. However, all of her editors failed her. There is not a chapter in this book without noticeable errors. Some of which made sentences or paragraphs incredibly difficult to read. Subjects of sentences were just dropped, missing articles and function words, things that are key to understanding what going on. Her editors should have caught these for her.
I will be reading the second one because I do want to know how she wraps it up, but I do agree with others that Yuki's magic feels underdeveloped. That said, I hope this duology pushes others to make their own versions and we get more cool modernized fairy tales.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
Truthfully, I did not expect to like this book so much, because I'm not really one for mysteries. A lot get convoluted, others confuse me, and I can only really take them seriously if they're more comedic, ironically. But something about this book just hooked me, maybe it was the fairytale angle. The chapters were short so it was very quick and easy for me to get through this, which contributed to me finishing this in three days, because I read a part a day.
The mystery was really interesting and handled well, with every character dying in a way related to an old fairytale, and the characters realizing what's in store for them, and the fun part was figuring out who was who and who was behind everything. I really liked the modernization of the various fairytales, such as Rory's family being overprotective and sending her away because of a security threat during her first birthday, or Yuki being related to the Headmistress of the school. Every time a character showed up, I'd eagerly try to look for clues with their names or appearances to try and decipher who were they were intended to be.
Ella was definitely the most developed, receiving the most amount of chapters, and thus I found her the most interesting. She's the good girl, the quiet and nice one, but you can tell she's not passive or a pushover, she has a lot of inner strength in her that most don't see. Her relationship with Frederick was very cute and she deserved everything. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I got into Svenja and Nani having a relationship, as they started off being more associates in figuring out what was going on, but I ended up liking where their relationship was going to go.
I think my only issue is that I didn't really want to continue a series right now, so the fact the mystery is just getting started by the end disheartened me. So much of the story is just spent running around, trying to find things, not really solving anything, and then a bunch of deaths suddenly happen, and then at the very end it just kinda wraps up with them finding out who was responsible, and then being like 'well now we really can figure out what's going on' I knew it was a duology going in, but I kinda wish it had been advertised better as one? I just feel a bit left-out. I also wasn't a fan of Yuki suddenly developing magic. This story is otherwise entirely grounded in reality, in our world, and then all of a sudden Yuki can summon snow and later on, mirrors, and it just felt extremely strange and out-of-place in a story that otherwise was set in our world. I couldn't believe that aspect.
I was also surprised by how diverse it was. I went in knowing there was some LGBT rep but the amount surprised me, and same with all the disability representation.
Overall, a really solid start to a duology that I really liked, I just wished the book was a lot more upfront about the fact this book was almost entirely set-up for the next book in the series so I would've had a much better understanding of what to expect.
Truthfully, I did not expect to like this book so much, because I'm not really one for mysteries. A lot get convoluted, others confuse me, and I can only really take them seriously if they're more comedic, ironically. But something about this book just hooked me, maybe it was the fairytale angle. The chapters were short so it was very quick and easy for me to get through this, which contributed to me finishing this in three days, because I read a part a day.
The mystery was really interesting and handled well, with every character dying in a way related to an old fairytale, and the characters realizing what's in store for them, and the fun part was figuring out who was who and who was behind everything. I really liked the modernization of the various fairytales, such as Rory's family being overprotective and sending her away because of a security threat during her first birthday, or Yuki being related to the Headmistress of the school. Every time a character showed up, I'd eagerly try to look for clues with their names or appearances to try and decipher who were they were intended to be.
Ella was definitely the most developed, receiving the most amount of chapters, and thus I found her the most interesting. She's the good girl, the quiet and nice one, but you can tell she's not passive or a pushover, she has a lot of inner strength in her that most don't see. Her relationship with Frederick was very cute and she deserved everything. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I got into Svenja and Nani having a relationship, as they started off being more associates in figuring out what was going on, but I ended up liking where their relationship was going to go.
I think my only issue is that I didn't really want to continue a series right now, so the fact the mystery is just getting started by the end disheartened me. So much of the story is just spent running around, trying to find things, not really solving anything, and then a bunch of deaths suddenly happen, and then at the very end it just kinda wraps up with them finding out who was responsible, and then being like 'well now we really can figure out what's going on' I knew it was a duology going in, but I kinda wish it had been advertised better as one? I just feel a bit left-out. I also wasn't a fan of Yuki suddenly developing magic. This story is otherwise entirely grounded in reality, in our world, and then all of a sudden Yuki can summon snow and later on, mirrors, and it just felt extremely strange and out-of-place in a story that otherwise was set in our world. I couldn't believe that aspect.
I was also surprised by how diverse it was. I went in knowing there was some LGBT rep but the amount surprised me, and same with all the disability representation.
Overall, a really solid start to a duology that I really liked, I just wished the book was a lot more upfront about the fact this book was almost entirely set-up for the next book in the series so I would've had a much better understanding of what to expect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood
mkesler14's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I loved this books take on Grimm fairytales! Fairytale stories meet murder mystery. The book is mainly character driven for the first 2/3 of the book in my opinion, the overarching plot of the murder mystery really doesn’t happen until the last couple of chapters. I think the intent of the book was to set up the characters and story to start a series. Intrigued to see where the sequel of this series takes us. I love the spin on each of the characters as they relate to characters we know and love. A unique concept for sure, and lots of LGBTQ+ content too! My friend and I read together in our book club, it was really fun trying to figure out who was who based off context clues.
My only thing is since this may be setting us up for more, there’s a good chunk of loose ends/plot holes. I also wish we could’ve seen a little more plot development in the first two parts.
Last thing: Ella Stan for Life ✌🏼
My only thing is since this may be setting us up for more, there’s a good chunk of loose ends/plot holes. I also wish we could’ve seen a little more plot development in the first two parts.
Last thing: Ella Stan for Life ✌🏼
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
mysamcatfan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Murder
amandamarie04's review
Pretty Little Liars meets fairytales.
1.) There's too many characters and names and useless backstories. I don't care when this random person came to the school, I don't need to know entire histories. Just stop
2.) It's really hard reading about a character with OCDc guilt, and a dead best friend - it hits too close to home and I relate far too much than I care for.
3.) I love YA but this is the textbook definition of YA - it feels like a clear rip off of Pretty Little Liars and the personalities of these characters are too on the nose for their fairytale counterpart.
I made the mistake of finishing PLL I won't make the same mistake again.
1.) There's too many characters and names and useless backstories. I don't care when this random person came to the school, I don't need to know entire histories. Just stop
2.) It's really hard reading about a character with OCDc guilt, and a dead best friend - it hits too close to home and I relate far too much than I care for.
3.) I love YA but this is the textbook definition of YA - it feels like a clear rip off of Pretty Little Liars and the personalities of these characters are too on the nose for their fairytale counterpart.
I made the mistake of finishing PLL I won't make the same mistake again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Toxic friendship
kalira's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
faduma's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail